Minister of Tourism Obie Wilchcombe said on Monday The Bahamas is prepared for any fallout that could come from recent demonstrations against the country over illegal Cuban migration issues.
“We are going to ensure that the radio and television stations and newspapers will contain and have more of the information pertaining to The Bahamas and that more advertisements are done just to reassure that we are a cruise destination and we are friends next door,” Minister Wilchcombe told The Bahama Journal. “We are friendly people.”
The minister’s comments followed a weekend protest staged by members of a Cuban exile group on Watson Island, just off the coast of Miami, Florida. The demonstrators sought to “inform” passengers onboard Bahama-bound cruise ships that the country mistreats Cubans who land and are detained here.
The demonstrators urged a tourist boycott of The Bahamas because Cuban dentists, David Gonzalez-Mejias and Marialys Darias-Mesa, have been detained at the Carmichael Road Detention Centre for 10 months now.
The alleged attack on a Miami-based journalist by a Defence Force officer has also outraged many in Floridaﾴs Cuban-Americana community. Police said last week they completed their investigation into the matter and forwarded their file to the Office of the Attorney General for consideration.
“We are trying to send a message to the Bahamian government,”‘ Tomas Rodriguez, of Agenda: Cuba was quoted in the Miami Herald as saying. “They need to resolve the issue of all the migrants in their detention centre.”
But Minister Wilchcombe said while there are those who may react in a way that would ultimately affect the country, The Bahamas has one thing in its favour ﾖ its reputation.
“The Bahamas has always stood with the fight for civil liberties,” he said. “We have always been with the internationally recognized conventions. So The Bahamas does not have a negative record that shows our discord toward the civil society development and that of the human being and the respect for persons who come from other places in the world or those who find their way in our country under whatever circumstances.
“We have always ﾖ more than most countries ﾖ reached out to help and so we have that in our favour.”
Bahamas Ambassador to The United States Joshua Sears shared similar sentiments.
“They see this as part of bringing pressure to bear on the government,” he said of the demonstrators.
“The point in all of this is that the economic interests of both countries are very clearly connected and business in the tourism industry is mutually beneficial to everyone and so, I think those efforts aimed at economic pressure are ill advised.”
He said the Cuban-American community is really not a homogenous community.
“Throughout all of this, our task is to ensure that there is a level of understanding maintained,” Mr. Sears said.
The ambassador is expected to meet with Cuban-American members of Congress sometime this week to continue the dialogue between the two countries in relation to these matters.
“I think they will be pleased with the investigation into the alleged mistreatment of Cubans detained in The Bahamas,” he said. “Meeting with them prevents the opportunity for misinformation.”
In the Miami Herald article, Gus Garcia, legal coordinator of Movimiento Democracia, an exile group, insisted that the protest was against The Bahamasﾴ policy on migrants and not Bahamians.
He said if the “abuses” continued, his group would continue its protests.
“We will only stop when we see some results,” Mr. Garcia was quoted as saying.
Prime Minister Perry Christie said in the House of Assembly last Wednesday night that the government had reached a decision on what to do with the Cuban dentists detained at the detention centre.
But Mr. Christie said that decision will not be revealed until some formal arrangements were in place.
On Monday, Minister Wilchcombe said the government was working “feverishly” to resolve these issues.
“I think in the fullness of time, people would fully understand that the government did nothing untoward certainly within the framework of existing conventions, memorandums of understanding and agreements,” Minister Wilchcombe said.
“I believe that the matter would be resolved in an amicable way. I think that all sides are going to be very pleased and I believe that our friends in Florida would appreciate that we are their friends, the friends of Cubans, the friends of Cuban Americans.”
By Macushla N. Pinder, The Bahama Journal
