Cubans get a taste of tourism abroad
‘Everything he sees, he’s going to like
MIAMI — At 67, Cuban taxi driver Benito Perez had never been on a plane.
For years, friends in Miami had invited him to visit, but he couldn’t afford to pay for the flight and didn’t want to burden his friends. The process of getting an exit permit from Cuban authorities and permission from the U.S. government also seemed daunting.
In the last year, however, travelling from Cuba has got slightly easier. The Cuban government eliminated the much-detested white card needed to leave. And the U.S. government has begun issuing multiple-entry visas good for five years.
Perez’s friends invited him again. This time, he accepted.
To his surprise, the U.S. Interests Section in Havana granted his visa request and the Cuban government issued him a passport. On a recent September morning, he took off on a direct one-hour flight from Havana to Miami.
“This is an experience I will carry with me for the rest of my days,” Perez said.
Perez is one of thousands of Cubans travelling under the island’s changed migration laws this year, many for the first time.
The number of Cubans receiving U.S. nonimmigrant visas jumped by 82 per cent from October 2012 to July 2013 compared with the same period a year before, according to the U.S. State Department. Demand for visa appointments spiked after Cuba announced the elimination of the exit permit requirement, and again when the U.S. announced its new five-year visas, a department official said. In all, 26,266 visas have been issued.
“Nonimmigrant visa issuances have increased significantly as the U.S. Interests Section in Havana has worked to meet growing demand and reduce a backlog of visa appointments,” the department said in a statement.
Across the Florida Straits, the changes are part of a slate of economic and social reforms President Raul Castro has made in recent years.
In addition to scrapping the exit visa, Cubans no longer need to provide a letter of invitation from someone in the country they wish to visit. And they can stay away for as long as 24 months without losing their residency rights.
Travel, however, still can’t be called easy for most Cubans.
Doctors, scientists, members of the military and others considered vital to society face restrictions to combat brain drain, and no one can obtain a passport to travel abroad without permission if they face criminal charges. Cuban authorities also can still deny travel in cases of defence and “national security.”
Even for those granted a passport, an average Cuban salary of $20 a month means travel is still little more than a dream without the help of a friend or relative outside the country. The Cuban government charges $100 for a passport, and the cost of a round-trip ticket can run to several hundred dollars. Cubans also must obtain an entry visa for some countries, including the United States.
Still, charter flight companies in Miami say they’re selling more tickets originating from Cuba.
“You’re beginning to see new types of travellers,” said Armando Garcia, president of Marazul, one of the largest Cuba charter flight operators.
Some of those travellers belong to a small class of professionals with businesses and money to travel, Garcia said. Many others come to visit family and friends — and there are now hundreds walking for the first time through the automatic glass doors outside customs and immigration and into a foreign land.
Perez’s friends, Rogelia and Luis Ventura, craned their necks for a glimpse of the exiting passengers.
“He said before he died, he wanted to come,” Rogelia Ventura, 68, said.
The Venturas immigrated to the U.S. three decades ago and have travelled since to visit Perez and other friends in Cuba. They own an auto body shop in Miami.
Luis Ventura, 65, said he wanted to share “my day-to-day life” with his friend.
“Everything he sees, he’s going to like,” said Ventura, a tall man in aviator glasses, with a cellphone strapped to his belt.
To gain a U.S. entry visa, Cubans must prove they don’t intend to immigrate, a difficult requirement given the island’s low wages and limited opportunities. Many Cubans given entry visas tend to be older, said Emilio Morales, who once worked in marketing research in Cuba before immigrating to the U.S. and opening a consulting business.
The Venturas said they planned to take Perez around Miami to eat at restaurants, see the beaches and go fishing. Perez also planned time with relatives, including his brother, whom he had not seen in 33 years. When he finally emerged through the glass doors at Miami International Airport, Perez and his friends embraced heartily.
Perez, who is diabetic, carried a small leather arm bag with juice and crackers he brought for the flight, and wore a grey-striped polo shirt and black slacks.
“I came to see them and to get to know this place,” he said.
The first thing Perez did was go to the Venturas’ house, a cantaloupe-coloured, single-story home with white metal gates along a busy five-lane street beside a highway. He stood outside the house staring at traffic, struck by the number of cars and clean streets, until his friends called him inside.
Perez said he’d never tried to come to the U.S. before and that the reforms had encouraged him to try. “It was easier,” he said. After a month-long stay, he planned to return to Cuba to be with his wife, parents and nine children.
But for now, he was meeting up with old friends and relatives, visiting the port to see fishermen and their catch, and dining at the allyou-can-eat buffet.
Perez laughed as he recalled how his friend told him he didn’t have to pile so much food up on his plate because he could go back for seconds. “I didn’t know for that price until they close, you can eat everything you want,” he said.
For the weekend, his friends planned a drive across the Florida peninsula to the city of Naples
The entire experience, Perez said, had been life-changing.
“I had my eyes closed,” he said, “and now they are open.”