Georgetowners have been noticing the presence of Cubans for quite a while now, but in recent times they appear to be even more in evidence on our streets. The Cuban connection with Guyana goes back a long way, of course, to the 1972 decision by Guyana’s Forbes Burnham, Trinidad’s Eric Williams, Jamaica’s Michael Manley and Barbados’s Errol Barrow to give diplomatic recognition to Cuba in circumstances of great US hostility. Fidel Castro did not forget the Guyanese gesture, and by the mid-1970s he was sending a number of Cuban specialists here to assist the country in various fields, as well as a few to undertake research.
There were, for example, a conservationist who looked at the archives (he was not impressed, saying that owing to the poor condition of the records they harboured a fungus dangerous to health), an exceptionally talented dance teacher, a history professor studying slavery and some students researching different topics, to name a very few. But as everyone knows, in terms of assistance it was doctors, nearly all of whom spoke excellent English in those days, who provided the most critical form of support to the country by shoring up the shaky public health sector.
Of course Guyana did other things which Fidel Castro appreciated, such as allowing Cuban planes carrying soldiers and materiél bound for Angola to refuel in Timehri. Burnham was confronted about this by Henry Kissinger, then US Secretary of State, and he denied it. However, prudence dictated that he bring an end to the stopovers, and they duly ceased.
Over time the diversity of Cuban assistance decreased, although medical personnel continued to be sent. The numbers were arguably lower than earlier, but over time Cuba made increasing commitments to other nations to provide doctors. In particular they were drafted into Venezuela’s barrío adentro programme in large numbers, as part payment for the oil which Caracas provided to the island.
As long as Fidel Castro was in charge, the rules were very strict, and Cuban personnel had to return to their homeland once they had finished their term of service here. There must have been some who managed to slip through the net and make their way to the United States, but by and large those working here were mostly repatriated. A local court case a few years ago illustrated Havana’s position for anyone who was seeking to slither out of their commitment. A Cuban doctor had married a Guyanese health administrator, and asked to remain in Guyana in order to live with her. Permission was refused on Fidel Castro’s side, who said the Guyanese wife would be welcome to come and live with her Cuban husband in Cuba, at the same time warning the government in Georgetown that the continuation of the medical assistance programme depended on the return of personnel to the island.
Previously in Fidel Castro’s day, Guyanese mostly encountered Cubans in a medical context. Nowadays, with the more relaxed economic approach of President Raúl Castro, those whom city-dwellers currently meet are here with entrepreneurial ventures in mind. The first groups, as most people are aware, arrived armed with US dollars, presumably sent to them by their relatives in Florida or elsewhere in the States. They spent the money on clothes purchased mostly in Chinese stores, because these had variety and were cheap.
They still come, and insisted to our reporter who spoke to some of them recently that the clothes were for family and friends, although one couple said that if they had a little left over, they might sell the items. Another Cuban, who no longer buys clothes says he used to do it for retail purposes, and set up his little business here – a food stall selling Cuban dishes − on the profits he had made. When our reporter asked why he chose to set up a business here, he responded that he enjoyed the country and its freedom, and after having visited several times, he saw the potential of a business catering to visiting Cubans’ needs. One can only remark that there is clearly a drive for trade and commerce in Cuba which could take off if the restrictions were lifted.
Stabroek News also spoke to a Cuban taxi driver, who clearly doubles as a security guard for fellow Cubans. He was reported as saying that he knew some people who had been robbed, but they could do nothing because the police don’t know Spanish. He also relayed that the Cubans’ biggest challenge was getting their documents in time from the immigration authorities. It might be noted in passing that it is not just Cubans who have to endure that inconvenience.
This newspaper commented on the presence of Cuban nationals in Chinese stores. They were hired, it seems, in order to attract their fellow nationals, a strategy which appears to have had some success. We were given to understand that many came in order to apply for US visas here. Some of their predecessors too who came as doctors, no doubt harboured similar hopes; it is just that far more rigid rules on the Cuban side impeded their efforts. Nowadays, it is greater stringency on the American side, given that President Donald Trump is in office, which might make it more difficult for Cubans to succeed than used to be the case.
There is one other little group of Cubans here we are told, which citizens knew nothing about before a strange little story was published by Reuters recently. It reported a Cuban NGO based in Madrid as saying that the island’s state security was pressuring dissidents to go into exile in order to weaken opposition. Typically, they said, they were put on a plane to Guyana, and were threatened with prison or bodily harm or that their families would be harassed if they did not leave. Guyana, it was said, was the destination of choice because the arrivals would be given a tourist visa easily, and would get money for a month. One can only remark that any such money, if it is provided, would not come from the Guyanese side; it would have to be given by the Cuban authorities. It may be too that Cuban state security chooses Guyana because it has a Cuban human infrastructure, so to speak, where the exiles may possibly get assistance and not come to public notice.
One such dissident who was interviewed on the phone from Costa Rica said he had been left in Guyana, and from there had made his way to Brazil, and then north on a difficult journey to Costa Rica where he is hoping to secure a US visa. An unnamed diplomat in Havana is quoted as saying that the Cubans try to expel little-known activists rather than high-profile figures, which would more likely spark an international outcry. The NGO listed 35 activists, independent journalists and artists who had effectively been deported from their own country, but said there were probably many more.
Are there any in Guyana at the moment? No one knows, least of all, it seems, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs which has had not a word to say on the matter and shows no interest in investigating it either. But then this is the problem with the appointment of a naïve and completely inexperienced minister who seems to think that her job requires her to protest about a politically and legally sensitive matter on the streets, rather than maintain at least the veneer of impartiality. It is about time that she gave us some feedback on this latest incarnation of the Cuban connection – the dumping of dissidents against their will – and along with the Minister of Immigration, inform us about what measures they are going to take. The Guyana government should not be behaving as if it is an arm of Cuban state security, even if a passive one.
