Roque_at_emigre_meeting The Cuban émigrés who attended a meeting in
Havana with Cuban officials last week have returned to the countries and
cities where they live, including at least three from Miami.
Broadcasters Francisco Aruca and Max Lesnik and activist Andres
Gomez attended the three-day meeting that began March 19 at the Hotel
Nacional in Havana.
Aruca, whose Ayer in Miami program airs on WOCN 1450 AM, said the
main message of the meeting was a desire by the Cuban government to
"normalize'' relations with Cuban expatriates.
He said Cuban officials left the impression that their goal is to
have the same type of relations with expatriates that Mexican consulates
have with Mexican immigrants – where the Mexican government looks out
for the well being and rights of its citizens living abroad.
"The main message is that they are seeking a greater normalization
with Cubans living outside Cuba,'' said Aruca.
He added that Cuban officials, within the context of improved
contacts with émigrés, are discussing ways to distinguish between Cubans
who consider themselves expatriates and those who view themselves as exiles.
Lesnik, whose show Radio Miami is also broadcast on WOCN, said that
for him the meeting's main message is that Cuban officials will only
discuss changes in Cuba with Cuban émigrés who oppose the U.S. trade
embargo against the island and who oppose terrorist attacks against Cuba.
Exiles who support the embargo or terrorism against Cuba, he said,
would not be heard.
While some Cuban émigrés, including Lesnik and Aruca, expected the
Cuban government to possibly announce the elimination of exit permits
for Cubans wishing to travel abroad, Aruca said the issue did not come
up during the meeting.
Aruca said some senior Cuban officials, like Cuban foreign minister
Felipe Perez Roque (above), mentioned the issue during news conferences
when reporters asked, but that the question itself was not discussed in
meeting sessions.
Gomez, head of the Antonio Maceo Brigade, could not be reached for
comment. Gomez was singled out for special recognition by the Cuban
government during the meeting.
The Antonio Maceo Brigade was formed by young Cubans whose parents
took out of Cuba after Fidel Castro seized power in 1959, but who
remained supportive of the Cuban revolution.
-- Alfonso Chardy
March 26, 2008
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/cuban_colada/2008/03/cuban-emigres-a.html
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