The announcement of the Daniel Ortega regime on the establishment of free visa to Cuban citizens Those wishing to travel to Nicaragua has caused a stir on the island, even though the Miguel Díaz Canel regime has not made a statement on the matter and flights from Managua to Havana continue to be suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Reinaldo Escobar, editor-in-chief of the Cuban digital medium 14 y Medio, explains that the news “has had a lot of impact” in recent days and has caused “a lot of discussions.” For now, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Cuba has not made a statement on the matter and neither have the official Cuban media, “no one has said that we have made an agreement with Nicaragua,” so it “seems” that the Cuban regime had not been consulted.
“This it is very symptomatic because obviously the Government of Mr. Daniel Ortega, who is a close friend of the Government of Cuba, could not carry out a hostile act of this nature without having consulted him (with his counterparts on the island) and the fact that the Government (of Cuba) hides, or do not disclose this bilateral relationship, it is very striking, “Escobar said during an interview on the program. Tonight that is transmitted through YouTube due to the censorship imposed by the Nicaraguan regime.
In the opinion of the Cuban journalist, the announcement of Nicaragua and the silence of Cuba “is a compromise on which the two rulers have agreed,” which is done with various intentions. Among them, causing an increase in the migratory crisis on the southern border of the United States and thus forcing the Joe Biden Administration to open a channel of negotiations with Cuba.
Lower political tension
Another reason that could be behind the free visa to Nicaragua is that the mass protests that were registered in Cuba on July 11 last – when hundreds of people took to the streets demanding rights, freedom and until the end of the dictatorship – caused “a trauma for the Cuban rulers,” Escobar values, and they could be trying to liberate the political pressure.
The Cuban regime knows “that this (protest) was not organized by anyone in the United States,” that it was something “absolutely and totally spontaneous,” warns the journalist. So as the conditions that caused the social outbreak prevail, “they might fear that it will happen again.” Thus, the free visa to Nicaragua constitutes a “valve” to release pressure.
“They (the island’s Administration) need those people with the capacity to lead a protest to decide, instead of using that will, that self-esteem, in lead a protestThat they use it to leave the country to find a place where they can feel happy and a competitive place, which is not really Cuba, ”Escobar emphasizes.
In addition, the free visa to Nicaragua “is not something that came from heaven” or that “coincidentally it occurred to Nicaragua to make this measure,” Escobar warns. This “is programmed, is studied and has an intention on the part of the Government,” he adds.
A migratory wave
Meanwhile, the enthusiasm of the islanders for traveling to Nicaragua is evident to the renowned journalist, so much so that, he values, “the massiveness of the trips will be limited by the seating capacity of the planes.” Since at this time there are no direct flights between Havana and Managua and that was already the reason for a protest on the island.
Currently only the airline Copa Airlines has resumed its flights to Cuba, thus connecting the island with Panama City. Those interested in traveling to Nicaragua would have to make a stopover in that country.
On the other hand, Escobar points out that the Nicaraguan authorities should provide some kind of protection to migrants, since once the air connection between the two countries is reestablished, a wave of Cuban migration could be generated trying to continue to the United States.
“This can cause a rather complex situation, that hotels are not going to reach, guest houses are not going to reach, it is an explosion and that is why the Nicaraguan government has the responsibility of solving this matter,” stressed the Cuban journalist.
In addition to the Cubans who see the free visa to Nicaragua as an opportunity to migrate to the United States, there are also groups of merchandise traffickers on the island – known as mules – who find in this advertisement an opportunity to travel and stock up on products that they are not available in your country.
“The fact that Nicaragua does not require a visa would allow some people (residents of the island) to receive money from relatives abroad, take that money, go to Nicaragua to buy merchandise and sell it in Cuba,” Escobar explains.
Mules, although they are not well regarded by the communist regime, do “what a commercial company should normally do or what, in the case of Cuba, the Ministry of Foreign Trade must do: import products to sell them in Cuba,” he explains. journalist. However, currently on the island “there is an urgent need” for people to take care of importing goods and selling them inside.
The regime, for its part, turns its eyes to the mule trade. “Instead of legally authorizing it, in a formal way, it allows people to go to Nicaragua and establishes some kind of undeclared customs flexibility.” This allows satisfying the needs of the population “without costing the State a penny for this operation” and also “they charge taxes for customs entries,” he concludes.
