Treacherous Path to Freedom: The Dark Side of Thawing US-Cuba Relations

PANAMA --  President Barack Obama's historic trip to Cuba in March signaled a thaw in relations between the two countries.  While it may lead to resolving some longstanding disputes, it may create some new challenges as well, including the longstanding policies on immigration favoring Cuban asylum seekers.  

Under the so-called "wet foot-dry foot" rule instituted in 1995, any Cuban migrant who makes it onto U.S. territory gains an expedited path to legal permanent residency.  But if caught in boats offshore, they are returned to Cuba.

Over the last 10 years, an average of 10,000 Cubans migrated to the U.S. each year.  In 2015, that number jumped to 43,000 because many Cubans believe better relations could end the current policy and its special immigration benefits. 

Closing Window of Opportunity?

Livan Bullain taught English for more than 20 years.  He recently left Cuba by way of Ecuador.  

"I am here because I want to get out of my country because of the economic situation we are living in for more than 50 years. And also the political situation in my country is very difficult for all Cubans so many of us are here to try to get to the States to get a better life," Bullain said.

He joins thousands of his countrymen currently making their way through Central America. 

"Because of the political changes of Cuba and the United States, we think that the windows will be closing soon," Bullain said.  "So we are trying to get faster to the States."

"There are many Cubans coming from the borders of Colombia, Guyana, Venezuela, from Ecuador -- from many countries of Latin America," he added.

A Treacherous Journey

No matter where they begin, all who take the land route must pass through Colombia, where virtually each one is robbed of everything.  Rosa Guerra was one of them. 
 
"Look, in Colombia many women were raped, robbed, threatened with pistols, machetes…both by the Colombian police and by civilians," she said.

Angel Hernandez nearly lost his granddaughter.  

"He pulled out a pistol and pointed it at the baby and he said, 'Money, or I kill the girl.'  And I had in my pocket $4,775.  And I gave it to him," Hernandez recalled.

Then once Hernandez and his family reached Colombia's northern border, they faced their biggest trial so far – a 40-mile stretch of some of the roughest jungle on the plane, the Darien.  Without money for a boat, they had no other choice but to walk.

So far this year, tens of thousands of Cubans have arrived in the port of Yaviza.  Yaviza is the Panamanian end of the road in the Darien jungle.  By this point in the journey, they've already been walking four to nine days through the jungle to get this far. And by the time they reach the Panama border, many of them are near death.

Trench foot, bug bites and prickly heat are common, and there are reports that dozens have died from the sweltering heat.

Costa Rica closed its border to migrants in April. On May 9, Panama officially closed its border with Colombia to stem the tide of immigrants walking south.  

But with so many square miles of jungle to cover, it's almost impossible to enforce the border closure. 

Panama is struggling to care for those already here, and dozens more arrive every day.  A few have obtained flights to Mexico but with most left penniless, they aren't sure where they will go from here. More than a thousand are housed temporarily in a camp along the Costa Rican border.  

Holding onto Hope

While the way forward may be in doubt, they are trying to keep their hopes up.

"We Cubans find solutions for many problems, for many things," Bullain said.

"In the end, I'm not here alone.  We're all here together.  We're one family," Guerra added.