CARLOS Núñez had to travel some 1,500 kilometers from Miami to Washington DC in order to process some urgent paperwork in the only Cuban consulate in the United States.
His story is similar to that of thousands of others who have been affected by the impossibility of accessing banking services for the Cuban diplomatic mission, which would allow for full consular services to be provided.
“I came for some documents because I’m going to get married in Cuba and I’m in the process of legalizing the paperwork. I hope the banking issue is resolved soon because it’s complicated traveling so far and also having to pay for all the documents in cash,” Núñez, who has been living in the U.S. for 35 years, tells us.
On the trail of this issue, we traveled to the Cuban Consular Office on 16th Street in Washington, where we talked with several Cubans who, despite the low temperatures, had made the journey to obtain their paperwork.
María Cantero has been living in the U.S. capital for eight years and told us that sometimes, due to the constraints of the banking system, she has been forced to send her paperwork to be processed through a travel agency in Miami, resulting in higher costs, given the absence of any in her area.
”It's disrespectful that banks do not provide this service to Cubans,” she said.
Despite repeated requests, the Cuban diplomatic office in the northern country has not found a substitute for M&T Bank, which terminated its services to the mission in November 2013.
According to statements by the U.S. authorities, they have worked for months to replace M&T, but it has been very difficult to find another bank that will work with Cuba due to the various sanctions imposed by Washington on the country.
The restrictions involve more work for banking institutions, which are exposed to constant scrutiny from the authorities and face high fines for any irregularities.
”From that moment we took on the task of finding a new bank with which to work and to this day it has not been possible because they all respond that they can not do business with Cuba as it’s included on the list of countries sponsoring terrorism and there are regulations against Cuba due to the list,” Juan Lamigueiro, deputy chief of the Cuba Interests Section in Washington explained.
For over a year, consular services have continued to operate but are only directly processed for “humanitarian cases” and payments are made in cash, which has hurt the entire Cuban community in the U.S. and hinders the normal work of our personnel there.
“What once was carried out via a bank transaction, an electronic movement, today has to be in person at the consulate and paid in cash. This has had a strong impact not only on our working conditions, but also in our living conditions, because it forces us to make all our payments in cash,” the diplomat added.
On Friday, March 27, the Cuban Interests Section decided to extend its services once again until June 30, 2015, which it will continue to process through travel agencies with ties to the Consular Office or directly to its headquarters in Washington, while reiterating that requests based on humanitarian grounds continue to receive prompt attention.
HAZARDS FOR AGENCIES
Costamar Travel is a travel agency based in New Jersey - one of the U.S. states with the highest number of Cuban residents - which agreed to talk with us on the subject.
Caridad Ludgarda García Monteagudo, a Cuban who stands out for her Caribbean flair in the midst of an icy Washington, is a representative of the agency and we talked about some of the difficulties she faces in her work.
“It's very difficult, complicated, but especially risky to handle such a volume of cash, which we have to take along with us when traveling monthly to the consulate in Washington, for a scheduled appointment,” she said.
Yoandra Pérez, president of the Caribbean Service & TravelCorp agency, based in Florida, told us a similar story: “Today we traveled with about 60,000 dollars in cash, and I imagine that the charterers (airlines that manage travel to Cuba) come with much more, which is very dangerous, risky and a huge constraint.”
“Before all the payments were made through company checks sent by regular mail and it was quick and easy. We need this to change and for Cuba to have access to a bank in the U.S. which can facilitate consular services,” she added.
When asked whether these new circumstances have led to rising prices, García Monteagudo, who has been working as a travel rep for 27 years, assured us that companies located in states further away from the capital have had to raise prices for the processing of passports, documents and legalizations, although they have tried to ensure this does not affect clients. “But it is almost impossible, it’s a big risk,” she said.
For Cuban lawyer, Manolo Gómez, a U.S. resident since 1961, it is inconceivable that travel agents have to travel to Washington literally carrying a box full of cash for consular processing, an issue that hinders everything.
“In Miami the issue is complained about, that this must be solved, it makes no sense,” Gómez said, adding that staff at the consulate must be going crazy, handling these huge amounts of cash.
“They have even had to reduce the amount of passports that can be issued and a number of other things that an office of this type usually processes, and either they can’t do things or they take much longer,” he said.
Fellow Cuban lawyer and U.S. resident, Luis Rumbaut, similarly comments: “In the broader context we are talking about the whole country, which is not small. If you are in Florida, Chicago, California, Oregon, it is no small thing to have to travel to Washington.”
Decades ago, Cuba had consulates in various parts of the country and today there is just one in the conditions we have described. Furthermore the consulate is a small place, “because we have not managed to find a larger space,” Rumbaut said, adding that, “when people arrive to file their papers the building fills and huge queues form.”
However, lawyer Manolo Gómez, despite noting that procedures are much slower, had words of praise for the island’s diplomats: “Despite all the work they are doing an excellent job to carry out all the services required by the community.”
Cuba ensures that all diplomatic missions on the island, including the U.S. Interests Section, enjoy banking services. However, the Cuban office in Washington has been unable to access the services of any institution, despite the U.S. authorities claiming they are working on it.
Josefina Vidal, director general for the United States at the Cuban Foreign Ministry, has reiterated the need for this issue to be resolved as soon as possible and for all conditions stipulated by international treaties to be met, in recent conversations with U.S. representatives.
The absence of these services for our Interests Section in Washington, which has spanned more than a year, is one of the main obstacles to the restoration of diplomatic ties and the reopening of embassies in Washington and Havana.
