ES / EN
- April 11, 2021 -
No Result
View All Result
OnCubaNews Needs You
OnCubaNews
  • World
  • Cuba
  • Cuba-USA
  • Opinion
    • Columns
    • Infographic
  • Culture
    • Billboard
  • Sports
  • Styles / Trends
  • Media
  • Special
  • Cuban Flavors
  • World
  • Cuba
  • Cuba-USA
  • Opinion
    • Columns
    • Infographic
  • Culture
    • Billboard
  • Sports
  • Styles / Trends
  • Media
  • Special
  • Cuban Flavors
OnCubaNews
ES / EN
ADVERTISEMENT
Home Cuba Society Population

More than 500,000 Cubans traveled abroad in 2018

The Cuban Foreign Ministry blames the U.S. for preventing the legal flow of Cuban travelers to that country.

by EFE, EFE
March 19, 2019
in Population
0
Photo: EFE.

Photo: EFE.

A total of 551,908 Cubans traveled abroad for personal reasons in 2018, which represents 20.13% more than the previous year, the island’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported this Monday.

Likewise, in the last five years, Cubans made more than 3.4 million trips to other countries, according to data presented by the director of Consular Affairs and Cuban Residents Abroad (DACCRE), Ernesto Soberón, at a meeting of the island’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

A migratory reform approved in 2013 during the presidential mandate of Raúl Castro (2008-2018) included the elimination of the exit permit for Cuban citizens and relaxed the conditions of emigrants’ return.

This regulation also extended the time that a Cuban can stay abroad without losing residence in the country, which went from 11 to 24 months, while the time allowed to visit the island by Cuban emigrants went from 60 to 90 days.

“The permanent and irreversible updating of the migration policy has promoted the trips of Cubans abroad,” Soberón wrote this Monday on his Twitter account, and he stressed that the U.S. government “continues taking measures to hinder this process.”

In this sense, he referred to Washington’s decision to reduce as of this Monday the validity of B2 nonimmigrant visas granted to Cubans from five years to three months, and allows a single entry to the U.S. during that period.

Related Posts

Leydi García Lugo, medical student victim of feminicide in Villa Clara. Photo: Victim’s Facebook profile.

Medical student murdered in Villa Clara

April 5, 2019
Danaisy Alfonso at her home in Guanabacoa, seriously damaged by the tornado from last January 27, 2019. Photo: Otmaro Rodríguez.

Stories and inevitabilities of the tornado in Guanabacoa

February 1, 2019
Damages caused in a house in Havana by the intense tornado of January 27, 2019. Photo: EFE.

Government of Havana activates collection of donations

February 1, 2019
Photo: Raimundo Urrechaga

Three Havana residents tell their tornado stories

January 29, 2019

The new migration regulations were announced last Friday by the U.S. embassy in Havana through a statement in which it explains that its goal is to match the validity of visas granted by the Cuban government to U.S. citizens.

The director of DACCRE blamed the U.S. administration for preventing the legal flow of Cuban travelers to that country with that measure which, he says, “adds to others such as the closure of the services of the U.S. Consulate in Havana, which makes it difficult to grant visas to Cuban families.”

The island’s Foreign Ministry rejected the measure in a statement and considered it an “additional obstacle” to the right of Cubans to visit their relatives in the U.S., the main destination of Cuban migration, where more than a million people born in the Caribbean country, according to its statistics, reside.

The migration reform put into effect five years ago, one of the main measures ordered by Raúl Castro since his arrival to power, put an end to a decades-old restrictive policy that forced Cubans to request a special permit to travel abroad, involving complicated and expensive procedures.

However, restrictions remain in some specific cases, such as medical, scientific, educational, managerial and athletic personnel, who still require a permit to leave the country, something that Cuba justifies in order to avoid the “brain drain.”

Despite the restoration of diplomatic ties in 2015 after half a century of enmity, relations between the governments of Havana and Washington are going through new tensions since the arrival to the White House of Donald Trump, who is opposed to the rapprochement promoted by his predecessor, Barack Obama.

In the last year and a half Washington has applied new sanctions against Cuba, has again restricted trips by Americans to the island and has left its embassy in Havana with a minimum of personnel in response to some mysterious health incidents suffered by more than a 20 of its diplomats in the Caribbean country and whose cause has not yet been clarified although it has been investigated.

Authors

EFE, EFE
Tags: Cuban migrationcuban peoplecuban populationvisas for cubans
Previous Post

Haydée Milanés and Chico Buarque sing to Pablo

Next Post

Cuba: Without innovation there is no economic takeoff

EFE

EFE

EFE

EFE

Next Post
Without innovation, many of the bright-color "vintage cars" could barely have reached the title of "jalopy." Photo: pxhere.com

Cuba: Without innovation there is no economic takeoff

Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel speaking with reporters after voting for the new constitution, in Havana, on February 24, 2019. Photo: Ramón Espinosa / AP.

Díaz-Canel: Cuba must bring its emigres closer and avoid isolation

Timur Dementyev confesses that he traveled to Cuba to escape the severe Russian winter.

9,550 kilometers to vacation on the "island of freedom"

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

The conversation here is moderated according to OnCuba News discussion guidelines. Please read the Comment Policy before joining the discussion.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

ADVERTISEMENT

Most Read

New variants of covid-19 in Cuba

Five variants of coronavirus circulate in Cuba, study confirms

April 8, 2021
Photo: Otmaro Rodríguez

Coronavirus sets two records in Cuba during third day of April

April 4, 2021
The use of masks continues to be mandatory during travel by Americans, even those who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Photo: Cedars Sinai/Archive.

U.S.: Fully-vaccinated citizens and residents can travel abroad without restrictions

April 3, 2021
The first stage of the phase III clinical trial with the Cuban Soberana 02 vaccine candidate concluded after administering a dose of the formulation to volunteer 44,010. Photo: @cubadebatecu/Twitter.

Cuba: First stage of phase III trial with Soberana 02 concludes

April 5, 2021

Most Commented

No Content Available
  • About us
  • Work with OnCuba
  • Terms of use
  • Privacy Policy
  • Moderation policy for comments
  • Contact us
  • Advertisement offers

OnCuba and the OnCuba logo are registered® trademarks of Fuego Enterprises, Inc., its subsidiaries or divisions.
OnCuba © by Fuego Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • World
  • Cuba
  • Cuba-USA
  • Opinion
    • Columns
    • Infographic
  • Culture
    • Billboard
  • Sports
  • Styles / Trends
  • Media
  • Special
  • Cuban Flavors

OnCuba and the OnCuba logo are registered® trademarks of Fuego Enterprises, Inc., its subsidiaries or divisions.
OnCuba © by Fuego Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

OnCubaNews English
Go to mobile version