U.S. Embassy in Cuba resumes visa, consular services after 5-year suspension due to health incidents

The U.S. embassy in Cuba has resumed visa services after its staff were suspended for five years due to a series of mysterious health incidents.

At least 20,000 visas are expected to be issued yearly, primarily to Cubans trying to contact family in the United States.

The reopening of flights from the island comes as Cuba suffers one of its worst economic crises.

Under the Trump administration, consular services have been kept to a minimum.

The service was shut down in 2017 following reports of unexplained health incidents among embassy employees that eventually became known as "Havana Syndrome."

The Cuban economy has been in dire straits in recent years | GETTY IMAGES | bbc

The syndrome was first identified in U.S. intelligence officers and diplomats at the embassy in Havana — before it was reported elsewhere in the world — who first complained of an unusual set of symptoms about seven years ago.

Many theories behind these disorders have now been debunked, but the entire cause remains unclear.

The embassy's announcement last week of resuming visa services will come as a relief to thousands of Cubans desperate to see family members in Florida and elsewhere in the United States.

U.S. Embassy in Cuba (State Dpto. image)

The move comes as Cuban immigration to the United States has reached levels not seen in decades. Under a bilateral agreement, the United States will issue at least 20,000 visas to Cubans a year.

However, this is only a fraction of those who left or tried to leave. Last year, U.S. border authorities registered about 225,000 Cubans who entered the country illegally.

After 2016, the Trump administration imposed a whole new set of economic sanctions on the Communist-run island after President Barack Obama relaxed the same rules.

Coupled with the economic downturn caused by COVID and the country's poor management of the economy, the Cuban economy has been in dire straits in recent years.

The U.S. government recently announced plans to ease harsh sanctions imposed on Cuba by former President Donald Trump.

Restrictions on family remittances and travel to the island are being eased as part of new measures approved by the Biden administration.

Source -Will Grant

BBC Central America correspondent