14ymedio, Madrid, 25 December 2023 — Cuban researchers will not be able to work for Florida International University (FIU), which has decided to pause, immediately, the hiring of citizens of six countries considered “worrisome” by the government of that state, according to an email obtained by the WLRN radio station. Cuba is accompanied on the list by Venezuela, China, Russia, Syria, Iran and North Korea.
According to WLRN on Tuesday 19, Andrés Gil, Vice President of Research for the university and Dean of its graduate school wrote to the deans, department heads, directors of postgraduate programs and people involved in human resources that, due to the new laws announced in the state, it is necessary to “immediately pause any job offer or attempted hiring” that involves individuals from the “worrisome countries.”
Any offer that has been made and any active recruitment must be stopped until we have good control over the process
“Any offer that has been made and any active recruitment must be stopped until we have good control over the process, so that it is communicated properly to the candidates and is specifically indicated in our letters,” the text points out.
One of the affected departments, according to the local press, could be the Cuban Research Institute (CRI) of FIU, which works closely with Cuban – and Venezuelan – opponents for events, scholarships, programs, courses and all kinds of collaborations in which there may be vacancies if the situation is prolonged. “Unpaid research fellows” are also affected by the rule, a situation in which many Cubans find themselves. There are also a multitude of Chinese researchers hired during