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By ANITA SNOW
.c The Associated Press
June 15
HAVANA (AP) -
Hundreds of Cubans crowded post offices in the nation's capital on Monday, the
first day to mail in applications for a lottery for U.S. visas.
Several dozen people also gathered outside the U.S. Interests Section in
Havana hoping to turn in their applications in person. But police officers who
blocked off residential streets around the mission reminded them that
applications had to be sent through the mail.
The Cuban government explained the application rules earlier this month in
the Communist daily Granma in an attempt to prevent crowding at post offices and
around the U.S. mission.
However, Cubans waiting outside the U.S. mission said they feared that their
applications would either be lost in the mail or seized by government officials.
None would give their names for fear of government reprisals, including the
seizure of their lottery application.
Cuban government officials in the past have rejected such fears as
unfounded, saying that they agreed to the lotteries as a way of periodically
easing demand by those who want to emigrate.
The visa lotteries were set up in 1994 by the U.S. and Cuban governments to
end the ``boat people'' crisis, in which hundreds of thousands of Cubans set off
for the United States on rickety rafts.
The United States agreed to give out at least 20,000 visas a year and to
return any Cubans intercepted on the high seas. The boat exodus diminished
significantly after the decision.
The lottery, the third of its kind, was announced earlier this month in
Washington and runs through July 15. Winners, chosen by chance, are granted an
interview with U.S. consular officers.
Applicants must answer questions about their education, work experience and
relatives in the United States.
In the last lottery, in 1996, more than 436,000 applications were received.
About 6,000 people were selected and allowed to immigrate with their immediate
families.
During the the first lottery, in 1994, 190,000 people applied.
AP-NY-06-15-98 1751EDT
Copyright 1998 The Associated Press. |