In a document called “Cuba in data: Coercive measures increased emigration and a lot,” the Foreign Ministry assured that “emigration from Cuba to the United States has been a politicized issue and has been encouraged by Washington from the very beginning of the Cuban Revolution.”

The report also states that the impact of this policy “has multiplied in recent years,” and accuses the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio of blaming “in a festive manner” authorities from “Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua” for triggering an acute migration crisis.

According to the text, the deputy director of the General Directorate of the United States at the Foreign Ministry, Johana Tablada, has noted that the measures taken by Donald Trump, Marco Rubio, Mike Pompeo and Mauricio Claver have “a direct effect on the increase in emigration.”

It also recalls that “during the period of improvement in relations between Cuba and the United States, which included Cuba’s historic exclusion from the list of State Sponsors of Terrorism (SSOT) in 2015, emigration was significantly reduced.”

This change “was accompanied by the adoption of a migration agreement in January 2017, under the Obama administration, which practically eradicated the irregular maritime channel and maintained a low migratory flow,” it underlines.

However, the panorama changed drastically during the Trump administration, it clarifies.

It also indicates that “the tightening of immigration policies, the closure of the US consulate in Havana after the invention of the so-called ‘sonic attacks,’ and the adoption of more than 200 extreme measures since 2018 have led to a record increase in emigration.”

“Cuba’s inclusion again on the State Sponsors of Terrorism list in January 2021 marked a critical point that further intensified the migratory flow,” says the document, which was published on the official website Cubaminrex.

These measures have had devastating repercussions on Cuba’s economy and the daily life of its population, and despite the changes in the US administration, “they have persisted,” it notes.

“Although Joe Biden made some limited adjustments…, the persecution of critical resources, the restriction on entities and the limitation on medical cooperation have remained,” it points out.

The current situation “reflects a cycle of measures that have resulted in human suffering and an increase in the desire to emigrate,” it adds.

The team that implements these policies continues to look for new ways to intensify the pressure on the Cuban people during Trump’s second term, the report emphasizes.

It states that “Cuban emigration is a multifaceted phenomenon that cannot be understood without considering the political context.”

The decisions by the US administrations “have had a direct effect on the quality of life in Cuba and have led to an increase in the desire to seek new opportunities abroad,” the document concludes.

jg/lam/raj