The U.S. government has made it clear to Cuban authorities that the imprisonment of hundreds of peaceful protesters who took part in island-wide demonstrations on July 2021 is the “most serious obstacle” to improving bilateral relations, the head of the U.S. Embassy in Havana told the Miami Herald in an interview Tuesday.
‘We’ve certainly communicated to the Cuban government that this the most serious obstacle to any improvement in relations,” chargé d’affaires Benjamin Ziff said during a visit to Miami. “We made it clear that the human rights context on the island is a huge obstacle, the hugest obstacle to being able to have any kind of movement in the relationship with the United States.”
Ziff also said the Biden administration has increased staffing at the embassy to process immigrant visas, but there is no date yet to resume issuing visitors visas. He also said he was not aware of plans to reopen the refugee program, which was shut down under the Trump administration.
