By María Josefina Arce

Cuba has always stood for safe, orderly and regular migration. However, the hostile and irresponsible policy of the United States against our country in migratory matters has encouraged human trafficking operations, organized by unscrupulous elements residing in the neighboring country.

In the last few days, regrettable events have taken place, in which even violent actions with firearms have been registered against our border guard troops, who protect this country.

The Ministry of the Interior stated in a note that during the current year there has been an increase in the incursions of speedboats coming from U.S. territory to illegally transfer Cuban citizens to the neighboring nation, putting their lives at risk.

We cannot forget that since the revolutionary triumph in January 1959, this problem has been an essential element of Washington's policy of harassment and aggressiveness against Havana, with a high human cost.

Over the decades, thousands of lives have been lost trying to cross the Florida Straits, while instability has been created in third countries in the region, used as bridges to reach the northern nation.

Daniel Quintana, a specialist of the General Directorate of the United States of the Cuban Foreign Ministry, has stressed that for more than sixty years, the U.S. migration policy towards our country has been one of the tools of its hostility, such as the genocidal blockade, terrorist acts and disinformation campaigns.

And in that context, the so-called Cuban Adjustment Act, the only one of its kind in the world, which offers citizens of the archipelago who arrive on U.S. soil the almost automatic possibility of adjusting their migratory status, has been an essential element.

Nor can we lose sight of Washington's failure to grant 20,000 visas annually, as stipulated in the bilateral Migration Agreements of the nineties of the last century.

Under the mandate of Donald Trump, from 2017 to 2021, Washington's consular services in Havana were interrupted, under the pretext of alleged sonic attacks against its diplomatic staff, which has never been proven.

And although the current administration, presided by Joe Biden, last May announced several positive measures, the scope is still very limited in terms of visas and regular migration. 

Nor do they mean a change with respect to the criminal blockade, reinforced by Trump and maintained. A unilateral measure, condemned at the UN since 1992, aimed at provoking discouragement among Cubans, through deprivation and needs.

Cuba advocates maintaining migratory flows to and from the national territory in a safe, orderly and regular manner, to guarantee the physical integrity of its citizens and to put a stop to human trafficking, a crime that is unfortunately gaining ground in the world.