TheUnited States Embassy in Havana denied the application of a young Cuban with a disability toan in-person visa interview that allows him to remain in Miami, where he receives special care for his health condition.
Carlos Manuel Molina Portales, 26 years old, and whom everyone affectionately calls Pocholo, suffers fromHoffmann syndrome, a congenital myopathy (muscle disease) that confined him since childhood to a wheelchair for life, due to the impossibility of being able to walk.
The young man, who resides in Cuba with his parents and grandparents, is currently in Miami, butYour tourist visa - valid for five years - expires next September, and the US Embassy in Havana is not giving appointments for nonimmigrant visas. In your condition, traveling to a third country to request aus visa It is practically impossible.
Together with his mother,Belkis Portales; the nurse who cares for him in Miami,Ana María Penenori; and the cousin who lodges them in her house,Diana Delgado, they gave an interview to the channelTelemundo 51, in which they requested that, given his medical situation, the young man could be interviewed at the diplomatic headquarters in Havana to apply for a visa.
Carlos Manuel has traveled to Miami every year, for nine years, during the summer months, to receive specialized care that cannot be provided in Cuba, mainly because of theeconomic crisis that the country suffers.
The patient is fed and given his medication (anticonvulsants every 12 hours, a sleeping pill and vitamins) through a gastric tube, permanently. The food is prepared and blended by his mother, who, together with the nurse and her cousin, systematically assumes special care for the patient.
On July 13, after an unsuccessful effort by the office of the Cuban-American congressmanMario Díaz-Balart, the family received a letter notifying them that “the U.S. Embassy in Havana had denied his request for an in-person interview arguing that he does not meet the criteria for an emergency medical appointment,” according to the report ofTelemundo 51.
“It is not a life or death medical emergency, but it does require special advanced care,” his cousin told the journalist.Gloria Ordaz, in the “Virtual Meeting” program.
Delgado and his family, residing in Florida, have been the ones who for nine years have paid for the trip, the stay and the medicines that are administered to the patient and which are not available in Cuba.
“They are not a public charge. Our family, thank God, can afford all the financial resources they need,” said Delgado.
For her part, Carlos Manuel's nurse explained the risks that the young man would face if he had to travel with his mother to a third country to apply for or renew the visa.
“It would constitute a great risk to his life. He is a young man who has been in serious condition since birth, with many complications, especially respiratory, due to the myopathy with which he was born,” he stressed.
Penenori explained in detail the patient's needs, which include this type of diet and the ideal conditions to prepare it. “He needs complete care. In fact, he doesn't walk, everything has to be done for him, even taking him to the bathroom. Most of the time, the mother needs help to handle it,” he said.
Likewise, he added that the young man suffers from an immunodeficiency and can acquire an infection during a trip. “It would be a risk to be in a place where you could catch an infection,” he said.
Delgado asksto the officials of the US embassy in Cuba to allow Carlos Manuel to do the interview, “to make an exception for him. We have taken a lot of care since he was born so that he reaches this age, and we want him to continue to have life expectancy.”
Medical literature defines Hoffmann Syndrome as the combination of hypothyroidism with myopathy, stiffness, cramps and muscle hypertrophy. Doctors in Cuba predicted Carlos Manuel a life expectancy of 17 years, but he has survived nine more years.
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