He Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Cuba (MINREX) He denied that Cubans who vote in the parliamentary elections this Sunday will not be able to take advantage of the United States humanitarian parole program.
Ernesto Soberón Guzmán, general director of Consular Affairs and Cuban Residents Abroad of the island’s Foreign Ministry, stated —quoting US officials— that this information, which has been circulating on social networks, is false.
“US government officials confirm that the warning disseminated on networks is FALSE according to which Cubans who today exercise the right to vote in Cuba They will not be able to take advantage of the ‘humanitarian parole’ program,” Soberón wrote on Twitter.
“This is a fraudulent threat aimed at confusing and intimidating”, added the diplomat.
U.S. government officials confirm that the warning disseminated on networks is FALSE according to which Cubans who today exercise the right to vote in #Cuba They will not be eligible for the “humanitarian parole” program.
This is a fraudulent threat aimed at confusing and intimidating.— Ernesto Soberón (@SoberonGuzman) March 26, 2023
For its part, the Nation and Emigration platform of MINREX, estimated in that own network that such information is a lie that persecutes “demobilize and confuse the Cubans” and discredit the island’s electoral system.
For several days on social networks, an alleged tweet from the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) has been circulating, which ensures that Cubans who vote in the parliamentary elections this Sunday will be denied access to humanitarian parole .
“However, neither the account of the US Government agency in charge of processing and granting immigration and citizenship benefits to those who meet the legal requirements, nor its Facebook profile, have information in this regard.”, explain a report from the agency Latin Press (PL).
Since January, the United States government has launched a humanitarian parole program for citizens of Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela, and Haiti with the intention of stopping the illegal immigration of people from these countries to United States territory.
This program allows beneficiaries to enter and work in the United States for two years if they have a sponsor who is financially responsible for them.
Requirements of the new parole program to immigrate to the United States
At the beginning of Marchthe Under Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, Brian A. Nichols, reported that to date “some 10,000 Cubans” had used the program “successfully” and asserted that since its launch “the number of Cuban migrants who attempt a dangerous irregular migration (to the United States) has gone into a tailspin.”
In the elections this Sunday, the 470 deputies of the tenth Legislature of the National Assembly, the highest Cuban legislative body, must be elected for a period of 5 years.
Until 2:00 in the afternoon, more than 4.8 million voters had voted, 60.14% of the register, in accordance with the National Electoral Council.
This is a rate of 7.91 percentage points less than that reported at the same time in the last parliamentary elections of 2018, although higher than that of the municipal elections last November (53.79%) and the referendum on the Code of Families (58.82%), details the agency EFE.
