Que Bola?

There are 39 known deaths of Cubans trying to reach the United States so far this year. These are the result of the "wet foot, dry foot" policy which grants considerable benefits to thse Cubans who reach the shore and stand upon it. Those in boats even outside the surf are turned back. Cubans are the only people we do this for. If two rafts, each containing 5 people, one from Haiti and one from Cuba reach the Florida beach, the Cubans stay with a bunch of bounty, the Haitians go home with nothing.
A few years ago I had a drink with Roberto Salas, the Cuban photographer. This was shortly after several young Cuban men had died trying to stow away in the wheel wells of international airliners. All four of them had died. Roberto was very angry. He thought the US policy which he believed encouraged young people, especially young men, to leave Cuba was one of genocide. It made escape sound attractive, and escape was a very dangerous undertaking. This is still the case.
In the recent article regarding this issue in the New York Times, the increase in numbers of those trying to escape was attributed to the worsening repression and economic situation under Castro. There was little mention of the role played by the embargo, the recent changes in laws limiting the amount of money families and friends may send those in Cuba, and the harshness of our government's attitude toward the Cuban people. There is always hope. It is kept alive and good is done simply by continuing to make people aware of the issues with Cuba.