Cuba suspends consular services in US

Cuba has suspended its consular services in the United States after failing to find a bank to process its diplomatic accounts due to the US-imposed economic embargo.

The Cuban Interests Section in Washington said in a statement that it suspended its consular services such as processing passports and visas as it has been “impossible” to find a US-based bank that could operate banking services for the Cuban diplomatic missions.

The interest section cited restrictions stemming from the US “policy of economic, commercial and financial blockade” as the reason and that the suspension would continue “until banking services are re-established.”

The statement also said, “The section regrets any inconvenience this situation may cause.”

Humanitarian cases can still be processed by the mission, the statement added.

M&T Bank, which operates accounts of the Cuban Interests Section and Cuba’s United Nations mission in New York City, has announced that it would discontinue handling services for the Cuban diplomatic missions from March 1.

The March deadline was an extension decided last November, when Cuba suspended its consular services indefinitely as it could not find a replacement bank.

Havana says Washington is required under diplomatic accords to ensure “full facilities for the performance of the functions” of diplomatic missions and consular offices in the United States.

Havana and Washington have been at odds since the Cuban revolution, led by Fidel Castro, toppled Fulgencio Batista’s regime in 1959. The United States started imposing measures in the same year and placed an official embargo against Cuba in 1962.

Cuba’s Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla said last October that Havana has lost over USD 1.1 trillion because of the embargo, adding that the embargo has prevented his country from gaining access to heart and anti-AIDS medications for children.