Cuba
古巴
High-speed escape
火速逃亡
Jun 12th 2008 | MIAMI
2008年6月24日迈阿密
From The Economist print edition
摘自《经济学人》印刷版
Greater optimism at home has not stopped the exodus to the United States
古巴国内极其乐观的前景阻止不住前往美国的偷渡人员
WITH Fidel Castro formally out of office and some signs of greater optimism among Cuba’s citizens about the possibility of social and economic change, you might expect fewer people to risk their lives by seeking to escape the island by sea.
在菲德尔•卡斯特罗正式退出政坛和古巴民众对国内社会和经济变革的可能性表现出更为乐观的迹象后，你也许觉得现在冒生命危险从海路逃离古巴的人数应当有所减少。”。
Not so, apparently. The number of Cubans trying to smuggle their way into America is the highest it has been for more than a decade. The United States Coast Guard says that over the past eight months 3,846 Cubans have made the trip-a 7.5% increase on last year’s already high figure for the same period. Of these, around 40% (1,577) were intercepted at sea, an increase of more than a quarter. In the whole of the last (American) financial year, ending in September, 7,693 sought to flee to the United States, more than half of whom managed to avoid detection. But 3,197 were intercepted at sea, the highest number since the “rafter crisis” of 1994, when 37,000 were caught.
然而，现实显然并非如此。设法逃往美国的古巴人数量创十多年新高。美国海岸警卫队表示：在过去八个月中，有3846位古巴人偷渡美国–在去年同期已很高的数字基础上又增加了7.5%。其中约有40% 的偷渡人员(1577人)在海上被拦截，比上年增长了25%以上。在上一（美国）财政年度（截至9月）中，有7693人试图偷渡到美国。其中半数以上未被察觉，但仍有3197人在海上被拦截，这是美国自1994年”筏夫危机”–当时有3.7万人被捕–以来抓获偷渡人员数量最多的年度。
“There is sort of a silent exodus taking place from Cuba,” says Ramón Saul Sánchez, leader of Democracy Movement, a Miami-based Cuban advocacy group. Despite the transition of power from Fidel Castro to his brother, Raúl, many Cubans have little expectation of big changes on the island. American restrictions on travel and remittances to Cuba have added to their sense of desperation.
“大批偷渡人员似乎正在俏无声息地从古巴逃出，”民主运动（迈阿密的一个古巴促进会）的领导人Ramón Saul Sánchez说道。尽管古巴政权从菲德尔•卡斯特罗顺利过渡给其兄弟劳尔•卡斯特罗，许多古巴人对国内将会发生巨大变革并不抱有希望。美国对前往古巴旅行和汇款等事宜都有严格限制，此举更是加深了古巴民众的绝望之感。
Yet the spike in the number of Cubans seeking to leave may have as much to do with an increase in organised smuggling as with economic despair. In the past, Cubans made the crossing-just over 100 miles (160km) between Havana and Key West-in home-made rafts. These days, they travel in speed boats hired in Miami by relatives paying up to $10,000 a head for the trip.
然而，寻求逃往美国的古巴人数量的剧增不仅源于人们对经济的绝望，还与有组织偷渡活动的增加有很大关系。以前，古巴人乘自制木筏横渡大海–从哈瓦那到基韦斯特仅有100多英里(160km)。近来，偷渡人员则乘亲戚在迈阿密以每人高达1万美元的价格所雇佣的快艇渡海。
Cubans have also discovered a new route to freedom, crossing the sea to Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula, then making their way overland to the border with the United States. Under American law, these so-called “wet-foot, dry-foot” Cubans are allowed to stay if they make it to their objective. Those picked up at sea are nearly always repatriated.
古巴人还发现一条通往自由的新路线：穿过大海到达墨西哥的尤卡坦半岛，然后使经由陆路越过美国边界。根据美国法律，如果偷渡人员成功到达美国陆地，那些称为”湿足，干足”的古巴人可获准留下来。不过，那些在海上被抓到的人则几乎都要被遣返回国。
Until recently, the trafficking of people was virtually ignored by American officials. But prosecutors in Miami have now begun to get tough. Over the past two months, 41 Cuban-Americans have been charged with attempting to smuggle hundreds of Cubans into Florida by boat. Investigators started to pay greater attention after several drownings cast an ugly spotlight on the trade. The Coast Guard says that 36 Cubans died at sea in April alone. In one incident last November, as many as 40 people from a single village in Cuba, including a dozen children, are believed to have died. Rear-Admiral David Kunkel, the Coast Guard’s district commander, recently appealed to Cuban exiles to “put the criminals who engage in human smuggling out of business by not using them”.
近来，美国官员事实上忽视了人口交易的非法活动。不过，迈阿密的检察官现在已开始采取强硬手段。在过去二个月中，有41位古巴裔美国人因用船偷运数百名古巴人进入佛罗里达未遂遭到起诉。在数起偷渡人员惨遭淹死事件幕后肮脏的交易被曝光之后，调查人员开始给予了极大关注。海岸警卫队表示仅在4月份就有36名古巴人死于海上。在去年11月份的一次事故中，从古巴一个小村庄偷渡的40多人（包括10来名小孩）据信已死。海岸警卫队的区司令员海军少将大卫•昆柯尔（David Kunkel）最近向那些背井离乡的古巴人竭力呼吁，”不要雇佣参与偷运事务的罪犯，让他们失业”。
In an attempt to stem the flow, America’s State Department has accelerated its visa procedures for Cubans seeking to be reunited legally with their families in the United States. But the escalation in smuggling has had one positive outcome: American and Cuban coast-guard officials are now co-operating to try to stop the trade-one of the very few areas where the two countries do work together. “It really is in no one’s interest to let this continue,” said one American official.
为阻止偷渡人员涌向国内，美国国务院已提高了办理签证手续的效率，以帮助古巴人同生活在美国的家庭成员合法团聚。不过，人员偷运的逐步升级却取得积极结果：美国和古巴的海岸警备队官员正展开合作，设法阻止此项非法贸易–两国极少合作的领域之一。”任其发展确实对谁都无好处”一位美国官员说道。
译者：captain21 http://www.ecocn.org/forum/viewthread.php?tid=12164&pid=76113&page=1&extra=page%3D1#pid76113