334. Editorial Note
By April 6, 1980, more than 11 thousand Cuban refugees had entered the Peruvian Embassy compound in Havana. (Telegram 3203 from Havana, April 6; National Archives, RG 59, Central Foreign Policy File, D800173–0291) For more information about the Cuban refugee crisis, see Document 89 in Foreign Relations, 1977–1980, volume XXIII, [Page 825] Mexico, Cuba, and the Caribbean. In telegram 1839 from San José, April 8, the Embassy reported that Costa Rican Foreign Minister Carlos Francisco Aguilar Calderon had noted that Costa Rica was “prepared to share the burden with other nations in receiving Cubans now jammed into the Peruvian Embassy compound in Havana.” (National Archives, RG 59, Central Foreign Policy File, D800177–0023) The White House released a statement on April 14 announcing that Costa Rica had offered to serve as a “staging area for the refugees to assure a rapid evacuation” and that President Jimmy Carter had decided that the United States would admit 3,500 of the Cuban refugees. (Public Papers: Carter, 1980, Book I, page 682) By April 16, an evacuation operation had flown about 700 refugees to Costa Rica. On April 19, the Washington Post reported that the Government of Cuba suspended the refugee flights and demanded that “thousands of Cubans seeking to leave their homeland be flown directly to the countries where they are to settle and not to a staging area in Costa Rica.” (“Cuba Suspends Refugee Flights,” Washington Post, April 19, 1980, page A16)
Costa Rican President Rodrigo Carazo Odio wrote a letter to Carter on April 23, requesting that Carter cancel the planed armed maneuvers around Cuba in response to the Cuban refugee crisis. Carazo wrote: “The area at this moment in the throes of a convulsion, will react negatively to these military exercises and these maneuvers will be used propagandistically to satisfy foreign interests which will try to stir up the countries of the region for their own political benefit.” (Telegram 2205 from San José, April 23; National Archives, RG 59, Central Foreign Policy File, D800202–0418) In telegram 115401 to San José and Lima, May 1, the Department forwarded a letter from Carter responding to Carazo’s request. Carter acknowledged Carazo’s concerns and wrote: “The landing scheduled for Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, will not take place.” Carter also asked that Carazo “take the lead” in organizing an international conference to address the Cuban refugee issue. (National Archives, RG 59, Central Foreign Policy File, P870047–0042)
In telegram 2415 from San José, May 2, the Embassy reported that Carazo had accepted the proposal to organize a conference (National Archives, RG 59, Central Foreign Policy File, P870047–0046) The May 8–9 San José conference on the humanitarian aspects of the exodus from Cuba, attended by 22 countries and 7 international organizations, led to the formation of a tripartite humanitarian initiative by the United Kingdom, Costa Rica, and the United States to negotiate a modus operandi regarding migration from Cuba. (Telegram 2599 from San José, May 9, and telegram 2647 from San José, May 9; National Archives, RG 59, Central Foreign Policy File, D800229–0423 and D800230–0381 respectively; see also Public Papers: Carter, 1980, Book I, pages 912–916) The Washington Post reported that on May 22 Cuba “rejected a proposal [Page 826] by the United States, Britain and Costa Rica to hold talks aimed at resettling Cuban refugees in other countries,” and noted that the rejected proposal “came out” of the San José conference in which Costa Rica and the United States “were comparatively unsuccessful in persuading other governments to help launch an international effort to resolve the Cuban refugee situation.” (“Cuba Rejects 3-Nation Bid For Talks on Refugee Crisis,” Washington Post, May 23, 1980, page A11)