The US State Department has announced that Cubans will once again be able to travel more easily to relatives in the USA and that the upper limit for transfers from the USA to relatives in Cuba will be lifted.
The American Embassy in Havana is to issue more visas again.
(dpa)
The American government is relaxing its course towards Cuba somewhat. The US State Department announced on Monday evening (local time) that, among other things, consular services and visa processing at the American Embassy in Havana would be ramped up again to allow more Cubans to visit relatives in the United States. The previous upper limit for transfers of money from the USA to relatives in Cuba will be lifted. Overall, a little more travel between countries should be made possible again. In addition, the Cuban private sector should have better access to American Internet services and e-commerce platforms.
In a statement, the Cuban Foreign Ministry called the decision a “limited step in the right direction”. However, it does not change anything about the US embargo against Cuba or the central “economic siege measures” of former American President Donald Trump.
At the end of April, the United States and Cuba held direct talks on migration at a high diplomatic level for the first time in four years. Among other things, it was about the implementation of existing immigration agreements – also in view of the recent increase in illegal migration from the socialist Caribbean state to the USA. The Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs had criticized, among other things, that the United States was not adhering to a bilateral agreement that guaranteed 20,000 visas for Cubans every year. A high-ranking American government official has now said that this magnitude should be reached as soon as possible.
The staff at the American Embassy in Havana was reduced to a minimum years ago because of the “Havana Syndrome”. Dozens of American diplomats and their families living in the Cuban capital had been complaining of mysterious headaches, hearing loss, dizziness and nausea since 2016. Similar complaints were later reported elsewhere in the world. A February report by American intelligence said some cases of “Havana Syndrome” could have been deliberately triggered by a type of electromagnetic radiation.
During his tenure, Trump scaled back a rapprochement with Cuba initiated by his predecessor Barack Obama. Now Trump’s successor, Joe Biden, is turning things around again. The government official stressed that there was no connection between the current plans and the upcoming America Summit in Los Angeles in June – a gathering of states from North, Central and South America. Several heads of state had recently questioned their participation in the summit if Cuba or other countries were not invited because of criticism of their political leadership. The government official stressed that the decisions on the invitations are still ongoing.