Posted on 05/14/2002 4:39:33 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
MANAGUA - The tattoo etched into the smooth underside of Javier Pérez's right arm reads ''U.S.A.'' -- the land of his dreams. Over each letter is a permanent reminder of why this one-time Cuban soldier got on a raft and tried to make it to Miami: round, cigar-sized burn scars that he described as the handiwork of Cuban state security.
Pérez never made it to Miami, but on his last try he was picked up by the U.S. Coast Guard and transferred to Guantánamo Bay naval base.
The Nicaraguan government recently agreed to give residency to Pérez and 19 others who were some of the last Cubans left living on Guantánamo. But here in Nicaragua, these exiles say they are not satisfied and won't be until they make it to the United States.
''It's not that it's bad here, but we want to be reunified with our families,'' Pérez says. ``We want the U.S. government to give us the option to go to there.''
ROUTES TO BASE
Most of the Cuban men in the group, who range in ages from 19 to 53, were sent to Guantánamo after failed attempts to reach Miami by sea, but some jumped the fence and reached the base from Cuban territory directly by land.
U.S. officials send intercepted Cuban exiles to the base if they determine that they have a well-founded fear of persecution in Cuba. But once on the base, they are not eligible for U.S. visas, so officials must find a third country to take them in. Some of those who wound up in Nicaragua spent as long as three and a half years waiting.
On the base, they were able to work, save money and learn new skills.
Many helped to build the prisons that now hold Taliban prisoners. They became so accustomed to life in air-conditioned environments that they are struggling with the thick heat of Managua, where they arrived on May 1.
It was the same day the U.S. government announced it would extend temporary protected status to some 5,000 Nicaraguans living in the United States -- a benefit for which the Nicaraguan government had lobbied -- and just days after Nicaragua voted against Cuba in the United Nations Human Rights Commission.
But U.S. Embassy officials and Nicaragua's foreign minister say the timing was merely a coincidence.
''There was no quid pro quo. We asked and they accepted, just like that,'' said a U.S. Embassy official. ``Nicaragua knows where most of its trade goes and who is its biggest aid donor and it is trying to please the U.S.''
The Nicaraguan government sees the move as a way to say thanks to a community that over the years has helped Nicaragua.
''President Enrique Bolaños appreciates Cuban-Americans -- the Cuban community in Miami did a lot for the Nicaraguans during the 1980s,'' said Bolaños spokesman Joél Gutiérrez, adding that the help that Reps. Lincoln Díaz-Balart and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen have given Nicaragua in the past influenced his decision.
The U.S. government is footing a $60,000 bill to cover the group's living expenses for six months, and any expenses involved in resettlement and finding work.
Nearly all of them say they were pleased to hear their destination was Nicaragua. Not because they have dreams of staying here, but because they think that, one way or another, it will be easier to get to the United States.
''While we were on the base, a State Department official said it would be easier for us to go legally to the U.S. from here,'' said Tomás González, another member of the group. But embassy officials say the Cubans' chances of getting U.S. visas are no greater.
THEIR AVENUES
''Their U.S. relatives are free to pursue legal migration options for them. If they qualified for it. However, they could have applied from Havana. Most people who leave Cuba illegally don't have eligibility. They will receive no special immigration benefits here, and neither the U.S. nor the Nicaraguan governments see this as a way station,'' said a U.S. official.
Even so, many of the Cubans said they will find a way to reach the United States.
''If we can't go legally, we are prepared to go illegally,'' Pérez said. ``We don't want to relive the danger of another illegal trip, but we may have no choice. For us, the United States is the final destination.''
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