Summary
The New York Times article titled, ‘Cuba Is Depopulating’: Largest Exodus Yet Threatens Country’s Future by Ed Augustin and Frances Robles speaks about the migration crisis in Cuba. Cubans are risking their lives to make multiple attempts to travel to the United States of America. Roger García Ordaz, a Cuban who has made a dozen attempts to leave the island, is quoted within the article, “Of course I am going to keep on throwing myself into the sea until I get there, or if the sea wants to take my life, so be it”. Those fleeing, which make up 2% of the island’s population, are willing to die in order to escape (Augustin and Robles).
Today’s migration from Cuba is the largest since Fidel Castro’s rule. During Fidel Castro’s rise to power and rule, the 1980 Mariel boatlift and the 1994 rafter crisis occurred. The Mariel boatlift began due to the hurting economy of Cuba. There were housing and job shortages as a result of the economy. The rafter crisis was when Castro stated that any Cubans wanting to leave could go. Cubans made makeshift boats in order to travel to the United States of America. These two exoduses can be attributed to Castro nationalizing 85% of Cuban industry by the end of 1961. This angered the United States of America, and President Kennedy decided to “offer asylum on exceptionally easy terms to Cubans” (Dawson 212). This was done in an attempt to isolate Castro’s power, but it ended up eliminating Castro’s opponents for him.
This had an effect on the economy. About 20% of workers throughout the country were not going to work by 1967. Although some were just not inspired to attend work, others were forced to stand in tedious lines for food instead of work due to mismanagement. Another nationalization of businesses occurred with small businesses. “Fearing that small businessmen also represented a threat to the regime, Castro nationalized 57,000 small businesses in 1968” (Dawson 216). Workers on the island lost their rights and unions disappeared.
Throughout history, the United States as played a role in the condition within Cuba, as well as government mismanagement. As stated in the article, the number of migrants coming from Cuba are historic, and the United States is aiding this. “Many experts say that U.S. policy towards the island is helping fuel the very migration crisis that the administration is now struggling to address” (Augustin and Robles). President Trump ended President Obama’s policy that focused on positive engagement with the island and replaced it with restrictions on how much money Cuban Americans could send back to the island. As this took a large source of income from Cubans, more and more came to America in hopes of economic opportunity.
The pandemic has not aided the situation. The already poor economy within Cuba took a huge hit. Electrical service is constantly interrupted; supermarkets are without food. During the Covid-19 lockdown, “tens of thousands of Cubans took to the streets in the biggest antigovernment protests in decades” (Augustin and Robles). This shows that distain for the government also aids in Cubans attempting to escape the island to search for a better quality of life.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/10/world/americas/cuba-us-migration.html?auth=login-email&login=email
Works Cited:
Dawson, Alexander. “A Decade of Revolution in Cuba”. Page 207-219. In Latin America Since Independence: A History with Primary Sources, 3rd ed. Taylor & Francis Group, 2022.
Augustin, Ed, and Frances Robles. “‘Cuba Is Depopulating’: Largest Exodus Yet Threatens Country’s Future.” New York Times, 10 Dec. 2022, https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/10/world/americas/cuba-us-migration.html?auth=login-email&login=email.