by Mia Taylor
Last updated: 2:43 PM ET, Mon March 18, 2019
In a move that's being described as a severe blow for Cuban members of divided families and Cuban business owners, the U.S. State Department announced Friday that it's doing away with the five-year tourist visa for citizens of the Caribbean island nation.
Eliminating the visa brings an end to what was a vital link between the United States and Cuba, the Associated Press reported.
Without the visa being available, Cubans will now be forced to make a costly and complicated trip to a third country, such as Mexico or Panama, whenever they want to visit the United States. This is because the United States in 2017 recalled most of its non-essential diplomatic staff in Havana. And at the same time, the U.S. also stopped issuing visas of almost any kind in the Caribbean island nation.
"This affects every Cuban but especially entrepreneurs who have to travel to get products that don't exist here," said Niuris Higueras, who brings salt, hand towels, candles, and other products from the U.S. for her restaurant Atelier, one of Havana's most successful private eateries.
Up until this latest announcement from the State Department, Cubans could obtain a visa that lasted five years. That option ended today. The B2 visas, as they are known, will now only allow for a single entry to the country for a three-month stay.
Martha Honey, executive director of the Center for Responsible Travel (CREST), told TravelPulse today that the administration's change in visa policy will have a negative impact on cultural exchanges between the two countries.
"This change to the B2 visa marks the latest blow to valuable exchanges between the United States and Cuba," said Honey. "It was already very difficult for Cubans to obtain visas to visit the United States and see their family members. Cutting the B2 visa from five years to three months will further limit interactions between Americans and Cubans that are vital for cross-cultural dialogue. We are deeply disappointed by the decision."
Mara Tekach, the U.S. Embassy's charge d'affaires, said Friday that the change is part of a need to achieve reciprocity between the visa rules of the U.S. and Cuba, which issues Americans single-entry tourist visas allowing a stay of up to three months.
However, as the Associated Press reported, the Cuban visa application process is nothing more than a formality, with airlines and travel agencies authorized to hand out visas to anyone who requests one and pays $50 as part of the purchase of an airline ticket or travel package.
Cubans, on the other hand, must pay $160, plus airfare and hotel costs in a third country, often to see their visa application swiftly rejected, the news organization pointed out.
"Invoking reciprocity here is beyond insulting," Michael Bustamante, an assistant professor of Latin American History at Florida International University and an expert on contemporary Cuba who advocates for closer bilateral relations, told the Associated Press. "The announcement today will come as a real blow to many Cubans, only the latest of the Trump policy years."
Critics of the move call it one of the harshest measures against Cuba taken by the Trump administration. They argue it will have a significant effect on the informal supply chain for the island's private sector. Nearly all supplies used by Cuban entrepreneurs are either stolen from state enterprises or come from other countries, transported by couriers, the Associated Press said.
The U.S. five-year visa allowed Cubans to make frequent trips to Miami. In addition, Latin American countries such as Mexico would allow Cubans with the U.S. visa to enter automatically.
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