Cuba is experiencing its greatest economic crisis in the last 30 years, and the reopening of the airport coincided with a record exodus from the communist island to the United States. The majority of those making the journey are undocumented migrants.
On Wednesday, the United States Consulate in Havana reopened its doors to Cuban citizens seeking immigrant visas, five years after it was forced to close because of unexplained “sonic attacks” on its diplomatic personnel.
Cuba is experiencing its greatest economic crisis in the last 30 years, and the reopening of the airport coincided with a record exodus from the communist island to the United States. The majority of those making the journey are undocumented migrants.
Cubans, many of whom had been waiting for years, expressed their joy over the newly streamlined access procedures. Since 2017, they have been required to make an expensive trip to a third nation, most commonly Guyana in South America, in order to submit their visa applications there.
Following the submission of her application, 18-year-old Melissa Vazquez commented, “Everything happened extremely fast.” Seven years had passed while she awaited the day when she could see her father again in the United States.
The United States Embassy in Havana announced last week that it would resume processing immigrant visa applications and expand its consular operations there in an effort to “promote safe, lawful, and orderly migration of Cubans.”
For the time being, tourist visas are not available.
The Cuban Family Reunification Parole Program, which enables island residents who are eligible to join relatives in the United States without the need for an immigrant visa, was also restarted by the consulate at the same time.
After diplomatic personnel and their families fell ill with symptoms that were later given the label “Havana Syndrome,” the consulate was closed down during the administration of Donald Trump, who was the president at the time.
Subsequently, US missions in other countries have also claimed that they have been the subject of attacks; however, the specific nature of the purported assaults is still unknown.