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H-NET BOOK REVIEW
Published by H-LatAm@h-net.msu.edu (January 1998)
The Politics of Cuban Migration
Felix Masud-Piloto, _From Welcomed Exiles to Illegal Immigrants: Cuban
Migration to the U.S., 1959-1995_. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield
Publishers, 1996. xxii + 168 pp. Tables, notes, bibliography, index.
$62.50 (cloth) ISBN 0-8476-8148-3; $23.95 (paper) ISBN 0-8476-8149-1.
Reviewed for H-LatAm by Robert J. Kolesar, John Carroll
University,<rkolesar@jcvaxa.jcu.edu>
Few can doubt the contemporary or historical significance of the topic
Felix Masud-Piloto addresses in this book. The book does not attempt to
discuss fully the Cuban-American community; reasonably, the author
restricts his focus to the "reasons, motivations, and circumstances for
the migration" (p. 2). First published in 1988 under the title _With
Open Arms_, this revised and expanded edition is intended primarily to
trace the "evolution of and contradictions in U.S. policy" (p. xxi)
towards Cuban refugees in the post-Cold War period.
Masud-Piloto's central arguments offer few surprises. U.S. policies
toward Cuban refugees generally have been crafted to undermine Fidel
Castro's rule by draining Cuba of skilled personnel as well as by using
the refugee flight as a symbol of the failure of Castro's revolution.
U.S. administrations presumed that refugees were leaving for political
reasons, not economic, and thus would be resident in the United States
only temporarily. The Mariel exodus of 1980 brought the first
widespread awareness of the faultiness of U.S. assumptions.
The dramatic changes in U.S. refugee policy in 1994 and 1995, when the
U.S. effectively ended its "open arms" policy, came about for several
reasons. Masud-Piloto attributes lessened interest in the refugees to
both the Soviet Union's collapse and the growth of popular
anti-immigrant sentiments within the United States. Above all, there
was a desire to prevent another Mariel. Thus the Clinton administration
cooperated with Cuban authorities to restrict the flow of refugees even
as essential policies toward Cuba (lack of recognition, the embargo, and
travel restrictions) remained much the same.
Masud-Piloto also traces Castro's manipulation of refugees and U.S.
policies towards them. At most, migration from 1959-1980 hurt the Cuban
Revolution. It certainly did not destroy it. Even in the earliest
years, migration helped Castro consolidate his power. That became
evident even to the U.S. in 1980, when it became clear that a wide
variety of reasons motivated those who left Cuba, not simply political
opposition to Castro.
Some attempt is also made to put the Cuban migration of the last four
decades in a broader context. A brief first chapter (10 pages of text)
surveys "The United States, Cuba, and Cuban Exiles, 1868-1958," noting
that political exile in Florida had a long tradition even before 1959.
Another chapter contrasts the Cuban story with that of Haitians and
Central Americans. But this chapter suffers from dated sources. The
discussion of both Haitians and Nicaraguans ends with 1985. The final
chapter, which brings the Cuban refugee story to 1994 and 1995, does not
effectively use the comparative framework this chapter might have
provided.
While the work offers a reasonable overview of its topic, it does not
offer much new material. Much of the material does not appear to have
been significantly revised for this edition. It is based for the most
part on published materials, including newspaper reports. The author
notes the lack of archival sources, not only Cuban, but also American,
due to the continuing classification of documents in Presidential
libraries.
Masud-Piloto, a refugee himself, also incorporates the "views of family
members and friends through a number of random interviews." He does so
to "provide a more direct human perspective on the migration's effects"
(p. xviii). As laudable as that intent is, it seems misplaced in a work
that primarily surveys U.S. and Cuban policies. Much more remains to be
learned of the origins and motivations of the migrants themselves.
Copyright (c)1998 by H-Net, all rights reserved. This work
may be copied for nonprofit educational use if proper
credit is given to the author and the list. For other
permission, please contact H-Net at
H-Net@h-net.msu.edu.
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