Cuba: More Diplomacy Than Country
In 2016, the idea of opening a Cuban consulate in Florida resurfaced. The most logical location was in the Miami metropolitan area.
By Amado Viera
HAVANA TIMES – With its 6.3 million inhabitants and rapid economic growth, Miami has become the ninth largest metropolitan area in the United States and likely the one with the greatest international profile after New York.
One consequence of that reality is the presence of 17 foreign consulates in the city, all from Ibero-American nations. Countries such as Argentina, Spain, and Mexico maintain official representation, and the outlook suggests that other governments may also open offices in the near future.
Significantly, Cuba is not among them.
Despite the fact that nearly 30% of Miami’s population was either born in Cuba or is of direct Cuban descent—and that the Florida metropolis is the main hub for air and commercial operations to the Island—Havana does not appear to have any plans to establish a consulate or even a consular office. Either institution would significantly benefit the Cuban-American community, which is also large in Florida’s other major cities, Tampa and Jacksonville.
“It wouldn’t be the same to handle procedures in person as it is to depend on law firms or agencies, like we do now. It’s not only slower, it’s also more expensive,” complained Arichel, a Havana native living in Kendall, Florida, who had to wait about three months to receive his new passport.
Even though he became a U.S. citizen in 2023, Cuban laws still require Arichel to use a Cuban passport to return to his home country. Until March 31 of this year, he could travel even with an expired passport, but at the end of last year, authorities announced the end of that exemption, forcing thousands of Cubans like him to apply for new passports. “My parents and daughter are in Cuba—I can’t afford not to be able to see them,” he said.
He paid $260 for the process through an agency. Had he been able to do it in person, it would have only cost the $180 that a Cuban passport officially costs. But in the US, that’s not possible.
“The Cuban diplomatic headquarters [in Washington DC] has remained closed for in-person procedures since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. Its mail and courier system is active, but using it is difficult for most procedures, since the consulate also has other responsibilities. And being the only one (while there are many agencies), the procedures vary and are less personalized,” explains the agency Opapeleo on its website, one of several companies that handle document processing. Among the service charges listed is a “$20 fee for non-personal processing charged by the Consulate.” In other words, the diplomatic headquarters does not allow Cubans to carry out procedures in person—but still charges them for that very limitation.
Distant from the Community
Before 1959, a Cuban consulate provided services to the island community living in what was then the small city of Miami. But that office closed even before the official diplomatic break between Cuba and the United States in January 1961.
It wasn’t until 2016 that the idea of opening a Cuban consulate in Florida resurfaced. The most logical location was in the Miami metropolitan area, where two-thirds of the state’s recorded Cuban population lives.
But the proposal sparked a wave of protests from politicians and leaders in the Cuban-American community. Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine was harshly criticized for suggesting the diplomatic headquarters be located in his jurisdiction. Other potential sites included Miami-Dade County and the city of Tampa, but the former was dismissed due to unanimous political opposition, and the latter for being too far from Miami’s metro area.
The intensity of the backlash, combined with the start of Donald Trump’s first term, led to the proposal being shelved. In 2020, Cuban economist Juan Triana tried to revive the debate, encouraged by Democrat Joe Biden’s presidential victory. The new administration was expected to launch a kind of “Thaw 2.0,” and a Cuban consulate in Miami would have facilitated ties between the Island and its diaspora—but those hopes ultimately proved unfounded.
“Diplomatic Imperialism”
In February 2024, Cuba announced the establishment of diplomatic relations with South Korea. With that move, the Island now maintains diplomatic ties with every internationally recognized nation except Israel. According to the foreign ministry’s website, 114 foreign diplomatic missions and 8 international organizations are accredited in Havana.
Abroad, however, Cuba has 165 diplomatic missions and offices to multilateral organizations, including 123 embassies. The most extreme example is in Rome, where Havana maintains two ambassadors: one accredited to the Vatican and the Sovereign Order of Malta, and the other to Italy, Malta, and San Marino. A 30-minute walk is enough to cover the distance between the two diplomats’ official offices, both located in exclusive central neighborhoods of Rome.
“At first glance, the number of embassies Cuba has around the world appears disproportionate compared to Latin American countries like Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, and Chile,” noted Argentine journalist and writer Gabriel Salvia, director of CADAL, in 2012. In his view, the Island had constructed a sort of “diplomatic imperialism” over decades, aimed at gaining legitimacy in international forums. “The most eloquent results of its effectiveness can be seen, for instance, in the annual votes at the UN General Assembly [against the US embargo] and in its inclusion as a member of the UN Human Rights Council—managing even to be reelected thanks to support from two-thirds of the world’s countries,” he said.
Thirteen years later, little has changed. For example, given the exponential growth in the number of Cubans living abroad, it would make sense to increase consular service capacity—something authorities continue to postpone in favor of high-level diplomacy. In fact, Havana manages only 21 consulates and consular offices abroad, half of which are concentrated in just two countries: Spain and Mexico. Decisions like these show that the government is more concerned with ties to foreign ministries than with the urgent needs of ordinary citizens.
Despite the large number of foreign missions that Cuba maintains, Cuban relations with foreign countries remains relatively stagnant. These missions do little to enhance the reputation of Cuba abroad. As mentioned in this post, consular services are generally poor and the Castro dictatorship’s ability to project the Cuban foreign policy agenda is practically nonexistent. What is most likely however is the real purpose of Cuban diplomatic missions is to assist in information gathering and provide a base of operations for Cuban intelligence. Anyone who has visited Cuba and has been questioned by immigration can attest to the Castro regime’s paranoia about foreigners. YouTubers in Cuba today walk the line daily between getting their cameras confiscated or worse. Even the publisher of this blog has a tale or two about Cuban government paranoia. It’s more likely that Cuba is less interested in diplomacy and more interested in spying abroad.