14ymedio, Desde Aqui, Reinaldo Escobar, 13 January 2017 — The end of the wet foot/dry foot policy entails among its many consequences the loss of hope for a great number of Cubans. Few times in our national history has a decision taken outside the borders of the island touched the lives of so many Cuban citizens in a medullary and definitive way.
Among those affected are migrants already on their way to the United States, as well as those who have sold their property and possessions to pay for the expenses of the journey, those who were waiting for an opportunity to desert from an official mission abroad, or simply those who dreamed of escape from the island. In total, tens of thousands of people.
However, there is a much larger number. Incalculable. The one made up of all those who saw in the possibility of emigration a motivation to behave with docility in the face of difficulties. They were the ones who trusted that, at the moment when they could not longer bear the hard daily life of the island, they had a way out: a raft, the jungles of Central America, the Mexican border, the Bering Strait…
The only hope is that we recover the courage to face our reality and assume the consequences
Like the last drops of water in the canteen while crossing the desert, the lifejackets the stewardess holds up for emergencies, or the last gulp of oxygen with which the diver must try to reach the surface, the wet foot/dry foot policy represented hope for many on the island. The illusion that if they reached their limit there would always be a lifeline to cling to.
“If it gets ugly, I’ll up and leave,” was a recurring thought shared among young and old, poor or new rich, dissidents or government officials. It relieved them to know that, from the closed box which Cuba has become, they had a way out. Perhaps they would never use it, but it was a balm to know it was there.
From now on there are no lifejackets under the seat, no water in the canteen to cross the desert, and there is no oxygen left to return to the surface. The only hope is that we recover the courage to face our reality and assume the consequences.
