The US partially resumes consular activities in Cuba after nearly 5 years

US consular operations in Cuba were suspended following allegations of the so-called ” sound wave attack” aimed at American diplomats in this Caribbean island nation.

The US representative office in Havana announced that it will give priority to IR-5 applicants, ie the parent of a US citizen.

This is the first step to pave the way for the expansion of consular services of US Embassy in Cuba.

Previously, US Chargé d’affaires to Cuba Timothy Zuniga-Brown said in March that consular operations “will begin to resume at a limited level some visa services, as part of a gradual process.” expand the functions of the embassy”.

Zuniga-Brown said that in the immediate future, US diplomats in Cuba will only arrange interviews with those who have presented sufficient visa documents and only provide essential services to US citizens and US citizens. emergency visa issuance.

The United States is gradually resuming consular services of its embassy in Cuba. (Photo: Reuters)

In September 2017, the US State Department informed about the status of employees of the US Embassy in the Cuban capital Havana experiencing a series of health problems, with symptoms such as headaches, nausea. , dizziness, hearing loss, memory loss that Washington attributed to the “sound wave attacks”.

Washington closed its consular services in the Cuban capital after American employees and their families contracted a mysterious illness known as “Havana Syndrome”. A 2020 US government report said that the illness employees and their families suffer from is most likely caused by the effects of directional and pulsed radiofrequency energy.

The US has withdrawn most of its diplomatic staff back home and expelled 17 Cuban diplomats from the US.

In the past 5 years, Cubans who want to enter the US have been forced to go to a third country like Colombia to apply for a visa, which increases costs and risks. Many people have chosen to migrate illegally and risk their lives.

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