"There is no doubt that a policy aimed at depressing the standard of living of the population constitutes a direct stimulus to emigrate," Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernandez de Cossio told the press.
"We have never put up a barrier, it has been the blockade that has put up the barriers".
The answer that the First Secretary of the Party and President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, gave to the US press agency AP, at the opening of the 38th Havana International Fair, is applicable to all the problems generated by the hostile policy of the US Government against Cuba, above all, through the economic, commercial and financial blockade.
The intensified blockade has also been an aggravating cause of the current migratory situation between the two countries, as well as the non-fulfillment of the bilateral agreement on the subject, which were topics in the migratory talks between representatives of both nations, held yesterday in Havana, in order to avoid the irregular, unsafe and disorderly movement of people.
Cuba reiterated its concern over the negative impact of the blockade and the extreme tightening measures implemented by the U.S. government since 2019. "There is no doubt that a policy aimed at depressing the standard of living of the population constitutes a direct stimulus to emigrate," Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernández de Cossío, who headed the Cuban delegation, told the press.
As another incentive, he denounced the Cuban Adjustment Act and the preferential treatment received by Cubans who enter the US illegally.
He also stated that irregular migration causes loss of life and creates conditions for other phenomena such as migratory fraud, human trafficking and smuggling of persons.
Fernández de Cossío described the meeting as useful and constructive, in which the parties reviewed compliance with the bilateral migration agreements and acknowledged the steps taken in recent months to ensure their effective implementation.
He noted that the Cuban delegation welcomed the announcement of the full resumption of immigrant visa services at the U.S. Embassy in Havana, effective January 4, 2023.
Regarding the process of repatriation of migrants deemed inadmissible, he detailed that Cuba is willing to receive flights of deportees and, currently, the parties are agreeing on the terms and conditions for these flights, detained with COVID-19.