OPINION:
There is one border crisis cause rarely talked about: Russian action and its puppet regimes in Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela aiming to destabilize Western world. Starting in 2014, migrants flooded into Europe through the Eastern route, enabling Russia to pressure the EU to lift sanctions imposed after the annexation of Crimea.
According to NATO Supreme Allied Commander Gen. Philip Breedlove, “Together, Russia and the Assad regime are deliberately weaponizing migration in an attempt to overwhelm European structures and break European resolve.”
The Center for Eastern Studies detailed how Russia destabilized and blackmailed the Finnish government into talks by flooding its border with illegal migrants. In January 2016, a Russian border guard explained how the FSB directed illegal migrants to the EU border.
“The FSB decides which car moves at what time and how it can proceed to the border. The state-sponsored organization gives priority to families with small children,” he said.
In preparation for and during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the same playbook was reused. This time it has included a proxy regime in Belarus, which increased flights with Syria and Iraq.
Syrian Cham Wings Airlines launched a daily connection from Damascus to the Belarusian capital. A journalist from Komsomolskaya Pravda wrote that while a single flight from Baghdad to Minsk carried 180 people, only five people flew in the opposite direction.
Poland, Lithuania, and Latvia declared states of emergency, announcing their intentions to build border walls. Finland closed its border because Russian border guards allowed illegal immigrants to cross.
Similar statistics exist in the Western Hemisphere: illegal encounters at the U.S. southern border stem from nationals of close Russian allies Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela, a regional axis of evil, which would not exist without Russian support.
In Cuba, the Russian military base is expanding. Thousands of Cuban mercenaries were sent to Russia to fight Ukraine. In Venezuela, Russian Wagner mercenaries are personal guards to illegitimate President Nicolas Maduro.
On Oct. 12, 2022, Nicaragua was one of only four countries in the U.N. that voted against condemning Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. The resolution was supported by 143 countries—35 abstained. Nicaragua was joined by North Korea, Syria, and Belarus.
How can migrants from Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela suddenly climb from less than 1% of southern border illegal encounters to 20%? Totalitarian regimes have made life intolerable in those nations.
Historically, there have been only a few families willing and able to pay to get their loved ones to the U.S. So why have the cartels and ruling elites of these three countries helped people through? Why is the Cuban regime suddenly letting people leave?
It’s the same migration weaponization that Russia used against its proxies and EU.
In a copycat action of Belarus, the Cuban regime allowed charter flights into Nicaragua. When Cubans arrived at Managua Airport, they were approached by “coyotes” from Mexico. The number of Cubans using this “easy way” through Nicaragua was so high that the U.S. issued sanctions against those airlines.
Soon, Venezuelans became the largest nationality for illegal border crossings into the U.S. and expulsion of Columbians by U.S. Border Patrol agents skyrocketed from 10,495 people in 2021 to 167,388 in 2023—a 16-fold increase in two years!
In all, illegal immigration to the U.S. has changed, with Mexican immigrants making up only 25% of illegal immigration:
The much-discussed Haitian immigrants are also part of the regimes’ scheme.
The Associated Press reported how chartered flights from Haiti to Nicaragua have flown 31,000 people, accounting for 60% of the Haitians arriving at the U.S. border, replicating the Russian-ordered Belarusian charter flight scheme.
In the same manner—and likely on Russia’s orders—the Cuban, Nicaraguan, and Venezuela regimes are sending people to the U.S. border and streamlining the logistics for other nationals. This too is reminiscent of what is happening in Europe where individuals from Russian proxies such as Syrians are the largest share of immigrants.
Many factors contribute to illegal immigration, but its spike in the U.S. and EU is explained by the weaponization of migration by totalitarian regimes backed by Russia. They cooperate in this policy, build joint routes for migrants, and utilize cartels.
The U.S. border will never be secure if the Cuban, Nicaraguan, and Venezuelan regimes—protected by Russia and with cooperation from drug cartels—can turn on the flow of migrants at will.
Western democracies are under attack. Totalitarian regimes use illegal migration in hybrid wars where they can’t deploy their military. Other instruments include hacking, sonic attacks, increase inflation by destabilizing oil-producing nations, and promote the drug trade.
Socialists in the EU still don’t want to see their brand of socialism tainted by being tough on Cuba and Venezuelan regimes, but socialism has made food rations a luxury in those countries, pushing people to migrate. Some in the EU are inadvertently helping these criminal networks by providing financial aid to the Cuban regime.
Meanwhile, totalitarian regimes enjoy seeing the Tren de Aragua gang unleash violence across the U.S. Both the EU and U.S. should cooperate to halt totalitarian regimes from fomenting migration chaos.
Freedom-loving groups of Cubans, Nicaraguans, Venezuelans, and Ukrainians see that part of the migration crisis in the U.S. is artificially created and merely copycat behavior of what Moscow and its allies do in Europe. Because of this, we are joining forces to expose Russia’s dangerous activity.
We cannot and will not allow the Axis of Evil to destroy America and Europe’s borders to weaken the free world.
• Orlando Gutiérrez-Boronat is the Chairman of the Cuban Democratic Directorate. Maryan Zablotskyi is a member of Ukrainian Parliament.
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