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Del Puerto de Mariel a Tulsa: la historia de Jorge Morales / From the port of Mariel to Tulsa: the story of Jorge Morales

Por Guillermo Rojas y Victoria Lis Marino | Tulsa, OK

Tulsa,OK- Hacia finales de 1980 Fidel Castro aprobó el éxodo masivo de miles de almas desesperadas que buscaban escapar del régimen comunista cubano. Los que lograron salir  fueron bautizados los “gusanos”, los traidores de la revolución que osaban abandonar la isla. Y en el resto del mundo se los conoció como “Los Marielitos”, los detractores que zarparon del puerto de Mariel para ser acogidos por el gobierno de Estados Unidos, liderado en aquel momento por Jimmy Carter, gran defensor de los derechos humanos.

Y entre esos Marielitos estaba Jorge Morales, oriundo de la Habana, un trabajador incansable que llego a América de pura suerte y años después, radicado en Tulsa, reflexiona sobre lo que dejó atrás. 

“En ese momento épico Fidel sacó a toda la escoria de Cuba, abrió los manicomios, las cárceles y a los presidiarios más malos con condenas de 40 anos los mando a Estados Unidos”, recordó Morales, intentado explicar que el éxodo no era para todos, ni una opción real,  sino más bien una oportunidad de limpiar Cuba y demostrar puertas afuera, que la isla respetaba la libertad de sus ciudadanos.

“Los doctores no podían venir porque eran gente educada. La realidad es que tenías que ser homosexual o haber estado preso, si no eras algo así no te daban la salida”, espetó entre risas, a conciencia de que eran muchos los que querían fugarse y pocos los que podían. 

“Yo estuve preso en Cuba por el ejército, porque me obligaron a ir, y como no me gustaba me fugaba, pero no era un criminal. Y como no quedó alternativa tuve que hacer el papel de homosexual para poder venirme para acá. Y no fui solo yo, mucha gente lo hizo, hasta doctores… porque si no, no había salida”, confesó.

Por aquellos tiempos, cada cuadra barrial de la Habana tenía a cargo a un comité que controlaba la zona, y ese comité firmaba autorizaciones para acceder a una entrevista en la que se otorgaba el pase al exterior, y de allí a Marial.  “Nosotros conseguimos que otro comité nos permitiera llegar a la entrevista. Fuimos con mi amigo y de repente lo veo que empieza a actuar como homosexual y a decir que era gay, y yo me quedé callado porque entendí su idea, tenía que seguirle la corriente”, agregó Morales, consciente de que  su posición anti comunista lo obligaba a buscar cualquier via de escape. “A un amigo mío por hablar mal de Fidel lo metieron preso diez años. A mí no me agarraron porque tuve suerte”, dijo.

Una vez en territorio americano Morales y el resto de los Marielitos fueron alojados por tres meses en una dependencia militar de Arkansas, desde donde Jorge logró contactar a un viejo amigo en Cayo Hueso y se mudó a la Florida para trabajar  como personal de limpieza de la universidad local. “Trabajaba de 11 de la noche a 7 de la mañana y me pagaban 3,50 la hora”, recordó sobre sus primeros años en el país.

Pero su suerte cambió cuando comenzó a conectarse con otros paisanos radicados en Miami, y se reencontró con una antigua vecina de quien se enamoró profundamente y con la que construyó una familia. “En ese tiempo me servía mucho el dinero y un conocido me dio trabajo en una fábrica de dulces, eran 40 horas semanales y 250 dólares, que para mi lo cambiaban todo”, dijo Morales.

La vida con un hijo no era holgada, Jorge deseaba aspirar a más, y un día tuvo una idea, ponerse a estudiar. “Cada vez que iba de visita a alguna casa me daba cuenta de que afuera hacia calor y adentro estaban congeladas, ‘Es que aquí hay aire acondicionado’ me decían los dueños de casa, y eso en Cuba no existía. Y como en la radio que escuchaba en el trabajo promocionaban un curso de reparación de aires acondicionados me inscribí. Salía del trabajo, comía y me iba para la escuela hasta las 10 de la noche”, recordó Morales, a conciencia de que todo lo que consiguió en su vida fue a base de sacrificio. Ese esfuerzo le permitió volver a Cuba dos veces y ayudar a su familia. “Volví por primera vez en el 92 y otra en el 98, y nos trataban como escoria. Pero yo tenía que ayudar a mi familia, porque siempre hay necesidad en Cuba”, explicó con congoja. “Cuando volví vi la miseria, y me di cuenta que las tiendas las abrían para los turistas mientras el pueblo se moría de hambre, la gente no podía ir a comprar nada”, agregó.

