ES / EN
- May 18, 2022 -
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 World Latin America

Panama suspends tourism card for Cubans due to alleged irregularities

The quotas issued electronically by the Panamanian Consulate in Havana were monopolized and resold, according to the Panamanian authorities. In other cases, Cubans took advantage of the card to continue en route to the United States.

by EFE, EFE
August 20, 2019
in Latin America
0
Colón Free Trade Zone, in Panama. Photo: gogetit.com.pa

Colón Free Trade Zone, in Panama. Photo: gogetit.com.pa

The temporary suspension of the tourism card that allowed Cubans to travel to Panama to make purchases was due to irregularities detected by the Panamanian government in the allocation and use of this mechanism. This was confirmed this Monday by the president of the Association of Users of the Colón Free Trade Zone, Daniel Rojas.

Panamanian immigration authorities suspended last July 24 and temporarily issued the tourist card while “reviewing the procedures for entering the country” under that category.

The tourism card was created in October 2018 and in principle allowed the arrival and up to 30-day stay in Panama of Cuban citizens, self-employed or artisans, who did not have a stamped visa, so they could make purchases.

Rojas explained to the EFE news agency that “the Consulate electronically issued quotas for 500 or 600 people in one fell swoop. And there came a time when those quotas ended in 15 minutes.

“In Cuba there was a robot that grabbed all these quotas and monopolized them, pure technology. Those quotas, the people who owned that robot, sold them for 500 dollars. And the card is only worth 20 dollars at the Consulate. Then that business must be eliminated and that situation must be regularized,” said Rojas without further details.

Panamanian merchants upset over elimination of tourism card for Cubans

Related Posts

Photo: Kaloian Santos.

The transvestite-trans job quota is law in Argentina

July 5, 2021
Constitutional reforms in Chile

What Chile says today to old politics

May 19, 2021
President Alberto Fernández during his interview with journalists from C5N.

Soberana: “Everything indicates it is of the highest technical quality,” says Argentine president

May 17, 2021
students

Three Cuban students reported missing in Mexico

March 2, 2021

The president of the union of businesspeople at the Panamanian free trade zone added that there was also the fact that “not all” those who entered Panama with the tourist card came to buy: “Many enter and go by land to the United States” to settle in that country.

Given this “complicated situation,” Rojas applauds the measures taken by the Panamanian immigration authorities to verify that all processes “are correct.”

“What we have asked Migration (from Panama) is that it not take away the right for customers to come. There are companies that have a complete, impeccable record of Cuban clients. These clients are sending letters to Migration and Migration will immediately give them the visa. That is being done,” said Rojas.

The Association of Users of the Colon Free Trade Zone and the immigration authorities “are looking for ways to work together,” added the business leader.

“All the people who arrive in Colón are welcome to go shopping. From the Cuban people who visit us, there are those who invest 1,000 dollars, others 3,000 dollars. The ones who spend the most, spend 5,000 dollars because they can’t take out more money. That has helped the Free Trade Zone a lot to stay in force,” said Rojas.

The administration of the Colón Free Trade Zone (ZLC), the largest in the continent and located in Panama’s Caribbean, reported last Friday that 40.1% of the 57,121 shopping tourists who entered the emporium between January and July were Cuban.

📌 Un total de 57.121 turistas entraron a la #ZonaLibredeColón, la mayor del continente y situada en el Caribe de Panamá, entre enero y julio pasados, el 40 % de ellos procedentes de Cuba.

Más vía @tvnnoticiashttps://t.co/HD5pVZn0ci

— Zona Libre de Colón 🇵🇦 (@zolicol) August 18, 2019

The immigration authorities indicated last July, after suspending the tourism card, that Cuban citizens could apply “at the Panamanian Consulate in Cuba for the stamped tourist visa with the requirements and procedures established by the current regulations.”

The tourism card, which costs 20 dollars, could be requested in principle by Cuban citizens with a self-employed card, certificate of creators (artisans) or who had previously traveled to Panama or a third country and who did not have a stamped visa, to stay up to 30 days in Panama.

On March 16, the government of then President Juan Carlos Varela (2014-2019) issued Executive Decree 122, which established that Cubans should have a stamped visa to enter Panama, including those who obtained the tourism card and entered the Central American country with it.

The government of Panama said that it considers “necessary” the establishment of these requirements and stamped visa procedure for Cuban nationals, after carrying out “the corresponding evaluation,” as stated in Decree 122.

Authors

EFE, EFE
Tags: Cuba and Panamacuban private sector
Previous Post

Reina Street

Next Post

The old Havana

EFE

EFE

EFE

EFE

Next Post
Photo: Kaloian

The old Havana

"Zara, you have to stop," slogan of the viral campaign that Clandestina has started to denounce a possible plagiarism of its creations. Photo: Ernesto Mastrascusa / EFE.

Clandestina vs Zara: subtle inspiration or vulgar plagiarism?

Peky, Holguín. Photo: Emmy Park.

The New York photographer who loves Cuba's dogs and cats

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

  • cuban flag and cuban soldiers. Soviet poster

    The Soviets in Cuba (II)

    9 shares
    Share 4 Tweet 2
  • Biden finally cracks the door open to Cuba

    19 shares
    Share 8 Tweet 5
  • Cuban stars in Miami

    33 shares
    Share 13 Tweet 8
  • Cuba’s position on war in Ukraine: between political realism and international law

    129 shares
    Share 52 Tweet 32
  • Cuban institution and U.S. university strengthen exchange in health areas

    5 shares
    Share 2 Tweet 1

Most Commented

  • The PCR test is applied at José Martí airport to travelers arriving in Cuba. The operation took between 30 and 35 seconds on average for each person seen to. Photo: Luis Carlos Gongora/Facebook/Archive.

    Cuba will charge people who travel abroad for PCR tests, at least if the country to which they are going “requires it.”

    9 shares
    Share 4 Tweet 2
  • Cuba’s position on war in Ukraine: between political realism and international law

    129 shares
    Share 52 Tweet 32
  • The “dry rice” formula

    8 shares
    Share 3 Tweet 2
  • The documentary people, between Washington and Havana

    5 shares
    Share 2 Tweet 1
  • 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.

Go to mobile version