Cuba says US suspension of visas hurting families
Cuba has told the Untied States that Washington’s decision to halt visa processing at its embassy in Havana is “seriously hampering” family ties and other exchanges.
During talks with US officials on Monday, Cuban authorities expressed concern about the suspension of visa processing by the US.
“The Cuban delegation expressed deep concern over the negative impact that the unilateral, unfounded and politically motivated decisions adopted by the US government... have on migration relations between both countries,” the Cuban Foreign Ministry said in a statement after the talks.
Cuba’s delegation was headed by Foreign Ministry Chief for US Affairs Josefina Vidal and US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs John Creamer.
Relations between the former Cold War enemies deteriorated after US President Donald Trump took office in January, partially reversing the thaw that had emerged during former president Barack Obama’s second term.
The White House, under Trump, also drastically reduced its embassy staff following suspicious health symptoms among the US diplomats in Havana, resulting in the suspension of nearly all visa processing. The Trump administration further imposed a ban on travel to Cuba and expelled 15 Cuban diplomats from Washington back in October.
There have been allegations that the health symptoms were caused by some kind of sonic attack. Cuba has denied those allegations and has been conducting an investigation of the matter.
The Cuban Foreign Ministry announced that the reduction of the US staff had “seriously affected the functioning of the diplomatic mission, particularly the Consulate and the services it offers to Cubans residing in the United States.”
The ministry further said that the American decision to cancel the visits of official delegations to Cuba was also having a “counterproductive effect” on cooperation in fields such as migration.
Many ordinary Cubans, too, have expressed dismay at the development since they can no longer visit their loved ones residing in the US.
Cuba has a population of 11.2 million people, and there are an estimated two million Cuban-Americans in the United States.
Trump declared in June that he was canceling Obama’s “terrible and misguided deal” with Havana, but he has effectively left in place many of Obama’s changes, including restored diplomatic ties and resumed direct US-Cuba commercial flights and cruise-ship travel.
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