Canadian Government Reinstates Some Visa Services for Cubans at Embassy in Havana
Montreal demonstration, June 9, 2019, demands Canadian government
restore consular
services at its embassy in Havana.
On July 29, the Canadian
government announced that its embassy in Havana would be reinstating
some of the services
suspended abruptly on May 8 with the closure of the embassy's visa
processing section.
Suspension of those services forced most Cubans to travel to a third
country to obtain the
visas required for them to visit, study or work in Canada. As of August
1, Cuban residents are
once again able to get their fingerprints and photos taken, as well as
drop off their passports
and pick up visas at the embassy in Havana.
Despite the restoration of certain in-country services,
there are still barriers, including delays
and prohibitive costs, for those applying for permanent residency, for
spouses and
close family members of Canadian citizens and permanent residents who
must still travel
outside of Cuba for any required medical exams and interviews.
Port-of-Spain, Trinidad
and Mexico City are the only available options for interviews.
Added to
the cost of airline tickets
and accommodations, Cuban citizens must obtain a visa in order to
travel to Mexico.
In January, Ottawa reduced staffing at its embassy in
Havana by 50 per cent, citing "safety"
issues, after a number of its personnel reported experiencing symptoms
of an undetermined
origin, not unlike those previously reported by some U.S. embassy
personnel in Havana. In
spite of no evidence regarding the source of the symptoms being
uncovered by extensive
investigations carried out by U.S. and Cuban experts, the Trump
administration claims its
diplomats suffered health "attacks" for which Cuba is to blame and has
withdrawn all but a
handful of its embassy staff and discontinued all visa processing for
Cubans in Havana. Given
that this occurred right as Trump was reversing initiatives begun under
the Obama
administration to normalize relations with Cuba, and acting to further
attack Cuba in different
ways, including for its support of Venezuela, there were concerns about
the Trudeau
government's motive for following the U.S. lead in drastically cutting
embassy staff and
closing its visa office in Havana.
Public Outcry Demands Reopening of Visa Office
Toronto picket June 9, 2019, demanding consular services resume at
Canadian embassy
in Havana.
Canada's decision to partially restore the suspended
visa processing services on
August 1 follows a public outcry. Within two days of the announcement
being made the
Canadian Network on Cuba issued a statement expressing concern over
what it said were
hostile actions on Canada's part and calling for the visa office in
Havana to be reopened. The
Canadian Association for Latin American and Caribbean Studies wrote to
complain about
three distinguished Cuban scholars who were unable to attend their 50th
anniversary
conference in Toronto because they never received their visas despite
having applied more
than three months in advance and having paid for all their travel and
lodging expenses. The
letter said the Canadian government's conduct in this matter did not
"meet the standards we
expect and demand from the Canadian public service."
In May and June, protests were held in
Ottawa, Montreal and Toronto by friends of Cuba
and Cubans
resident in Canada. Opposition was also expressed by people
in Cuba. Cuban
Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez and Ambassador to Canada
Josefina
Vidal made a strong
case in their meetings with Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland and
other Canadian
government officials about there being no justification for closing the
visa office in Havana.
Ambassador Vidal said at a public meeting in Toronto that the Canadian
government should
reconsider its decision so it would not be remembered as the government
that ended Canada-Cuba people-to-people relations. Initiatives were
also taken on social media. One of these was
a video featuring people in Cuba and Canada giving personal
testimonials about the hardship
and distress the Canadian government's drastic action was causing them.
On July 17 a national day of action was held and a
petition launched by the Canadian
Network on Cuba to demand the government reopen its visa office and
fully restore all visa processing
services in Havana. People were encouraged to use the day to raise the
same demand with
elected officials by phone, email and on social media with the hashtags
#CdnVisasforCuba,
#UnBlockCuba and #NoMasBloqueo. Less than two weeks later, the
government announced it
was restoring some of the services it said on May 8 would no longer be
offered at its embassy
in Havana.
This article was published in
Volume 49 Number 25 - August 31, 2019
Article Link:
Canadian Government Reinstates Some Visa Services for Cubans at Embassy in Havana
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
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