CUBA: CUBANS LINE UP OUTSIDE HAVANA'S POST OFFICE TO MAIL APPLICATIONS FOR A SPECIAL "EL BOMBO LOTTERY" THAT WILL GRANT THEM LEGAL ENTRY INTO THE UNITED STATES

Record ID: 230453

  • Title: CUBA: CUBANS LINE UP OUTSIDE HAVANA'S POST OFFICE TO MAIL APPLICATIONS FOR A SPECIAL "EL BOMBO LOTTERY" THAT WILL GRANT THEM LEGAL ENTRY INTO THE UNITED STATES
  • Date: 16th June 1998
  • Summary: HAVANA, CUBA (JUNE 15, 1998) (REUTERS TV - ACCESS ALL) 1. LV STREET SCENES (4 SHOTS) 0.20 2. LV/SV EXTERIOR OF POST OFFICE (2 SHOTS) 0.28 3. SLV PEOPLE WAITING FOR VISA "LOTTERY" APPLICATION 0.33 4. MCU/CU VISA APPLICANTS FILLING IN FORMS (4 SHOTS) 0.54 5. SV PEOPLE WAITING 1.08 6. MCU CUBAN APPLICANT ABEL MARINEZ SAYS: "I A
  • Embargoed: 1st July 1998 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: HAVANA, CUBA
  • City:
  • Country: Cuba CARIBBEAN
  • Reuters ID: LVA54T8QLOYHJCP9ZDR77KRN9J9L
  • Story Text: Thousands of hopeful Cubans have lined up outside Havana's post offices to mail applications for a special "lottery" that would grant them legal entry into the United States.

    The immigration programme -- known locally as "El Bombo", after a traditional lottery machine with numbers inside -- is the third since Cuba and the United States reached an agreement in September 1994 to halt an uncontrolled exodus of rafters.

    The system, in which applicants are randomly selected by computer and then interviewed by U.S.officials, accounts for a large share of the 20,000 Cubans allowed to migrate annually to the United States under the accord.

    According to U.S.figures, there were a total of 29,000 winners approved for immigration in the previous two lotteries.

    One hopeful applicant said he, like many others, wanted to leave Cuba because it did not give anyone opportunities, adding that the government limited him from expanding his private business as a painter.

    Another woman saw it as "another opportunity that they [the government] gives you" Some 435,000 of the island's 11 million residents applied in 1996, up from 189,000 in 1994.

    For the first time since the lottery was established, applicants were required to mail the forms forms through the state-run postal service, rather than having the option of leaving them at the U.S.Interests' Section in Havana, which acts as Washington's unofficial embassy.

    That raised fears among some Cubans that applications could be intercepted by local authorities and lead to reprisals against those seeking to leave.

    But people mailing forms on Monday in Havana seemed unconcerned about possible repercussions.

    Applicants must submit their entry no later than July 15, of the current year.


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