Why so many Cubans at the border?
As you may know, I came to the U.S. with my parents from Cuba in 1964. In other words, I sympathize with Cubans who want to leave the failed communist state, but it should be done in an orderly fashion. What we are seeing today is not orderly. In fact, it's reminiscent of the Mariel episode 42 years ago, when Fidel Castro openly encouraged 100,000 to leave.
Cuba is an economic mess today. So the government is once again sending people north, but using the Mexico corridor to do so.
This is from Julio M. Shilling via Babalu in Miami. In his post, Julio details how the Castro regime has used immigration to get rid of people:
The psychology behind the Castro-Communist scheme is rudimentary.
If Cubans find it plausible to leave the country in the hope of reaching the land of liberty, settling in the exile communities across numerous American states (FL, NJ, NY, IL, CA, NV, TX, and KY), the communist dictatorship is betting that challenges to its authority will subside.
As portions of Cuban society plot their exit, the Castro regime safely concludes that people will be preoccupied with leaving and living free and prosperous abroad, as opposed to miserable, rebellious, and oppressed on the island.
As my father used to say: A Cuban in the U.S. is one less person that the Castro regime has to feed or keep in a political prison.
Over time, the Cuban government has reacted to domestic turmoil by letting people leave. Back to Julio:
Before the previously mentioned exoduses, there was the Mariel Boatlift (1980), the Liberty Flights (1965-1973), and the Camarioca Boatlift (1965).
In all these cases as well, the Castro regime opened the escape hatch, intending to blow potential popular rebellion inside Cuba. While it is true that throughout the 1960s and 1970s many of those that left, returned to the island to combat communist rule, Castroism has always felt safer and still does, having the enemy at a distance.
Today, my guess is that the cash-deprived communist state is in business with criminal elements who are literally bringing Cubans to the border. I can't prove it, but it's what corrupt governments do.
Another consequence of the Biden border policy? It is encouraging failed states to export their people so they can send money back to their families. It's as simple and cynical as that.
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Image: dicklyon.