Round two on the migration accords

When the U.S. Interests Section said that Cuba was blocking the delivery of “supplies to improve visa facilities” and thereby contributing to the consulate’s inability to issue the agreed-upon 20,000 immigrant visas this year, I thought they were talking about office equipment.

Not so. The State Department spokesman says Cuba has held up delivery of 28 shipping containers that are needed to address “U.S. concerns about building and operational safety” and to ensure “the safe and timely operation of the U.S. Interests Section.” Sounds like a construction or renovation project. He reiterated that Cuba is not allowing the Interests Section to hire local personnel to fill vacancies in the consulate, and he added that maintenance workers have not been granted visas to travel to Havana to fix consulate equipment.

Meanwhile, the Cuban foreign ministry’s Josefina Vidal “categorically rejects the affirmation by the U.S. Interests Section that we are obstructing the work of that office.” Visas for consular personnel have been granted, the santiaguera says, approvals have been granted for importation of materials to remodel the consulate, and Cuba believes the detained containers may contain materials for “subversive work in support of the counterrevolution in flagrant violation of the Vienna Convention.”

Whom to believe?