The government is facing increasing pressure to release the two Cuban dentists to U.S. authorities following the publication of an opinion piece in a leading Florida newspaper yesterday that urged officials to settle the matter quickly or face the consequences, and a push from the opposition to act in the country’s best interest.
But in the House of Assembly last night, Prime Minister Perry Christie announced that the government had made a decision on what to do with the dentists and will reveal its decision “after some formal arrangements are in place”.
The increased pressure to release the doctors comes on the heels of a threat issued by two U.S. Congress members who are lobbying for economic sanctions against The Bahamas if the dentists are not released.
Yesterday, under the headline “Marooned in Bahamas detention,” an opinion piece in the Miami Herald said it was “morally right to free the Cuban dentists.”
“The Bahamian government should immediately release Marialys Darias Mesa and David Gonzalez Mesa to U.S. authorities. The two Cuban dentists have been wrongfully locked up in Nassau for 10 months. The Bahamas government apparently fears retribution from Cuba more than it values its relationship with the United States,” according to the article.
“But that isn’t an acceptable excuse for an unjust detention. The longer the Bahamian government delays, the worse it will jeopardise U.S. diplomatic and commercial ties.”
Minister of Foreign Affairs Fred Mitchell, responding to the piece, told The Bahama Journal that the article was “unkind and unjustified.”
“It’s a little bit of facts and some opinion that is mixed up together. And they are entitled to their opinion. Their opinion is simply incorrect. We’ve said essentially that we want to keep out of the rhetoric between the South Florida community and their differences with the Cuban government,” said Mr. Mitchell.
According to the minister, The Bahamas has sovereign relationships with both the Cuban and American governments, and “there is no question” which country is its closest ally and closest friend.
Opposition leader Hubert Ingraham raised the matter in the House of Assembly on Wednesday in his contribution to the debate on the Speech from the Throne.
Mr. Ingraham said he hoped the two doctors would not have to wait for the refugee and asylum legislation outlined in the Speech from the Throne, before their cases are addressed by the government.
“I do not believe the government’s hands are tied in this matter,” said Mr. Ingraham. “The government does have a difficult decision to make and it ought to make it based on existing laws, relevant agreements in place and past practice. The government must determine its options and then act – act in the best interest of The Bahamas.”
Mr. Mitchell said the government is committed to working with Cuban officials under the migration accord between the two countries.
However, Mr. Ingraham reminded the minister that the Bahamas was also a signatory to the international convention relating to refugees and the grant of political asylum.
“I know more than I want to say, more than I should say, all I do say is that being committed to the accord is fine. The accord was signed in 1996 under my government, it was amended in 1998 under my government, excellent,” said Mr. Ingraham. “We also signed the international convention relating to refugees and the grant of political asylum. We have both of those things that must be considered and taken account of.”
According to the opinion piece in the Herald, Ms. Mesa and Mr. Gonzalez “took to the seas” in 2005 after trying unsuccessfully for three years to get authorization from the Cuban government to leave the country.
The dentists were picked up on a Bahamian cay in April 2005 by the U.S. Coast Guard and were turned over to Bahamian authorities and eventually taken to the Carmichael Road Detention Centre.
“Had the Coast Guard called for U.S. immigration to screen the Cubans, as is routine when it interdicts Cubans in U.S. or international waters, Ms. Darias and Mr. Gonzalez likely would have ended up coming to the United States. They had U.S. visas and good cases for asylum,” according to the article.
Mr. Mitchell said that under the migration accord with Cuba, the dentists were to be returned to their homeland, but before this could happen the U.S. government intervened.
He said the dentists eventually made a request to have their status reviewed, after the Cuban government was made aware of their presence in The Bahamas. Under the treaty there are “no exceptions,” the minister added.
“The South Florida community and some of their adherents believe that we ought to disregard what the treaty provisions say, and it is being characterised as us somehow not standing up to [Fidel] Castro,” he said, noting that the Bahamas and Cuban foreign affairs offices are dealing with the matter.
Mr. Mitchell said he was satisfied that the U.S. government understands the Bahamas’ position is and that officials are trying to resolve the situation as expeditiously as possible and will continue to work to resolve it. However he acknowledged that the U.S. government wants to see the matter resolved.
The opinion piece, said Mr. Mitchell, was another move by the dentists’ relatives living in Florida who want to see the situation resolved quickly and are using their connections to try and influence that result.
“These comments [in the opinion piece] are simply unhelpful. What it is doing is hardening Bahamian public opinion and closing the space which any government would have to manevuer to try and resolve this matter,” he said. “Diplomacy takes time, there is not instant pudding to this, but I can assure you that the issue is being taken seriously.”
By: Erica Wells, The Bahama Journal
