Cuba Resumes Consular Services in USA
HAVANA TIMES — The Cuban government announced today that it will resume consular services at the Cuban Interests Section in Washington until February 17. The consulate had suspended services on November 26 when the bank that was handling its accounts announced the immediate ceasing of the service.
On Friday December 6, M & T bank informed Cuba’s Interests Section that it would put off the definitive closure of its accounts until March 1, 2014.
The Cuban diplomatic mission in Washington noted today that it continues to make efforts to identify a new bank to take over the handling of its accounts and make possible the permanent normalization of consular services.
The main obstacle to Cuba being able to conduct normal banking in the US is the embargo imposed by that country on the island for over a half century, which hampers US banks from doing business with the island under the threat of hefty fines.
As I said in my comment here on HT when this story first broke. Much ado about nothing. Cuban propagandists jumped on this story to bang the anti-embargo drums. The Castros are many things but fool is not one of them. They need these consular fees and moreover, the tourists dollars that pour in this time of year. My wife, like many Cubans will travel to Cuba soon to see her folks, roast a pig or two, and spend lots of money with her family and friends. I never had a doubt this problem would be resolved.