The US State Department uses the granting of visas to affect diplomatic relations with Cuba

Press Release, Cuba During the past few months, the US State Department has been concocting a new pretext to affect bilateral diplomatic relations, associated to the granting of the diplomatic and official visas required by the staff of the respective embassies in Washington and Havana to perform their duties. The maneuver consists in claiming that Cuba is hindering the granting of visas for designated officials at the US embassy in Cuba, which allegedly hinders the work of that diplomatic mission. In doing so, the State Department deliberately conceals the fact that it was the US government the one that, unilaterally, decided to downsize its staff in Havana in September, 2017, including particularly the staff in charge of consular services, with the consequent encumbrance for Cuban and US citizens who depend on those services. The US government was the one which decided to arbitrarily and unjustly expel 15 Cuban diplomatic officials from the Cuban embassy in Washington in October of that same year. Since that date, the work of both diplomatic missions has been affected by these unilateral decisions. Likewise, the granting of the visas required by the staff of the respective embassies has been subject to whimsical approvals and delays by the State Department. \ Data speak for themselves. Since the end of September, 2017, the US government has only granted 26 visas and denied 6 for the staff required by Cuba at its embassy in Washington. During that same period, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Cuba has granted 105 visas for the temporary and permanent diplomatic and administrative staff of the US embassy in Havana, and has only denied one in reciprocity for the actions taken by the State Department. This is a clearly unbalanced behavior which is not in accord with the standards of reciprocity that are considered an essential practice in diplomatic relations. \ To accuse Cuba of creating an unsustainable situation for the work of the US embassy is a flagrant distortion of the truth. The Cuban government is not responsible for the instability and irregularity generated unilaterally by the US government that affects the work of the diplomatic missions of both countries in the respective capitals. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is still willing to meet the requirements of both parties for the functioning of the respective embassies on the basis of reciprocity. Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Cuba, Havana, November 28, 2018.]]>