Cubans heartbroken, angry can’t seek US visas in Havana

Cubans said they were both heartbroken and enraged by the United States’decision on Friday to stop processing visas at its embassy in Havanathat would further tear at the seams families already divided by theFlorida Straits.The United States said it was cutting its diplomatic presence in Cuba bymore than a half because of mysterious “attacks” against its embassypersonnel and was therefore halting regular visa operations.“To think you can’t go see your family is a terrible thing,” saidpensioner Xiomara Irene Louzado, 74, who had been planning a visit tothe United States to see her sister and nephews.Louzado said she also wanted to visit the graves of her sister and mother.She has travelled there regularly but now she simply no longer knew when she next could.“This is unnecessary and inhuman,” said Laura Hernandez, a Cuban studentwho had been hoping to move to live with her father in the UnitedStates.“With so many families to reunify...why?”While Cuba numbers a population of 11.2mn, there are an estimated 2mn Cuban Americans in the United States.It remains unclear which visas the US Havana embassy will still be processing and what other recourses Cubans will have.“We have suspended most visa processing in Havana,” a notice on its website read.“Cuban applicants for non immigrant visas may apply at another US embassy or consulate overseas.”The United States has one specific deal with its former Cold War foe toissue 20,000 visas a year to Cubans seeking to emigrate there, agreedafter the 1994 rafter exodus to prevent them from taking to the seaillegally in makeshift crafts.Short of an effective third country workaround for those visaapplications, Friday’s measure would likely ensure it violates thatagreement, said Michael Bustamante, an assistant professor of LatinAmerican history at Florida International University.The Cuban government has denied any involvement in the alleged attackson diplomats in Havana and warned the Trump administration againstpoliticising them.Twenty-one US embassy employees in Cuba have been injured and reportedsymptoms such as hearing loss, dizziness, headache, fatigue, cognitiveissues, and difficulty sleeping, the State Department said.Several Canadian diplomats have complained of similar symptoms to theirAmerican counterparts but Canada said on Friday it had no plans toreduce staff at its embassy in Havana.Many Cubans on Friday said they felt they were once more collateraldamage of the war between the anti-Castro lobby in the United States andCuba.US President Donald Trump, a Republican, had in June said he wanted topartially roll back the detente agreed with Cuba under his predecessor,Democrat Barack Obama.“Politics always ends up affecting the poorest, the people, and not thegovernment,” said Jessica Aguila, 38, an office employee who had beenplanning to visit her family at Christmas. “In a few months, all theadvances between the two countries have been turned to dust.”Washington on Friday also warned US citizens against visiting theCaribbean island, a move that will likely hurt many Cubans working inhospitality.That sector is one of the few that had been thriving amidst a gloomyeconomic outlook, although it took a beating earlier this month fromHurricane Irma that wrought havoc on much of the island’sinfrastructure. “(Trump) is already an imminent danger for us, saidMagdalena Hernandez, 67, “worse than a Category 5 hurricane.”