Cuba denounces damage caused by US blockade in families

HAVANA, Cuba, Oct 28 (ACN) Cuban foreign ministry denounced today the difficulties faced by families with members inside and outside the country due to the restrictions of the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the US government.

On Twitter, the body pointed out that without this unilateral policy of Washington, which officially dates back to 1962, families would be healthier, happier and fuller.

In early 2018, Donald Trump's administration reduced more than 60 % of the staff of the U.S. embassy to Havana and closed the consulate, as a reaction to alleged sonic attacks against U.S. diplomats in Cuba, although there is no scientific evidence to support such an accusation.

Likewise, in March 2019, Washington reduced for Cuban citizens the validity time of the B2 visa, from five years to three months, with a single entry, arguing that the objective was to equal these terms with the validity time granted by the island to U.S. travelers.

Cuba has repeatedly denounced the non-compliance with the bilateral migration agreements, especially the granting of 20,000 visas per year for migrants, as well as the interruption of the granting of visas to Cubans, forcing them to travel to third countries to obtain them, without any guarantee of their granting.

In this sense, the current administration of Joseph Biden announced last May 16 a group of measures to make them more flexible, such as the gradual and restricted resumption of visa procedures for immigrants in its embassy in Havana for specific categories.

According to Cuban authorities, these provisions are of a very limited nature, since they do not refer to the most harmful aspects of the blockade nor do they reverse the most aggressive measures adopted by the Trump administration.