DEPARTURE OF DR HILDA MOLINA

C O N F I D E N T I A L HAVANA 000357

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/15/2019
TAGS: AR CU PGOV PHUM PREL
SUBJECT: DEPARTURE OF DR HILDA MOLINA

Classified By: COM Jonathan Farrar for reasons 1.5 (b) and (d)


1. (C) As has been reported widely in the media, dissident
Cuban doctor Hilda Molina departed Cuba late on Saturday,
June 13, and traveled to Buenos Aires to be with her
seriously ill mother. Demonstrating that it can move very
quickly when it wants to, the GOC provided Molina a passport
and exit visa on Friday June 16. She then received a visa
from the Argentine embassy and confirmed her travel plans
later on the same day. Polchief spoke with Dr Molina as she
was heading to the airport on Saturday. She said she did not
know how long she would be gone, but implied that it was
possible she would not return. Her fairly consistent
position for some time had been that she only wanted
permission to travel to Argentina temporarily in order to
visit her family and get to know her grandchildren. When her
mother became critically ill about two weeks ago, almost
precisely on the anniversary of her departure from Cuba,
Molina told us she wanted to go to Argentina urgently to care
for her and bring her back to Cuba if possible.


2. (C) Molina told polchief that the Cuban conference of
Catholic bishops had been instrumental in convincing the GOC
to grant her permission to leave. She expressed appreciation
to the Argentine embassy for moving quickly with her visa,
but said that they too had been surprised by the GOC move.
Molina told polchief the church wanted to remain as far in
the background as possible and was quite content to have the
Argentine government take all the credit.


3. (C) On June 10, polchief had spoken with the DCM of the
nunciatura (the former nuncio has departed and not yet been
replaced) and a representative of the bishop's conference on
Molina's behalf, and was told that the issue was being worked
actively. When he passed this information to Dr Molina she
had said she appreciated the effort the church was making,
but that she had little hope they could achieve anything in
time, since her 90-year old mother was suffering multiple
organ failure and seemed to be fading quickly. She also
noted that she did not have a passport and had not even begun
the process of obtaining an exit permit (tarjeta blanca),
both of which could take months to obtain under normal
circumstances, even if the government did not interpose any
objections.


4. (C) Reaction to Molina's departure among Cuban dissidents
has been positive if cautious. Members of the Damas de
Blanco (Ladies in White) told polchief on Sunday that, while
they were happy for Molina personally, they believed the GOC
had taken the action simply to influence EU members who would
be meeting on June 15 to review the status of the EU common
position on Cuba. They feared that the plight of their
family members held in prison would be ignored in the wake of
the good news about Molina's travel. Other dissidents said
much the same in statements published on June 15.


5. (C) COMMENT: We at USINT are also happy to see Molina,
with whom we have had close contact for several years, be
able to visit her family and see her ailing mother again. We
are not sure what prompted the GOC to grant her permission to
leave, but certainly would not discount the idea that the
decision was an attempt to influence the EU. Likewise,
though it appears that the Argentine government was not
directly involved, the GOC may have judged that releasing
Molina now would benefit President Cristina Fernandez on the
eve of local elections. We also are glad to see the local
church taking a more proactive role. If it can stay out of
the limelight in this affair, the church may begin to employ
some quiet diplomacy with the GOC to assist in ameliorating
some of Cuba's more egregious human rights violations.
FARRAR