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WORLD NEWS Thursday 2 June 2022
Renewed hopes but more delays for Cubans seeking U.S. visas

By ANDREA RODRÍGUEZ would undo some — but far
Associated Press from all — of the Trump-era
CIENFUEGOS, Cuba (AP) — restrictions.
Like many Cubans before With consular operations
him, Roberto De la Yglesia idled in Havana, U.S. of-
left most of his family behind ficials told Cubans to seek
when he made his way to visas at the operations in
the United States with only Guyana, across the Carib-
his son in 2015, hoping that bean on the South Ameri-
he could soon bring his wife can mainland — a costly
and daughters to join him. and impractical option for
Years later, the mechani- most.
cal engineer in New Jer- So with Cuba's economy in
sey and his family back in dire shape, increasing num-
Cienfuegos, Cuba, are still bers have tried to reach
waiting — with a mixture of the U.S. illegally, getting to
renewed hope and skepti- South America or Mexico
cism — now that the Biden and making their perilous
administration has said it way to the U.S. border,
will reactivate the long- adding to record wave of
stalled Family Reunification immigration.
Program, which lets Cu- U.S. Customs and Border
bans legally in the U.S. bring Danmara Triana, left, with her daughters Alice, center, and Claudia, show photos of them with their Patrol says it detained Cu-
close relatives. brother and father who moved to the United States in 2015, at their home in Cienfuegos, Cuba, bans 79,800 times at the
"My life is on pause," said Thursday, May 19, 2022. U.S. border in the six months
his wife, Danmara Triana, Associated Press from October 2021 through
sitting on the sofa of her March 2022 — more than
house in Cienfuegos while The Biden administration Russia or other foreign ad- plications. double the figure for the full
surrounded by aging pho- says that roughly 20,000 versaries. "I feel stranded. I'm not 12 months ending in Sep-
tos of the couple's life to- applications for family re- While the administration based anywhere," said tember 2021 and five times
gether. A few feet away, unification visas have built said in April it would begin Claudia, who said she had the figure for the year be-
her 21-year-old daugh- up since 2017. That's when resuming the program, it dropped out of medical fore that.
ter Claudia was awaiting President Donald Trump ef- has not yet offered a time- school, feeling "horribly un- Next door to Triana's house,
the return from school of fectively shut down the pro- line for ramping up the U.S. motivated." 61-year-old Natacha
7-year-old Alice. gram by withdrawing diplo- diplomatic presence in The withdrawal of diplo- González lives with her two
"My day to day life hangs matic personnel from Cuba Cuba. mats was only one of many grandchildren. Her daugh-
on this, — to see my son, in response to a spate of So Triana and De la Yglesia steps by the Trump adminis- ter, like De la Yglesia, now
to see my husband," Triana mysterious illnesses among wait. tration to isolate Cuba and lives in the U.S. and began
said. The 48-year-old ac- diplomats that many sus- U.S. officials told the couple backtrack from a dramatic the reunification process in
countant said she repeat- pected were the result of in 2017, shortly before dip- opening to the island under 2017.
edly checks the website of some sort of directed wave lomats were withdrawn, President Barack Obama. "I can speak for all the fa-
the U.S. Embassy in Havana attack. that they qualified for the Trump enacted more than thers and mothers who are
for news. But many similar incidents program and in 2020 they 200 measures, ranging from in this country sactificing so
"I get up in the morning and happened elsewhere — believed they had finished a ban on cruise ships to lim- that there is can be a cor-
look at the telephone. Will even in Washington — and all the paperwork and paid its on money sent from the rect (legal) migration of our
I have an interview (for a the CIA has now deter- all the fees. U.S. to restrictions on U.S, families," said González's
visa) or won't I have an in- mined they were unlikely to Then the COVID-19 pan- visitors. daughter, Yanelis León, in
terview?" be the result of attacks by demic hit, adding to com- Biden announced he a video call from Florida.q

Nicaraguan government abolishes 83 more NGOs, civic groups

MEXICO CITY (AP) — The dominated by Ortega's term Nov. 7, judges have
government of Nicaraguan Sandinista party, voted sentenced opposition
President Daniel Ortega on 75-0, with 16 abstentions, leaders, including former
Tuesday ordered the clo- to close the groups. A law high-level Sandinistas and
sure of 83 more civic groups passed in 2020 requires former presidential con-
and non-governmental or- such groups to register as tenders, to prison terms for
ganizations. "agents of a foreign gov- "conspiracy to undermine
The move brought to 200 ernment." national integrity."
the number of such closures Ortega's government has Thousands have fled into
this year, and a total of 320 moved against a number exile since Nicaraguan se-
since protests against the of non-governmental orga- curity forces violently put
Ortega regime erupted in nizations that it views as op- down the antigovernment
2018. position. protests in 2018. Ortega
The institutions closed in- The president has claimed says the protests were ac-
clude the Nicaraguan that groups receiving fund- tually an attempted coup
Academy of Letters, which ing from abroad were part with foreign backing, aim- Rolando Alvarez, Bishop of Matagalpa, attends a press con-
was founded in 1928 and of a broader conspiracy to ing for his overthrow and ference regarding the Roman Catholic Church's agreeing to
had included opposition remove him from office in encouraging foreign na- act as "mediator and witness" in a national dialogue between
writers like Gioconda Belli 2018. tions to apply sanctions on members of civil society and the government in Managua, Ni-
caragua, May 3, 2018.
and Sergio Ramírez. Since Ortega's re-election members of his family and Associated Press
The country's congress, to a fourth consecutive government.q