Cuban migrants face choppy waters - 21 Feb 08

It is just 150kms that separates Cuba from the southern-most tip of Florida. Under current policy, migrants seized at sea are immediately deported back to Cuba, while those who make it to the US are granted automatic asylum. Cuban officials say the so-called 'wet-foot dry-foot' law actually encourages Cubans to leave. But the short sea journey can be incredibly dangerous, as Mariana Sanchez reports for Al Jazeera.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• Cuba
• US
• migrants
• Mariana
• Sanchez
• Al
• Jazeera
• English

[kodachromefilm]

Because they are so happy, they have to tell their joy to the world.

[joejeep03]

@chewbaca1997 dude, people are people. I don't hate any race. You're not worth my time. Stick to your xbox life, and I'll stick my life in reality. You think "honky" hurts coming from an immigrant's offspring? Dude, my coworkers refer to me as gringo all the time too, that isn't shit. My boss is Cuban, famous, and gave me my first real medical job after college when my fellow honkies turned me away for lack of experience. Choke on a dick.

[gazaking765]

bring us more cubans,deport the damn mexicans..............

[ARCHDIVERALPHATEAM]

FIDEL HAS MILKED CUBA AND ITS PEOPLE DRY.

[rednemesis88]

• To those of you who have no side on Cuba; If you are a freedom loving person then you may read all the lies about Cuba and believed them. I would ask that you please don't. I have visited the Island several times. There I found what the nature of freedom is: You can't have the freedom "to" if you don't have the freedom "from". You want to do whatever, say whatever, and explore whatever you want. But it's hard to do that if you're not free from hunger, disease, injury and ignorance (continued.)

[rednemesis88]

• ...Thats is one of the goals of socialism. To take the value created by industries in any given nation and put to collective use for all in said same nation such as food rationing, free medical care, and free schools (at all levels). For if a person is homeless, hungry, injured, contracted pneumonia, and is uneducated then what good is the freedom "to"? This is exactly what Cuba is trying to achieve. The problem is the embargo. It's putting the building of socialism through a hindered pace.

[rednemesis88]

Fidel is not a dictator. Dictators don't teach the poor literacy. Dictators don't arm the people from the threat of invasion. Dictators don't provide free medical care. Dictators don't ration the food products among the people. Dictators don't cut off diplomatic ties with Israel over the mistreatment of Palestinians. Dictators don't organize teams of doctors to go and provide free medical care to the poor in third world countries. If Castro is a Dictator then he is the strangest one there is.

[rednemesis88]

@marck0938 I have relatives in Cuba and was aloud to visit them everywhere. I would love to stay in Cuba but she doesn't need another mouth to feed- just a world-wide revolution.

[rednemesis88]

@NJRocks281 But no one has the right to tell other countries who they can trade with which is the main method of the illegally imposed embargo on Cuba. Besides, the embargo hurts the children on the island and thats never justified.

[rednemesis88]

@fshjshshhs What good are those political rights if you hungry, homeless, sick, uninsured, injured and in debt?

[memohavok]

@fshjshshhs Creo que estas medio pendejo. El embargo SI afecta. Mira la economia de mexico, todo lo que exporta a estados unidos y todo lo que importa, es la gran mayoria de las cosas. Asi que no mames, y regresate a cuba para que te den educacion, y luego ya vas a otro pais a hacer tus chingaderas.