Cuba to Waive Visas for Cubans Visiting from Abroad
Wed Oct 1, 4:57 PM ET  Add Politics to My Yahoo!



HAVANA (Reuters) - Communist-run Cuba has decided to eliminate a controversial regulation that forced Cuban citizens living abroad to obtain entry visas before visiting their homeland, a Cuban official said on Wednesday.

 

The requirement, which has been in force since Fidel Castro (news - web sites)'s 1959 revolution, has long been a source of friction between the government and the island's diaspora, who have demanded it be scrapped.


"The entry visas that up to now Cubans living abroad needed to visit the country will be eliminated during the first months of 2004," Lazaro Herrera, spokesman for the Cuban Interests Section in Washington, told Reuters.

[...]

The decision to eliminate the visa requirement was first mentioned by Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque during a meeting with Cuban-Americans in New York last weekend.


Since President Fidel Castro was swept into power in the 1959 revolution, Cubans wishing to travel outside the country or visit from abroad have needed special permission from the government, even if they had a valid passport.


"Now they will be able to enter the country without permission if they have a passport," Herrera said.


"It is a gesture by the Cuban government to demonstrate its willingness to improve relations with the community abroad," he added.


Cuba has justified the visa requirements as a defense against violent attacks by the most radical members of the exile community living mainly in the United States.
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....... Dadurch müsste sich auch etwas bezüglich der PRE ändern.

errue

wann ist man eigentlich "emigrante" nach kubanischer Definition?