Mariela Castro, daughter of Cuban President Raul Castro, will be allowed to travel to the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania after she was previously denied, said officials Tuesday according to the Associated Press. Castro’s request for a visa was denied last week by the State Department but officials have since changed their minds.
Castro is expected to visit Philadelphia to attend an annual conference held by the Equality Forum. The forum is held in support of equal rights for lesbians, gays, bisexual, and transgender people. According to the group’s executive director, Malcolm Lazin, the conference’s organizers are “delighted” that officials have reversed their decision.
"She is unquestionably the leader for progressive change for the LGBT community in Cuba," Lazin said on Tuesday. "Her accomplishments are nothing short of remarkable."
According to a United States official, Castro is allowed to attend the conference. Since visa records are confidential, the official asked to remain anonymous.
Usually, high-ranking Cuban government officials and Communist Party members are not allowed into the U.S. without special approval. However, academics, scientists and entertainers from the country have experienced a much easier time of getting into the country to due to the less stringent travel restrictions posed by President Barack Obama’s administration.
Mariela Castro is the niece of famous former Cuban leader Fidel Castro. She is also married and the mother of three children. Mariela Castro is the director of National Center for Sex Education in Cuba and part of the nation’s health ministry. She has also been the country’s biggest advocate for gay rights.
As part of her effort to support the gay community she has run campaigns to raise awareness, trained law enforcement on how to interact with the LGBT community and also been outspoken on the countrys need to legalize same sex union. She will receive an award and speak about her experiences at the conference.
Lazin found it odd that Casro’s visa was denied, since she had accepted the invitation months in advance and had also been allowed into the country to travel to an academic conference in San Francisco, California.
However, some Cuban-American lawmakers denounced the decision to let Castro into the country saying she was an aid to her family’s Communist dictatorship. Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., previously blasted Castro calling her a “a vociferous advocate of the regime and opponent of democracy."
According to a spokesman, Menendez was in Central America Tuesday and was not available for comment.