Tras separarse de su esposa Morales probó suerte en Tulsa abriéndose paso en la industria de los aires acondicionados y finalmente optó por radicarse de manera definitiva en la ciudad en el 2007, como empleado de una fábrica. 

“Este país es grande y me ha permitido trabajar”, expresó con gratitud. A todos aquellos que buscan en la tierra de la libertad la promesa de vivir tranquilos, Morales les recomienda la siguiente receta : “Trabajen y hagan las cosas bien como hice yo y échenle pa’lante”. 

Jorge Morales

From the port of Mariel to Tulsa: the story of Jorge Morales

By Guillermo Rojas and Victoria Lis Marino | Tulsa, OK

At the end of 1980 Fidel Castro approved the massive exodus of thousands of Cuban souls who desperately saught a way out from the island. Those who made it were called “the worms,” traitors to a revolution that had benefited many and now dared to disrespect the Cuban communist regime. The rest of the world know them as “los marielitos,” detractors of Fidel who left Cuba from the Mariel port to come to a USA that welcomed them open arms thanks to a policy drafted by the government of Jimmy Carter, endless defender of human rights.

And among those Marielitos was Jorge Morales, who escaped from Havana and came to the US out of pure luck. Now living in Tulsa, Morales reflects on  times past and the land he left behind.

“In those epic times, Fidel decided to remove all the ‘scoundrels’ of Cuba, he opened the madhouses, all the prisons, and sent to America criminals that had more than 40 years of conviction,” he recalled, trying to point out that the exodus was not democratic and opened to all. It was an opportunity used by the regime to clean Cuba and show outdoors that freedom of movement was still respected on the island.

“Doctors could not grab the opportunity because they were educated people. There were two options to have access to the passport: either you had been in jail and were a ‘dangerous criminal,’ or you were a homosexual, if not they wouldn’t let you go,” said Morales with a laugh, acknowledging many wanted a way out but few could actually get one. 

“I had been in jail when I was in the army. I wasn’t a criminal, but did not want to be a part of the armed forces and always escaped. But my time in jail wasn’t enough, so I had to play the part of the homosexual to get out. And not only me, so many others did the same, even important doctors, if not you had to stay home,” he explained.

In those times every neighborhood in Havana was controlled by a committee, and that group had to clear you to get access to an interview in which the party would decide if the person in question could leave the country or not. 

“My friend and I had to get clearance from another committee, and somebody helped us get to the interview. We were there, and suddenly I see my best friend starts acting as a homosexual, and I realized I had to play along if I ever wanted to set foot outside Cuba,” explained Morales, aware that his anticommunist ideas were hard to hide in the island and left him no option but to leave. 

“A friend of mine who spoke ill about Fidel ended up in jail for ten years. They didn’t catch me because I was fortunate,” he recalle.

Once in the USA, all the Marielitos were sent to a military base in Arkansas for three months, and when Morales got out he moved to Florida with a friend of his and worked as a janitor in the local University. “I would work from 11 pm to 7 am for $3.50 an hour,” he recalled about his beginnings in America.

But his luck started to change when he got acquainted with his paisanos, all the Cubans that lived in Miami and helped each other. In this group of people he found an old neighbor of his, fell in love, got married and built a family.

“Money was never enough, so when a paisano offered me a job in his factory for $250 a week, I said yes, even if I had to work 40 hours,” he said.

And just like that his son came and suddenly money was scarce again. Jorge wanted to change, to be something more, and one day he had a great idea, going back to school to get a diploma. 

“Every time I would visit a house in Florida it would be cold, even if outside it was super warm. People kept on telling me it was the air conditioning, something that in Cuba did not exist. And because at work I heard on the radio about a course on air conditioning, I decided to grab the opportunity and enroll,” he said. “I left work, ate something and studied until 10 pm,” remembered Morales about his sacrifices. 

That effort allowed him to open his own air conditioning company, and even go back to Cuba twice to help his family. 

“The first time I went back was in 1992, and then in 1998, and people would treat us like scum. But I had to help my family because needs were everywhere,” he said. “What hit me the most was the level of misery in which people lived. The stores were only opened for tourists because real people could not buy a thing.” 

After divorcing his wife, Morales tried his luck in Tulsa, repairing air conditioners until he decided to find a full-time job in a factory, and he has been living a comfortable life in town since 2007.

“This country is very big and has allowed me to work freely,” he expressed with gratitude. To all those who seek the promise of living a quiet life in the land of the free, Morales advises: “Work hard and do things by the book as I did, and move forward.” (La Semana)