Panama grants asylum to 19 Cubans
currently detained in Bahamas
HAVANA TIMES (dpa) – The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Panama announced on Sunday that it will confer territorial asylum to 19 Cubans currently detained in the Bahamas in the Caribbean.
A Panamanian Foreign Ministry statement said the asylum was ordered by the President of Panama, Ricardo Martinelli, and will take effect once the Cubans arrive in this country.
“This is a process issued, based on the 1954 Caracas Convention, whereby territorial asylum is granted to citizens suffering political persecution or whose personal safety is in danger,” said the official statement.
The Foreign Ministry stressed that the asylum approval came after the Panamanian authorities analyzed a report by human rights organizations on the treatment of the Cubans held in Bahamas.
The Bahamian government has justified the arrests in response to the fight against illegal trafficking of undocumented persons who travel on boats illegally entering their waters.
I guess these 19 Cubans, along with the 2.1 million other Cubans living abroad did not get the memo regarding how Castros’ reforms are transforming Cuban society. They also don’t seem to appreciate the low infant mortality rate, educational system or the participatory electoral process that Castro apologists love to praise here at HT. I suppose they were not too impressed with health care in Cuba. Surely they will miss living under the leadership of such greats as Fidel and Raul Castro. It is a wonder indeed.