The images coming in from New York and Jersey in the wake of Sandy are horrendous, so you can only imagine the magnitude of the destruction this hurricane brought to Cuba’s rural eastern half.

The Cuba Study Group and Friends of Caritas Cubana have just launched a joint effort to raise funds for the Cuba victims of Hurricane Sandy.  From their release, which you can read in its entirety at the Cuba Study Group website:

Four years ago, our community was extremely generous in helping to provide relief to the thousands of victims of Hurricanes Gustav and Ike in Cuba. This year, Hurricane Sandy has been no less devastating to our brothers and sisters in the island. Early reports state that at least 11 people have died and more than 130,000 homes have been damaged, including 15,400 that were destroyed, and many others left without roofs, electricity or water. The devastation is severe and you can see pictures of it here.

Thousands of Cuban families need our help urgently. Thus the Cuba Study Group and Friends of Caritas Cubana are working together to raise money to help the victims of this disaster.

We encourage you to make a contribution as soon as possible to ensure that assistance reaches the Cuban victims of this hurricane expeditiously.

You can make a donation today by visiting the Friends of Caritas Cubana website here, or by mailing a check to the following address:

Friends of Caritas Cubana
81 Washington Ave.
Cambridge, MA 02140

The two cities most affected by Sandy were Santiago and Holguín.  Please help bring desperately needed relief to their residents today.

Spain’s Foreign Minister will meet with Cuba’s, looking to find a solution to Angel Carromero’s case that allows his return to Spain.

Spain, of course, is not hampered by ineffective and pandering legislation that prevents a meeting between the two countries, nor does it surrender its foreign policy to a vocal minority, intent on continuing feeding their political industry.

Highly recommended: “Cuba’s New Now” the cover story of the latest issue of National Geographic.

Most of the Cubans I talked to seemed consumed, in fact, by this whole idea of possibility. Not permanent transformation, most would say, not yet; the Cuban government has a history of switching signals on its citizens, encouraging private enterprise and then pronouncing it counterrevolutionary and shutting it down again. But Raúl Castro is not his brother, and there’s a particularly Cuban combination of excitement, wariness, calculation, black humor, and anxiety that accompanies even the possibility of real change—the suggestion that after a half century under Fidel, something big may truly be happening to the way Cubans live day to day.

The print story included several graphics, one of which got my attention:

You can see what happened to remittances of money by Cubans in the US to their families, after Bush imposed the draconian restrictions championed by hardliners. They went up. It shows that Cubans would rather be scofflaws than abandoning their families, and it shows how unproductive is a policy that pushes otherwise.

I was also moved by a phrase used by NG cartographer Juan Jose Valdes, describing an episode when his father got lost in Miami, and he was able to guide him home using a map. “At the corner of Yield and One Way” it’s also where Cubans have found themselves for over 50 years. We need a new map to guide us out of the status quo.

Had the pleasure to participate in a HuffPo Live panel, hosted by Alicia Menendez, on this subject. You can see it below, or read the discussion here.

Jesús Arboleya Cervera at Progreso Weekly took a hard look at Cuba’s recently announced migratory reforms and offers this enlightening analysis. While I wish he had also explored the reforms’ ramifications for political oppositions members and professionals such as doctors and attorneys, there is still much here to be hopeful about:

The immigration law and Cuba’s relationship with the émigrés

By Jesús Arboleya Cervera

HAVANA – Although a prestigious jurist friend of mine cautioned me that to interpret the law God had invented lawyers, I dare to share some opinions on the impact that the immigration reforms might have on Cuba’s relationship with Cubans who live abroad.

The new law upholds the establishment of diverse categories of migrants.

• Cuban citizens residing in Cuba who travel “for private reasons.” These can remain outside the country up to 24 months, twice the period allowed previously, and renew their stay abroad by visiting the Cuban consulates abroad and paying a monthly fee.

Under this status, the “temporariness” of their stay abroad can be extended for an indefinite period. Within this category we find minors who in the past could not leave the country on a temporary basis but now can do it with the authorization of their parents or tutors. The departure of minors can be arranged while his/her parents are abroad.

Those who travel under these conditions retain all their rights and properties in Cuba, even their jobs during the time stipulated by law, or their pensions if they are retired. They can travel to Cuba freely, remaining on the island without time limitations, or can even return permanently, if they so wish.

Also, by visiting the Cuban consulates abroad, they can modify that status and become “residents abroad.” The advantage is that they won’t have to pay monthly fees, and their right to stay abroad, which until now was 90 days, can be extended to six months.  

(more…)

From 2000 to 2012, almost one million Cubans traveled abroad. Of those, only 120,705 (12.8%) decided not to return. So much for the “escape valve” theory that hardliners keep using to scare off rational policies of engagement.

And one thousand Cuban immigrants return to reside in Cuba every year.

Looking at the numbers, does it make sense to perpetuate isolationist policies that aim to keep Cubans bottled up inside the island?