leave island
The Associated Press
Published: July 18, 2007
HAVANA: A top Foreign Ministry official on Wednesday rejected U.S.
charges that the island's government was to blame for Washington's
inability to meet its annual 20,000-visa quota for Cubans seeking to
leave the island.
America's failure to meet the quota will likely encourage more illegal
immigration to the United States, Josefina Vidal, director of the
Foreign Ministry's North American Department, told The Associated Press.
"The Foreign Ministry categorically rejects the affirmation by the U.S.
Interests Section that we are obstructing the work of that office,"
Vidal said in an interview.
She dismissed complaints by the U.S. Interests Section — the American
mission here — that Cuba had failed to authorize essential personnel and
materials. Washington's failure to meet its annual quota of 20,000 visas
by Sept. 30 would be a "very grave violation" of migration accords
between the two countries, she said.
The two countries signed accords in 1994 to halt a mass exodus of
U.S.-bound Cubans by sea, agreeing to work toward safe and orderly
migration of Cubans wanting to emigrate to the United States. The United
States said it would process a minimum of 20,000 emigration visas for
Cubans in an effort to prevent such dangerous sea journeys.
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Washington said Tuesday it will not be able to meet the quota by the end
of the fiscal year on Sept. 30, complaining Havana has not authorized
the necessary U.S. personnel needed to process the visas and do other
work at the American mission. Cuba's Foreign Ministry said that through
June 30, only 10,724 Cubans had been granted visas.
On Wednesday, U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack also said
that for more than a year Cuba has held up 28 shipping containers filled
with "essential supplies and materials necessary for the safe and timely
operation of the U.S. Interests Section."
Vidal countered that 18 of the 20 positions for American officials
assigned to ensuring adherence to the migration accords are currently
filled and that visas for the other two are being processed. Cuba this
year also granted visas to eight temporary U.S. workers assigned to
migration related tasks, Vidal added.
"Cuban authorities have granted all of the visas requested by the (U.S.)
Department of State for officials designated by the U.S. Interests
Section to work on the implementation of the migration accords," Vidal said.
Vidal said Cuba allowed the American mission to import more than 80
metric tons (88 tons) of goods last year, and had additionally
authorized "numerous approvals for the importation of materials for the
remodeling of the consular offices."
As for the containers still held up, she said, "we have the sovereign
right to deny the importation of materials that are not for the official
use of the U.S. Interests Section." She said Cuba believed that some
containers held goods "for subversive work in support of the
counterrevolution in flagrant violation of the Vienna Convention."
Cuba and the United States have not had diplomatic relations in more
than four decades, but maintain interests sections in lieu of full
embassies to issue visas and handle other consular functions.
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/07/19/news/CB-GEN-Cuba-US-Immigration.php
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