Odds and ends
- Cuba’s Latin American Medical School graduates 1,800, among them eight Americans. Tuition paid: $0. This school is one element of Cuba’s international medical assisitance; in theory, many of the new graduates will go home and replace a Cuban doctor serving in a poor or underserved area. AP’s coverage here, Cuba’s AIN story here.
- Figures on Cuban migration to the United States from the Herald’s Alfonso Chardy: 8,994 in 2005, of which 7,267 crossed the Mexican border, and 10,329 in 2006, of which 8,639 came via Mexico. I assume these figures don’t include legal immigrants who obtained immigrant visas in Havana.
- The John Birch Society weighs in on U.S. policy toward Cuban migrants, making a hash of some of the issues, but it’s nice to know these guys are still around, isn’t it? “It is no exaggeration to say that, were it not for decades of betrayal by the U.S. government, Cuba would probably be free of Fidel Castro today…”
To put the annual Cuban migration figure (about 10,000) in context, consider that 1.5 million migrants are turned back each year on the Mexican border. There are more Hondurans, Guatemalans, Salvadorians and even Brazilians turned back each year than there are Cubans who get to enter the US.... despite all the citizenship and financial assistance advantages Cubans receive.
ReplyDeleteWhen are Americans going to realize that Cubans are LESS likely to be leaving their country than other countries in the region.