This Wednesday (January 4, 2023) the US Embassy in Cuba reopened its consular and visa services. Activities had been at a standstill since 2017, when a series of health incidents among diplomatic staff reduced the US presence in Havana.
Until now, Cubans who applied for a visa had to travel to Guyana, where the interview stage took place. According to Embassy, the priority in issuing visas will be for family reunification – that is, Cubans who have family members already living in the US. Preference will also be given to the so-called Diversity Immigrant Visaa program that annually provides around 50,000 visas to diversify the country’s population.
The number of Cubans who try to enter illegally in the US is increasing. They are now the 2nd nationality that most seeks to cross US borders, according to Dice from CBP (US Customs and Border Protectionin the acronym in English) until September 2022. They are second only to Mexico.
HAVANA SYNDROME
Visa issuance at the US Embassy in Cuba had been paralyzed since 2017, when cases of the so-called “havana syndrome”.
The condition has been reported by US diplomats in several countries, who have said they have symptoms such as vertigo, migraines and poor balance. Cases have been reported since 2016, still in Havana, capital of Cuba. In 2021, cases were reported in august and october.
Over the past few years, more than 200 US government employees have been diagnosed with Havana syndrome. Most of them are part of the CIA (the US Central Intelligence Agency). Cases have been reported in countries such as Cuba, China, Russia, Vietnam, Colombia, Austria and Germany.
A study developed by the CIA showed that most of the 1,000 cases reported to the US government can be explained by environmental and medical causes that were previously undiagnosed. So the intelligence agency rules out that the syndrome was engineered by some country.
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