Havana.- The United States Deputy Director General at the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Johana Tablada, reiterated that after five years of persistent non-compliance by Washington with the migration deals with the largest island of the Antilles, progress is now being acknowledged.
The official said the unjustified closure of the US consulate in Havana was based on extravagant and false allegations of alleged attacks on diplomats that even the CIA, the Central Intelligence Agency, had recognized as untenable.
He recalled that since 2018, after a first round of talks in Washington on the immigration issue, the United States has started issuing visas to try to meet the commitment of no fewer than 20,000 per year.
“Then would come the announcement that consular assistance services for Cubans, absurdly transferred to Guyana, would return to Havana in early 2023,” Tablada said.
He pointed out that the northern nation met the annual visa quota, but not the one accumulated in the years when they were not granted.
The diplomat explained that they only issue visas for family reunification, excluding those for non-immigrants, ie those through which more than 200,000 Cubans have traveled and returned without leaving the country permanently.
Johana Tablada found it contradictory that Washington, while advocating greater socio-economic investment in high-migration nations in the region, insisted on collapsing Cuba’s economy and making life harder for its people.
In addition, he pointed out the incentives that the United States maintains for the irregular migration of Cubans and how it does not honor the part of the agreements regarding the non-entry of persons arriving at its southern border by this route.