Cuban visits to Nicaragua up 900%

• May 17 2019
• http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/business-report/cuban-visits-to-nicaragua-up-900-_164978

MANAGUA, Nicaragua (AP) — More than 5,000 Cubans have visited Nicaragua so far this year, a 900% increase over the total for all of 2018, Nicaraguan officials said Wednesday.

It lends evidence to anecdotal accounts from Cuban migrants who say they passed through Nicaragua en route to the US-Mexico border, where they are requesting asylum.

Others come to buy hard-to-find goods for resale in Cuba, and Nicaraguan officials say still others are drawn by the country's volcanoes and lakes.

“We have had a very significant arrival from Cuban tourists,” Ana Carolina García, Nicaragua National Tourism Institute promotion director, said on the pro-government Channel 4. “Last year we had 556 Cubans and today we've already had more than 5,000.”

Nicaragua has made it easier for Cubans to obtain visas. They need just a passport, photos and a US$30 fee.

García said the visits increased after Venezuelan airline Conviasa started a Havana-Managua-Caracas route three times a week in December.

The deteriorating economic situation for many Cubans and the loosening of visa restrictions helped make Nicaragua a favoured destination.