Vanessa Bauza

HAVANA · Veteran Cuban dissidents describe their pro-democracy struggles here as an ongoing relay race. As some activists are jailed, seek asylum or become worn down, they pass the baton to others who continue their efforts.

Last week independent journalist Manuel Vazquez Portal became the most recent example. In a surprise reversal, the Cuban government overturned its previous denial of his exit permit thereby allowing him to seek asylum in the United States.

A former government-affiliated journalist, Vazquez Portal became a dissident more than a decade ago. He was one of 75 opposition leaders sentenced to long prison terms in March 2003. He made a name for himself when he smuggled parts of his journal out of his jail cell in a hardbound copy of War and Peace, opening a window onto his life behind bars.

In June, when he was released on probation because of health problems, a state security captain suggested he leave Cuba for good. Vazquez Portal is not one to take the Cuban government's counsel, but he has decided his time here is over, at least for now.

It is a bitter decision, but one he hopes will lead to a new beginning for his family, especially his 10-year-old son, Gabriel.

"I don't want my son to be the son of a dissident, of a worm or mercenary," Vazquez Portal, 54, said in an interview at a friend's central Havana home. "The simple truth is I don't have in my hands the mechanisms to solve the problems of my country. … I am old, alone and tired. I've been in the opposition 12 years, I've suffered censure, intellectual ostracism, political repression and, finally, jail."

He said he does not think a political change is near and is frustrated with the opposition's inability to connect with society at large because of a lack of access to the media and public meetings.

"I do not want to continue sacrificing my family," he said.

It's been a long road to asylum for Vazquez Portal, his wife, Yolanda Huerga, and Gabriel. They originally were granted refugee status by the U.S. government in 2000. However, the Cuban government denied his initial request for an exit permit.

By the time the Cuban government approved his departure in October 2002, the U.S. government instituted heightened, post-Sept. 11 security measures that temporarily froze refugee departures. In March 2003 he was arrested in the Cuban government's crackdown on dissidents, accused of providing subversive information to Miami-based news outlets and sentenced to an 18-year prison term.

Last summer, he and six other dissidents from the group of 75 were released on probation. Fearing they could be sent back to prison, most have begun applying for refugee status in the United States.

Early last week, Vazquez Portal said a Cuban government official told him he would have to wait until the year 2021 to leave. Hours later that decision was reversed, making Vazquez Portal the first in the group of 75 to be allowed to leave Cuba.

For many, asylum is a bittersweet option. Dissidents say it relieves the intense pressure of potential imprisonment, but also severs their ties to their homeland.

Martha Beatriz Roque, an independent economist, was the only woman jailed in the group of 75. She was released on probation in July and found that, during her time in prison, 19 of 360 people who had worked with her left Cuba. While she empathizes with their desire to start a new life abroad, she says she will continue her struggle for a transition on the island.

"In my 15 years in the opposition, the people I work with have changed five or six times," Roque said. "I don't think it is unfair of them to leave. …[But] this makes us work harder. You prepare people [to work in the opposition]. When they leave, we have to prepare new people."

A U.S. diplomat in Havana said the number of Cubans receiving asylum has increased in recent months in part because applications are now being processed more efficiently after the post-Sept. 11 slowdown. Although the exact number varies from year to year, the official, who declined to be named, said about 2,500 Cuban refugees are approved annually.

Elsa Morejon, the wife of another longtime dissident, Oscar Elias Biscet, who is sentenced to 25 years in prison, said she too understands the decision to leave.

"Everyone has a right to chose their destiny. … It's a very personal decision and no one should criticize it," Morejon said. "With this action of letting him [Vazquez Portal] leave the country they are giving him a pardon. What we need is for them to pardon those who want to stay, too."

The U.S. diplomatic mission has yet to fix a date for Vazquez Portal's departure. Until they board their flight, he and his wife say, they will worry something could still get in the way of them and the new life they seek.

"I am happy, but also nervous," Huerga said. "I worry there will be some trick, that they will take it [the exit permit] away or jail him."

Vanessa Bauzá can be reached at vmbauza1@yahoo.com
 

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