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Havana (AFP) – The United States consulate in Cuba began issuing visas by the dropper this Tuesday, after four years of closure due to alleged sonic attacks against its diplomatic personnel, and at a time when the island is experiencing massive emigration, in the midst of its worst economic crisis in three decades.
“Welcome to the embassy (of the United States) after so long!” said a Cuban employee of the consulate to the small group of people who were waiting in a park near the legation, located in the Vedado neighborhood of the capital, to have their consular appointment.
The employee told AFP that for this Tuesday only a few citations were delivered.
The reopening of the consulate in Havana, in a “limited” and “gradual” manner, had been announced on March 3 by Timothy Zúñiga-Brown, charge d’affaires of the US embassy, without giving a precise date.
“Let’s hope that all this goes well. I’ve been waiting three years for this to meet my daughter, who is claiming me. I haven’t seen her for seven years,” explained a man who develops the procedure, on condition of anonymity.
The consulate closed in September 2017, after the government of Republican Donald Trump (2017-2021) denounced mysterious incidents, described as sonic attacks, that would have affected the health of US diplomats, something that Havana denies having perpetrated.
Since then, Cubans have been forced to travel to a third country, such as Colombia and Guyana, to apply for a visa.
The reopening of the consulate in Havana comes after the resumption in April of negotiations on migration between Cuba and the United States, interrupted since 2018. The Cuban government is demanding the 20,000 annual visas that Washington is committed to granting.
Cuba is facing its worst economic crisis in almost 30 years due to the effects of the covid-19 pandemic and Washington sanctions. A large number of Cubans seek to emigrate, especially through Central America, to reach the US border, but they also do so by sea.
According to the US Customs office, from October 2021 to March 2022, more than 78,000 Cubans entered through the border with Mexico.
Aware of the reopening, some Cubans went to the consulate to apply for a visa, without an appointment.
Elsa Meneses, 81, arrived in a walker along with her daughter Odalys Guerrero, to request a “humanitarian visa” that would allow her to bury her son, who recently died of cancer in the United States, being a US citizen.
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