Cuba restores travel restrictions on doctors

There was no immediate response from the US, but a State Department spokesperson said earlier in the day that the United States planned to propose how both sides could contribute to “combating smuggling organizations that take advantage of Cuban migrants”.

Once these Cubans get into Ecuador, they have to cross eight different illegal border crossings in order to get into America.

In an indication that Cuba is growing increasingly concerned over the growing exodus of its people, especially doctors, the government said Tuesday it will begin more closely monitoring the departures of Cuban medical specialists beginning next Monday and putting more restrictions on their private trips overseas.

In September, Cuba said it would allow doctors who deserted while on foreign missions to return home without punishment or loss of position in the state health care system.

According to a press release from the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs, during the exchange of views on the issue, the Caribbean nation’s delegation reiterated its deep concern about the validity of the Cuban Adjustment Act and particularly, the implementation of the so-called “wet-foot, dry-foot” policy.

Some 4,000 Cubans who emigrated from their country via Ecuador in an attempt to eventually reach the United States, are now stranded in Costa Rica following Nicaragua’s refusal to let them enter that country.

“We’re looking into an [air evacuation], but since there’s not [existing] regional agreement each [Central American] country made a decision to announce their measures at their own time”, Guillermo told 14 Y Medio, an anti-Communist news agency founded by Cuban dissident Yoani María Sánchez Cordero.

By midday, many Cuban doctors were trying to figure out whether quitting their jobs would free them of the travel limit.

The migrants were in seven rustic craft intercepted in the Florida Strait, a treacherous, shark-infested body of water that lies between Cuba and the United States, the Coast Guard said.

Critics say the highly-trained professionals are underpaid, while the Cuban government charges other countries for the service and makes significant profits.

The Obama administration called to change basic USA policy by paving the way for a smooth transition to a new government that upholds basic human rights and at the same time, protects the interests of the United States. “As with any bilateral relationship, there were some areas of disagreement, but it took place in a respectful, cooperative, and productive environment”.

Many more Cubans have been coming to the USA since Cuba and the US renewed diplomatic relations last winter.