Cuba does not rule out the possibility of opening a consulate in South Florida

Cuba does not rule out the possibility of opening a consulate in South Florida
Fecha de publicación: 
14 July 2015
0
Imagen principal: 

The current chief of mission of the Interest Section of Cuba in Washington, Jose Ramon Cabañas, gave an exclusive interview to Univision 23 TV on the opening of a Cuban embassy in the US on July 20th as well as the possibility of opening a consulate in South Florida.

In the first part of the interview, granted to journalist Gloria Ordaz, Cabañas did not rule out the possibility of opening a consulate in South Florida, where a large number of Cuban emigration resides in the US.

“We have listened to our community in the US. They have expressed interest and a need to have such service beyond Washington”, he pointed out.

“Once a decision is made, it would certainly be a federal one. Previously, the Cuban government should make a formal request. There are large groups of Cuban people all around the US, most of them are living in South Florida, especially in the Miami Dade County.”

Tomas Regalado and Carlos Hernandez, mayors of Miami and Hialeah respectively, have dismissed the idea of opening a consulate in these cities because both believe this is an insult to the “historical” exile.

Cabanas said that no ambassador has been named. The official in charge will be known as “official in charge of business”.

In the future, Cuba and the US will “determine a name to be proposed to the other side and then, it will start a process of approval”.

Cabanas referred to the benefits of having an embassy in the US in terms of “access to different federal agencies” and its significance, politically speaking. “If we are restoring diplomatic relations and re-opening embassies, we are recognizing ourselves as States and equals”, he added.

Cubasi Translation Staff

Add new comment

CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Image CAPTCHA
Enter the characters shown in the image.