By Prensa Latina
Havana : Accusing the Bush administration of obstructing emigration and encouraging illegal exits, Cuba has urged the US to implement the 1994 migration accord "rigorously".
Less than three months before the end of the fiscal year, the US government has only delivered 53 percent of an agreement of 20,000 visas, said a note from the Cuban Foreign Affairs Ministry published Tuesday.
"If this trend remains, the US will be breaking the 1994 Migratory Accord," the note said.
The Cuban ministry warned that to fail the accord would fuel illegal emigration, historically encouraged by the Cuban Adjustment Act and the "dry feet-wet feet" policy, which dictates that any Cuban who arrives on US soil receives residence immediately, while those intercepted at open sea are returned to the country.
Cuba urges the US Interest Section in Havana to grant rigorously a minimum of 20,000 visas per year, allowing Cubans emigrate safely, said the note.