Cuba. File photoWASHINGTON, May 17.The United States is stepping up support for Cubans by relaunching a program that includes expanding visa and consular services, lifting some restrictions on money transfers, and making it easier for family members to visit, State Department spokesman Ned Price said. «Today, the administration is announcing measures to further support the Cuban people… , we will further increase consular services and visa issuance, allowing more Cubans to join their families in the U.S. through regular migration channels.We will make it easier for families to visit their relatives in Cuba, and for authorized Americans to interact with Cuban residents, attend events and conduct research,» Price said in a statement on the State Department's website. The U.S. government pledges to support Cuba's private sector by expanding electronic payment options, as well as access to American Internet services, applications and online trading platforms. The US State Department says that the authorities will support the activities of American businessmen with «independent Cuban entrepreneurs.» «We will also support Cuban families and entrepreneurs by allowing increased remittances to the Cuban people in a way that does not lead to the enrichment of human rights violators. We will lift restrictions $1,000 per quarter for family remittances and will support transfers in the form of donations to Cuban entrepreneurs,” the State Department added. In early May, the US Embassy in Havana reported that after a break of several years, it had resumed processing applications for issuing immigrant visas to Cuban citizens. During this period, citizens of the island nation who wished to migrate to the United States were forced to personally apply to submit documents to the American missions in Colombia and Guyana. The closure of the embassy and the withdrawal of a significant part of US diplomats from Cuba occurred in December 2018 under President Donald Trump. He then referred to the incidents with the health of the diplomatic staff, which were called the «Havana syndrome». products
