Las Vegas Cuban community cheers decision on exit visas

The Cuban government's decision Tuesday to ease travel was met with a good deal of cheer by the Cuban community in Las Vegas, many of whom fled the island in the 1960s and have done well for themselves in Nevada.

Otto Merida, president of the Latin Chamber of Commerce, and Waldo De Castroverde, a high-profile immigration attorney, were pleased by the decision to relax exit visa restrictions, starting in the second week of January 2013.

They are sure the thousands of other Cuban-Americans who came to Las Vegas more than four decades ago would concur, given the fact that most immigrated to escape the oppressive Communist regime.

"And freedom begins with the ability to come and go as you choose. I think it's great. For years, the government has prevented people over there from leaving," said De Castroverde, 71, a Cuban native who was a CIA-trained paratrooper in the Bay of Pigs Invasion on April 17, 1961.

Merida, who came to the United States as a 14-year-old, said he is happy to see the Cuban government loosening some of its more oppressive laws. It's a sign, he said, that the government, little by little, is giving in to the isolation created from being the only Communist country in the Western Hemisphere.

"It's good that the government is becoming more forthcoming," said Merida, 65, an educator and drug abuse counselor and one of the founders of the Latin Chamber of Commerce. "Hopefully this move will establish better relationships between the our two governments. Hopefully, we won't be so distant and so cold toward one another. It would be nice if Cuba some day would face reality and become a free country, but I don't think that's going to happen any time soon."

First, he said, Fidel Castro has to die. The country now is being run by his brother, Raul.

In all the optimism, however, there were a host of realists who noted that the Cubans weren't going to be traveling anywhere soon regardless of the restrictions or lack thereof - because of economic chaos.

Not only is unemployment high, but the average salary among the working class is $23 a month, according to Tony Henthorne, associate dean of the William F. Harrah College of Hotel Administration at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

"What I would like to know is when will the United States allow us to visit Cuba?" said Henthorne, who has traveled to Cuba nearly a half dozen times in the past decade and has written extensively on its tourism industry. "In order to go there, you have to either be an academic or a journalist. If you're just an ordinary citizen, you have to go to another country, like Mexico or Canada first, then fly into Cuba."

While the U.S. State Department didn't have an immediate answer, officials at the Department of Homeland Security said that agency is reviewing the announcement to see how the possible travel freedoms might affect the United States. And the U.S. visa requirements, according to Homeland Security, still remain in effect.

"We continue to urge individuals not to risk their lives by undertaking dangerous sea journeys," said Peter Boogaard, a spokesman for Homeland Security .

Contact reporter Tom Ragan at tragan@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5512.