The US government is relaxing its course on Cuba a bit. The State Department announced Monday night (local time) that it would restart consular services and visa processing at the US Embassy in Havana to allow more Cubans to visit relatives in the United States. The current ceiling for money transfers from the United States to relatives in Cuba will be lifted.
Overall, a little more travel between the two countries should be possible again. In addition, the Cuban private sector must have better access to US Internet services and e-commerce platforms.
“We will ensure that remittances to the Cuban people flow more freely, without enriching those who commit human rights abuses,” the officials said. US companies and citizens will remain prohibited from doing business with companies that are on the sanctions list for ties to the Cuban government or military.
Cuba’s Foreign Ministry called the decision a “limited step in the right direction” in a statement. However, that doesn’t change anything about the US embargo against Cuba or former US President Donald Trump’s core “economic encirclement measures”.
In late 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 Caribbean socialist state to the US. The Cuban Foreign Ministry 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 senior US government official has now said that this magnitude must be reached as soon as possible.
Staff at the US 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 have complained of mysterious headaches, hearing loss, dizziness and nausea since 2016. Similar complaints were later reported in other parts of the world. A US intelligence report in February said that some cases of “Havana Syndrome” may have been deliberately triggered by some form of electromagnetic radiation.
During his tenure, former US President Donald Trump backtracked a rapprochement with Cuba initiated by his predecessor, Barack Obama. Now, Trump’s successor, Joe Biden, is turning things around again. The administration official stressed that there is no connection between the current plans and the upcoming Summit of America in Los Angeles in June – a gathering of states from North, Central and South America. Several heads of state recently questioned their participation in the summit if Cuba or other countries were not invited because of criticism of their political leadership. The official stressed that decisions on the invitations are still in progress. (apa)