Ernesto Soberon Guzmán, Director General of Consular Affairs and Cuban Residents Abroad at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MINREX), denied to state media that the legalization of documents used to travel abroad or to migrate permanently has been crippled.
Based on the conversation With the Caribbean Channel, these actions “have not stopped and will not stop.” Documents for Cuban nationals will continue to be legalized to become valid abroad, although the time has been extended much more than expected and many clients consider waiting to be torture not equal to the high cost of paying for the service.
Soberon explained that in 2022, the number of documents processed was a record for the MINREX office responsible for its certification, and in the first four months of 2023, the number of documents processed in the same period of previous years was significantly exceeded.
According to the MINREX official, in order to simplify the procedures, in the midst of this complex scenario, they have expanded the processing capabilities, which does not translate into greater efficiency, according to many readers and those affected by the wait.
Legalization of documents in Cuba
Lilia Maria Hernandez, President of the National Organization of Collective Law Firms, also confirmed, in a conversation with journalist Lázaro Manuel Alonso, that the receipt of procedures for the legalization of documents has not stopped, as some media have speculated in recent weeks.
Hernandez indicated that some offices “suggested stopping the process, and the decision is to continue taking care of these procedures, which are not the only ones, because they also bear the responsibility of legal representation of citizens in family, administrative or criminal matters.”
He insisted that in recent months, since October 2022, among the biggest demands of Cuban citizens, the legalization of registration documents to be submitted to the Embassy of Spain, according to the entry into force of the Law on Democratic Memory or the following: called the “Law of Descendants”, whereby thousands of Cubans will have the possibility to choose citizenship Spanish.