[Politics] In the Piñera governments, only three Cubans were welcomed out of more than 4,500 asylum applications

[FNX Magokiler]

Last Saturday, one day before the Pan American Games ended, ten athletes out of 412 of the Cuban delegation – a number that is managed until now – secretly left the Pan American Village to later present (a group of four so far) applications for refuge from returning to their country. After the news, the opposition has called on the Government and President Gabriel Boric to accept these requests under the auspices of the verse of the National Anthem: “Or asylum against oppression.”

Clearly – say those familiar with the internal affairs – the problem complicates the Government. Even though Minister Camila Vallejo (PC) and communist deputy Karol Cariola have come out to rule out any discomfort, arguing that requests for asylum or political refuge have to be analyzed on their merit, the truth is that for the Communist Party it is not easy, firstly because of the historical support for the Cuban regime and, secondly, because it is not just any Cuban, but elite athletes. And it is not easy for President Boric either, since the argument for which he is being summoned by the right comes from his own words, in the sense that human rights must be respected and violations of these should be condemned "come from wherever they come.”

But the Government of Gabriel Boric is not the only one that has received similar requests from Cuban citizens seeking to flee the island.

 

 

Former President Sebastián Piñera found himself in the same situation and, even though his Government did not have the problem that Apruebo Dignidad has, since in his sector they have always condemned the Cuban regime, by overwhelming majority the requests for political asylum during his administration were rejected.

The opposition's onslaught
The deputy Cristián Labbé (UDI), from the Foreign Relations Commission and the Sports Commission, at the beginning of the week called on the President: “From the UDI we come to ask the President to please take and give asylum to the athletes Cubans who are breaking out of a dictatorship.” Labbé added that "no one wants to return to a dictatorship and what the President of the Republic has to do is be able to ensure the human rights of these athletes and be able to give them asylum as soon as possible."

In National Renewal, meanwhile, it was the former secretary general, deputy Diego Schalper, who also called on the Government to accept these refugee requests as a political signal. “Law 20,430 gives them the possibility of requesting refuge in the country and, obviously, if that were their provision, it seems to me that the State of Chile and the Government of President Boric should send a signal in pursuit of human rights, in pursuit of democracy and, obviously, give political refuge to these athletes.”

 

https://www.elmostrador.cl/noticias/pais/2023/11/10/en-los-gobiernos-de-pinera-se-acogio-solo-a-tres-cubanos-de-mas-de-4-500-solicitudes-de-asilo/