The US embassy in Havana reopened visa services for Cubans on Wednesday, five years after a series of health incidents drastically cut the number of diplomatic staff.
In September, when plans for expanded services were announced, the embassy said that the primary focus would be on processing “immediate relative, family preference, diversity visa, and K fiancé(e) visa categories”.
The embassy will not, however, be issuing tourist visas for now.
NPR reported that the embassy is expected to issue at least 20,000 visas per year, though the Covid-19 pandemic has created an enormous backlog that has pushed processing back by months and even years.
The reopening of visa processing in the country comes amid a historic level of Cuban migration.
According to official figures, over the past year, about 250,000 Cubans — more than 2 per cent of the island’s 11 million people — have attempted to migrate to the US.
Cuba has become a top contributor to the flow of people attempting to cross the southern US border — something that has become a major political liability for President Joe Biden as well as a wider national security concern.
Migrants on the southern US border — in pictures
The tightening of US sanctions coupled with the devastation wreaked by the pandemic on the country's tourism industry has caused Cuba's economy to go into free fall. Skyrocketing inflation, shortages of goods — including food — and frequent power cuts have caused widespread discontent.
And remittances sent from abroad — which in 2019 reached $3.7 billion and are another vital source of income for Cubans — also largely dried up in recent years, with travel blocked, AFP reported.
Despite election promises, Mr Biden has not reversed the embargo, instead hardening his speech following anti-government protests on the island in July 2021.
Over the course of the pandemic, the number of protests on the island has risen dramatically, with the Cuban Observatory of Conflict reporting more than 2,000 through August 2022 alone — a sign of increasing discontent with the country's communist government.
Havana has passed the blame for the country's woes to its long-time foe, the US — and perhaps with good reason: Since the 1960s, Cuba has been the subject of a stringent trade embargo, with goods including fuel, car parts, fertilisers and many others banned from being shipped to the island.
Cuba, which has campaigned tirelessly at the UN and other international organisations to end the embargo, has claimed that America's actions have cost the island more than $130 billion.
'Sonic attacks'
The reason for the lengthy closing of visa-processing services at the embassy in Havana can be traced back to a series of strange incidents that have baffled doctors and scientists for years.
In 2016, staff at the embassy began reporting hearing a grinding noise, often accompanied by a feeling of pressure or vibration, similar to driving in a car with the window partly open.
The incidents occurred in the staffers' homes or hotel rooms and, in several cases, resulted in lasting health problems, including one diplomat needing a hearing aid, according to CNN.
Theories behind the so-called sonic attacks ranged from orchestrated assaults by the Cuban government using microwaves or pulsed electromagnetic energy to cricket sounds to pesticides, and even mass hysteria.
Regardless of their cause, the incidents caused a major decrease in embassy staff, leading it to close visa processing in the country.
The Cuban government has categorically denied involvement.
'The Art of Diplomacy' with Cuba's ambassador to the UAE — video
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How to help
Call the hotline on 0502955999 or send "thenational" to the following numbers:
2289 - Dh10
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3) Ederson, Benfica to Manchester City (£35m)
4) Gianluigi Buffon, Parma to Juventus (£33m)
5) Angelo Peruzzi, Inter Milan to Lazio (£15.7m
SPECS
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Ibrahim's play list
Completed an electrical diploma at the Adnoc Technical Institute
Works as a public relations officer with Adnoc
Apart from the piano, he plays the accordion, oud and guitar
His favourite composer is Johann Sebastian Bach
Also enjoys listening to Mozart
Likes all genres of music including Arabic music and jazz
Enjoys rock groups Scorpions and Metallica
Other musicians he likes are Syrian-American pianist Malek Jandali and Lebanese oud player Rabih Abou Khalil
Squad
Ali Kasheif, Salim Rashid, Khalifa Al Hammadi, Khalfan Mubarak, Ali Mabkhout, Omar Abdulrahman, Mohammed Al Attas, Abdullah Ramadan, Zayed Al Ameri (Al Jazira), Mohammed Al Shamsi, Hamdan Al Kamali, Mohammed Barghash, Khalil Al Hammadi (Al Wahda), Khalid Essa, Mohammed Shaker, Ahmed Barman, Bandar Al Ahbabi (Al Ain), Al Hassan Saleh, Majid Suroor (Sharjah) Walid Abbas, Ahmed Khalil (Shabab Al Ahli), Tariq Ahmed, Jasim Yaqoub (Al Nasr), Ali Saleh, Ali Salmeen (Al Wasl), Hassan Al Muharami (Baniyas)
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Know before you go
- Jebel Akhdar is a two-hour drive from Muscat airport or a six-hour drive from Dubai. It’s impossible to visit by car unless you have a 4x4. Phone ahead to the hotel to arrange a transfer.
- If you’re driving, make sure your insurance covers Oman.
- By air: Budget airlines Air Arabia, Flydubai and SalamAir offer direct routes to Muscat from the UAE.
- Tourists from the Emirates (UAE nationals not included) must apply for an Omani visa online before arrival at evisa.rop.gov.om. The process typically takes several days.
- Flash floods are probable due to the terrain and a lack of drainage. Always check the weather before venturing into any canyons or other remote areas and identify a plan of escape that includes high ground, shelter and parking where your car won’t be overtaken by sudden downpours.
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Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
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Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on
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Our legal advisor
Ahmad El Sayed is Senior Associate at Charles Russell Speechlys, a law firm headquartered in London with offices in the UK, Europe, the Middle East and Hong Kong.
Experience: Commercial litigator who has assisted clients with overseas judgments before UAE courts. His specialties are cases related to banking, real estate, shareholder disputes, company liquidations and criminal matters as well as employment related litigation.
Education: Sagesse University, Beirut, Lebanon, in 2005.
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
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THE SPECS
Engine: six-litre W12 twin-turbo
Transmission: eight-speed dual clutch auto
Power: 626bhp
Torque: 900Nm
Price: Dh940,160 (plus VAT)
On sale: Q1 2020
