Cuban exiles unhappy in Spain

[dipsydoodle]

I don't recall this being picked up before so am posting now.


Freedom has a bitter aftertaste for 40 Cuban dissidents exiled to Spain. They were granted political asylum a year ago but the Spanish authorities haven't offered them any work and many feel their future is bleak. In retrospect, many say, they should have stayed in their Cuban prison cells.

The dissidents were part of the Group of 75: writers, journalists and activists who were arrested in March 2003 by the Cuban government. They all received lengthy prison sentences. The international community pressured Raul Castro's government into releasing them.

For some of the dissidents, part of their release agreements included going into exile. One of them is Miguel Galbán, a 46-year-old journalist who is now living in a Red Cross shelter with his niece and a neighbour.

>

He was sentenced to 26 years in jail for his work as an independent journalist. He was released in September 2010 and was one of the last Cuban dissidents to accept exile to Spain. Spain was hard-hit by the global economic crisis and when he arrived in Spain around 20% of the workforce was unemployed.

http://www.rnw.nl/english/article/cuban-exiles-unhappy-spain

Grass is always greener..............

[xchrom]

1. maybe this is why: Spain's jobless level hits record 4.75 million

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-17594684

he number of Spanish jobseekers rose for the eighth month in a row in March to hit a record 4.75 million.

The Labour Ministry said the number of people filing for unemployment benefits rose by 38,769 with the services sector seeing the most jobs lost.

The jobless rate in Spain stood at 23.6% in February, according to EU figures released on Monday.

Meanwhile, Spain has said its public debt will leap more than 10 percentage points this year to 79.8% of GDP.

[bemildred]

2. "In retrospect, many say, they should have stayed in their Cuban prison cells."

Wow.

[dipsydoodle]

3. Great healthcare in Cuba.

[bemildred]

4. Doesn't say much for Spain, does it?

I mean wow.

Of course, there may be some rhetorical exaggeration.

[dipsydoodle]

5. They picked a bad time

Spain was royaly screwn by the 2007 financial collapse. They previouly had a high level of movement from their tourist industry into building and construction over a period of 20years or so. That collapsed almost overnight - hence the high jobless figure.

Having said that, given they were journalists, I'm not sure what work they expected to find. +

[bemildred]

6. Disappointment that their 15 minutes in the sun is over, perhaps.

Treason has always been a serious business, it undermines trust. These guys sound like immature liteweights.

It is interesting to note the correlation between obedience to the IMF/WB crowd and future economic collapse. Coincidence? I don't think so.

[txlibdem]

7. I'm sorry their Capitalist Dreams have been dashed on the cruel rocks of reality

But, hey, they're free! Yay! Starving, unjustly treated, and now they can die as the Capitalists they've always wanted to be.

Hooray for them. Anyone who wants to be a Capitalist eventually winds up right where these people are. They just got to the reality of Capitalism faster than most.

[naaman fletcher]

8. I think,

I believe Judi, PP, or both, have pointed out in the past that these people were probably expecting the luxury treatment that Cuban exiles in the US get, and are being spoiled brats.

I tend to agree with that.