Cuba suspends consular services in US due to accounts shut

Cuba has suspended nearly all its consular services in the United States after failing to find a bank to process its diplomatic accounts, the Cuban Interests Section said Friday. "It has been impossible for the Interests Section to find a U.S.-based bank that could operate the bank accounts of the Cuban diplomatic missions," the group said in a statement, citing restrictions from the U.S. "policy of economic, commercial and financial blockade" as the reason. M&T Bank, which handles the accounts now, has set March 1 as the deadline for its ending of banking services to the section and the Cuban Permanent Mission to the United States, the statement said, adding that the section will suspend its consular services "until banking services are re-established." It is the second time in months that the section, Havana's mission in the U.S. capital, suspended its consular services due to banking problems. In November last year, M&T Bank decided to sever its relationship with Cuba and halted its services to the section for two weeks. The bank later extended the deadline until March 1. "The section regrets any inconvenience this situation may cause," the statement said, adding that humanitarian cases can still be processed by the mission.