Carlos Lazo (Progreso Semanal)

HAVANA TIMES — The Cuban passport is one of the most problematic documents that Cubans residing abroad have to deal with. In this connection, the range of complaints among émigrés encompass economic issues (because of how expensive requesting or renewing this document is) and even juridical and practical ones (the fact they must enter Cuba with this passport, even when they have acquired citizenship elsewhere).

The Cuban government, which has implemented measures aimed at updating its migratory policies in recent years, should make obtaining a passport an easier and more pleasant process. It should also not request the said document from those who, having secured citizenship in another country, carry a passport issued by their adoptive nation.

There are even a number of inconsistencies in Cuba’s migratory regulations as regards this last point. The regulations for those who were born in Cuba and obtained citizenship in another country are not uniform. For instance, Cubans who left the island before December 31, 1970 (and have citizenship elsewhere) do not require a Cuban passport to visit the country.

This provision, which has been in effect for many years, demands, however, that those who left Cuba after 1970 present a Cuban passport to enter the island (even if they hold a different nationality and passport).

What is the logic behind these regulations? Why the divisive line between those who left before and after 1970? Why are certain Cubans permitted to enter the country with the passport issued by the country where they became naturalized citizens and others not?

There are no easy answers to these questions. The bureaucratic reasoning that links the passport requirements that apply to Cuban visitors to the date in which they left the country isn’t clear, particularly because the cut-off date takes us back more than four decades. Perhaps this aged rule (which decides what passport is to be used by the island’s Cuban-born visitors) had a clear function in the past. What’s clear is that this measure needs to be reviewed by Cuban authorities and updated, if needed. In short, it must be brought in step with the interests and needs of the nation and its émigrés.

What is the logic behind these regulations? Why the divisive line between those who left before and after 1970? Why are certain Cubans permitted to enter the country with the passport issued by the country where they became naturalized citizens and others not?

A book I read some time ago can be of use to us as way of a conclusion. In one of his stories, Uruguayan author Eduardo Galeano tells us about the “bench guard.” Galeano narrates how, for over 30 years, soldiers were ordered to stand guard, day in and day out, before a small bench in a military barracks. No one knew why, but the soldiers stood guard throughout the day, every single day. Year after year, the officers handed down the orders and the soldiers complied with them.

According to the story, no one questioned this or asked why the bench had to be guarded – not once in thirty years. If soldiers were being ordered to stand guard beside the bench, there was a probably a good reason for it. One day, someone thought to ask about the reasons behind that guard duty, which did not seem to serve any purpose. After much inquiring, it was discovered that, 30 years before, an officer had instructed a soldier to stand guard beside the bench (which had been painted that day) to keep people from sitting on the fresh paint. No one had taken the trouble of changing the orders afterwards.

I suspect something similar to the “bench guard duty” could be happening in connection with this regulation. This archaic (and seemingly arbitrary) migratory statute which restricts the use of other passports by Cuban-born travelers should be reviewed. Perhaps there was some kind of justification for it at one point and, after several decades, no one even remembers what it was anymore. Right now, those orders don’t seem to make much sense. Therefore, they should be modified, updated or given a fresh coat of paint – and with one that dries quickly.

(*) Carlos Lazo is a teacher working in Seattle, Washington. During the Bush administration, he became renowned as the Cuban-American combat doctor who served with distinction in Iraq. He was denied the possibility of visiting his children in Cuba owing to the travel restrictions that the Bush administration was using to keep Cuban-Americans from visiting their families on the island.