The United States has just denied a study visa to the Cuban academic Omara Ruiz Urquiola, a symbol of civic resistance against the dictatorship of Miguel Díaz-Canel. In May of last year, Ruiz Urquiola was awarded a scholarship from the Program for Threatened Cuban Scholars in the Humanities, granted by the Cuban Research Institute of Florida International University (FIU), which she was to join in the 2023-2024 academic year.
But that has not happened because the dissident, who was part of the San Isidro Movement and is mentioned in the iconic song "Patria y Vida" by the rapper Maykel Osorbo, who was sentenced to prison in Cuba, has faced bureaucratic obstacles. The Cuban regime will not allow her to return to the island, and she refuses to be forced into a migration status in the United States that would justify the disrespect for her rights as a Cuban citizen. "I did not go into exile. They have not allowed me to return," she stated to CiberCuba in an interview given this Monday.
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) attributed the rejection of the visa application for Omara Ruiz Urquiola to the expiration date of the invitation letter for the FIU scholarship. On this matter, the academic has answered questions from this portal through a questionnaire.
In May 2023, Florida International University awarded him a scholarship, but he has not been able to start his studies. What has happened?
I need a J1 visa (for international students). The Cuban Research Institute (CRI) did not properly process the application and then hindered the process in response to my requests for financial transparency. The last university invitation (DS-2019) expired, having been issued late due to interventions from CRI, and USCIS has denied the visa.
Who is exactly responsible for a freedom fighter in Cuba having to struggle with bureaucracy?
The Cuban Research Institute at Florida International University, with the support of the Office of Cuban Affairs of the United States Department of State, should note Dr. Jorge Duany as the primary person responsible. I understand that he is the former director of the CRI.
What is your legal status in the United States at this moment? Do you believe they are indirectly forcing you to apply for the Cuban Adjustment Act?
I do not have legal status. The last extension of my tourist visa expired on January 20, 2023. It was the third one and required a medical endorsement.
Yes, Dr. Duany went from telling me that he had the approval of the State Department to proceed with the processing of my visa, despite the expiration of my tourist visa, to not adhering to the reality, arguing a counter-order from that same agency. The Office of Cuban Affairs itself later contradicted this; they even failed to respond to the appeal from a group of activists who intervened on my behalf. Even Cuban intelligence has taken to one of its cyber warriors on social media to confront me for not taking advantage of the Adjustment Act. It's interesting; the "adversaries" have come to an agreement. They all want me to go into exile. It makes you think.
What solution do you see for this problem, or at least, what solution do you propose?
That the implementation of the Mellon Scholarship Program for threatened Cuban scholars in the humanities by the CRI be thoroughly investigated, and that the Office of Cuban Affairs at the Department of State fulfill its promise. Adhering to the call for applications that I opted for and won would be sufficient.
You have expressed dissatisfaction with the institutional management of the Mellon scholarships by the CRI. Why is that?
In addition to the violation of rights in my case, the poor practices regarding institutional transparency are noteworthy.
From the very first call, the violation of the guidelines was evident. This is a program with an assistive, humanitarian nature, designed to support those of us who have suffered political repression to the extent that our projects as scholars and artists have been canceled.
It is not a scholarship for those studying Cuban issues, nor is it for activists. It responds to the dictatorship's policy of cancellation against academics and artists who have been marginalized, sidelined, and stripped of our fields of study and creation.
Those expelled from universities, galleries, and film festivals, those who have suffered the looting of their collections in their own homes, and this is not the case in every instance.
The membership of the selection committee has never been disclosed, despite it being a public call. For me, with over twenty years in academic life, both in and out of Cuba, this is very unusual. It aligns with the irregularities detected in the awards granted.
It is also noteworthy that the initial call has been modified. What's most shocking is the dehumanizing, re-victimizing treatment and lack of institutional expertise from the Cuban Research Institute at FIU in this case. I will never understand why the Mellon Foundation entrusted a program of this scale and complexity to an institution ill-equipped to handle it. As of today, only one fellow has completed the program, which began in August 2023.
Do you give up on returning to Cuba? Will you try again?
Not even in death would I give up on returning to my homeland; that would mean ceasing to be myself, negating my identity. Of course, I will keep trying, over and over again. I have waited patiently to see how far they are capable of going here. I have been told that I cannot board the plane by American officials from American airlines; it has not been Cubans from Cubana de Aviación. It is Americans on U.S. soil who have carried out the orders of the Minint.
How does Omara Ruiz Urquiola experience the economic, migratory, and human rights crisis in Cuba?
Bad, without sleep. Every blow against a prisoner or a protester, every death due to the state's neglect of hospitals, rural settlements, and assistance for the elderly and sick, infuriates me.
I don’t look at the migrant numbers. It’s shocking the “cleansing” of generations they are undertaking to turn Cuba into scorched earth, easy to sell.
We were "banned" to ease the pressure on civil society and negotiate calmly. It's obvious that we were an inconvenience to the other party at that unpleasant table; of course, it benefits everyone that I seek refuge under a law (the Cuban Adjustment Act) that would "justify" the illegality of my exile based on its political nature.
This Tuesday is the United States elections. What is best for Cuba?
We must remain on the sidelines, focusing on the fact that only Cubans can save Cuba. I do not pin my hopes on any foreign power. That would undermine any possibility of a future for us.
My brothers are imprisoned and do not kneel because they believe in Cuba. My family has been mortally wounded for believing in Cuba. I breathe because I am going to Cuba.
Out of curiosity, have you received support from the Cuban dissident intellectual community?
Of the few, the essential ones. I have been very pleased to receive support from censored academics like myself, including colleagues who are currently being repressed in Cuba. I don’t want to omit anyone, which is why I won't mention names; they are on social media.
Some who are in exile and risk cancellation have done so publicly. I would like to highlight Anamely Ramos and Camila Lobón, both legitimate fellows of the Mellon Foundation.
People who have been expelled and are truly persecuted for their academic and artistic work in Cuba, surviving as best as they can, have spoken out publicly. They know that from now on they risk being excluded from any opportunities, but they refuse to allow themselves to be marked like a product.
To the rest, my compassion has reached them; they carry no more.
What do you think?
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