credit: wikipedia /  United States of America Visa Specimen

By Gary Raynaldo     DIPLOMATIC  TIMES

Beginning today, the U.S. Department of State  is eliminating the highly sought after 5-year travel visa for Cuban citizens visiting America. “Effective March 18, 2019, the United States will reduce the B2 visa validity for Cuban nationals to three months with a single entry,  the U.S. Embassy Havana, Cuba  announced last Friday.  The U.S. action is being described as a severe blow for Cuban members of divided families and Cuban business owners. The B2 visa category is for tourism, family visits, medical treatment, and similar travel purposes, according to the U.S. Embassy Cuba.  No other visa categories are being changed for Cuban nationals.  Existing five year multiple entry B2 visas remain valid until their date of expiration.  Mara Tekach, the U.S. Embassy’s charge d’affaires, said Friday in a video on facebook 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.

credit:  usembassycubafaceook /   Mara Tekach, the U.S. Embassy’s charge d’affaires explains the Visa change.

“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,”  Nbcnews.com

Trump Administration Reverses President Obama’s Cuba Policy of Engagement 

Photo by Gary Raynaldo /  The Embassy of the United States of America in Havana, Cuba.

In 2015, President Barack Obama reestablished diplomatic relations with Cuba ending five decades of a US policy of isolationism. President Trump scaled back the Obama-era rapprochement with Cuba, placing restrictions on US travel to Cuba and business with Cuban entities linked to military, security, and intelligence agencies.

President Trump Opens Door For Lawsuits Over Cuban Confiscated Properties

Photo by: Gary Raynaldo / Vintage American car cruises along the Malecón in Havana

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told Congress in earlier this month he intends to suspend a section of the Helms-Burton Act for 30 days  beginning March 19, that allows former owners of commercial property expropriated by Cuba to sue companies and the Cuban government for using or “trafficking” in those confiscated holdings. Lawsuits would be allowed in American courts against Cuban companies using property seized during the 1959 revolution. The fact that the this is the shortest suspension period is an indication the Trump administration is leaning toward an activation of Title III of the 1996 Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity (LIBERTAD). If activated, it would  incite litigation that could have a “crippling effect on U.S.-Cuba trade,”  according to the Engage Cuba Coalition,  which describes itself as “a national coalition of private companies, organizations, and local leaders dedicated to advancing federal legislation to lift the 55-year-old Cuba embargo in order to empower the Cuban people and open opportunities for U.S. businesses.” According to Engage Cuba Coalition,  the 30-days period Pompeo announced is the shortest suspension period yet,  and it contains an exception that allows U.S. nationals whose properties were confiscated by the Cuban government following the 1959 Cuban revolution to sue the roughly 200 Cuban entities on the State Department’s Cuba Restricted List if these companies “traffic” in confiscated property.