Havana, December 25, 2022.- After five years of sustained non-compliance by Washington with the migration agreements with Havana, progress can now be seen, said Johana Tablada, deputy director general of the United States at the Cuban Foreign Ministry.
In statements to Radio Reloj, the diplomat recalled the unjustified closure of the US consulate in Havana based on extravagant and false accusations about alleged attacks on diplomats, which even the CIA has recognized as unsustainable.
She pointed out that after a first round of talks in Washington on the immigration issue since 2018, the United States began granting visas to try to meet the commitment of no less than 20,000 per year.
Then she would come, she added, the announcement that consular care operations for Cubans absurdly transferred to Guyana would return to Havana at the beginning of 2023.
Asphyxia measures persist
Tablada indicated that Washington complied with the annual visa quota, but not the one accumulated in the years in which it did not grant them.
She explained that they are only handing out visas for family reunification, not including those for non-immigrants, that is, those through which more than 200,000 Cubans traveled and returned without leaving the country permanently.
The official considered it contradictory that Washington, while advocating greater socioeconomic investment in nations in the area with high migratory flows, insists on making Cuba's economy collapse and making life more difficult for its population.
She also pointed out the incentives that the United States maintains for the irregular migration of Cubans, and how it fails to comply with the part of the agreements not to admit people who arrive at its southern border through this route.
(Cubadebate)