The United States will maintain the family reunification program for Cubans, although details have not been given regarding the process after the reduction of 60 percent of the personnel of its embassy in Havana. According to the Cuban foreign minister, only one official remained in charge of consular services and visa procedures.
The U.S. embassy in Havana said that the Department of State will work with its colleagues in the Department of Homeland Security to guarantee the continuation of the Permits for the Cuban Family Reunification Program and the center for the processing of refugees.
The note added that soon the embassy would announce how it will proceed with the applications for immigrant visas, the Cuban Family Reunification Program (CFEP) and the persons applying to be recognized as refugees.
On September 29, the government of the United States ordered the withdrawal of its non-essential personnel in its embassy in Cuba after the “acoustic attack” suffered by at least 21 Americans posted on the island and for which what was responsible for them is still unknown. In addition, it issued a warning to the citizens of that country to abstain from visiting Cuba, alleging safety aspects.
The U.S. government also prohibited its officials from staying in the Hotel Nacional and the Capri Hotel in Havana, where some of those attacks would have occurred.
Days before the New York Times published an article where experts on acoustics say that this theory is more like a James Bond film.
The sound can cause discomfort and even serious damages, and the investigators have explored for years the idea of a sonic weapon; but the scientists doubt that a secret ultrasonic weapon can explain what occurred in Cuba, says the Times.
Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez has said that the measures taken by the Department of State are hasty, “without there being conclusive investigative results.” They are of an “eminently political” character, he affirmed.
At present, according to El Nuevo Herald, there are 106,351 Cubans on the waiting list for a visa to immigrate to the United States. Many of their relatives in the United States have created a group on Facebook called Cubanos en Reunificación (Cubans in Reunification); and they organized a campaign in change.org asking the Department of State to maintain the program.
Authors
OnCuba Staff,
OnCuba editorial staff
