Hundreds of Cubans denounce this Monday that they cannot access the website that the Mexican embassy on the island set up to request a consular appointment for the month of April. The diplomatic headquarters announced at the beginning of the month that from today, at 4 pm, the new procedures could be scheduled.
The new web address then announced by the embassy, citacuba.sre.gob.mx, does not load. Many of them get signs indicating that “connection failed”, “error 20” or simply let you enter the user data and when you try to access the page freezes.
“It’s always the same. And this has been denounced even in collective letters to the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs and nothing happens,” he complained on his Twitter account. Twitter Cuban journalist based in Mexico, José Raúl Gallego, showing screenshots of failed attempts to access the site.
“Corruption continues with total impunity,” added Gallego, in a clear allusion to the usual complaints about the illegal sale in Havana of consular appointments, which can cost up to 1,500 dollars.
In the last two years, attention to the public at the consular headquarters has been repeatedly interrupted due to the spike in coronavirus in both Cuba and Mexico. In January 2021, the Mexican government decided to suspend “until further notice” all consular and immigration services. It was not until the end of last December that he notified that he would enable appointments for the first days of 2022 and only for legalization of documents and visa applications.
“The connection has deteriorated in recent weeks, it is slow, there are constant crashes in web browsing from mobile phones, but today it has become extreme”
Several Cubans residing on the island, who are undergoing family reunification processes, have also denounced that the opening of appointments has coincided this Monday with “one of the worst days of internet connection.”
“The connection has deteriorated in recent weeks, it is slow, there are constant hang up of web browsing from mobile phones but today it has gone to extremes”, he details 14ymedio one of those affected. Users on the island “have it doubly difficult to make an appointment,” on the one hand, he insists, “the site is collapsed,” but on the other, “Cubans’ Internet access is very limited.”
Despite these drawbacks, poor service from the Consulate was already a constant before the pandemic. Getting an interview at the embassy was always difficult due to problems in the electronic system, delays with applications, or reselling appointments on the informal market.
Cubans initially had to go to the site of the National Migration Institute to manage a date, but the Embassy created the Appointments-Cuba page in the Mexitel system at the beginning of 2020 to speed up the procedures.
However, several independent media have reported that the number of shifts remains limited and intermediaries continue to charge excessive amounts of money to those who want to arrange an appointment.
For the month of April they were only enabled, according to the embassy, 1,217 appointments for visas and legalization of seals and signatures. “Appointments for the month of May will be opened at a later date,” he informed.
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