But, other than Briceno's absence, it was a full house in Belmopan - where we got to ask the Prime Minister about the decision to let 32 Cubans out of jail. Yesterday Immigration Minister Godwin Hulse told us it's a humanitarian move - after they have already served their time for illegal entry. Now, they will apply for refugee status, and from there, presumably, work their way unto the USA. The Prime Minister said he supports the decision by the Immigration Minister:...
Hon. Dean Barrow, Prime Minister
"I know that there were Cubans in prison who were here illegally. Again, I saw in reading the internet version of the news this morning that the Minister has taken an action as he put it freedom from prison. That is as it should be. You don't want to be keeping people incarcerated for longer than is necessary and they've been as it is locked up for far too long. So it didn't come up in Tuesday in cabinet ad I was not therefore aware beforehand the step that the minister proposed to take. But as I said, it seems to me that he did what was required in the circumstances."
And while a decision has been made, it's not an instant "get out of jail card." Minister Hulse told us today that legal paper are being drafted and that has its own process.
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