Cuba Criticizes Trump’s Decision to Maintain Reduction in Embassy Staff
HAVANA TIMES – The Cuban government said on Friday that the decision of the United States to make permanent the skeleton staff at its embassy in Havana “responds to political motivations and has nothing to do with the security of its officials,” reported dpa news.
“The decision of the State Department that unilaterally extends for an indefinite period the reduction of its personnel in the Embassy in Cuba, responds to political motivations and has no relation with the security of its officials in Havana,” wrote Carlos Fernandez of Cossio, director of the United States desk at the Cuban Foreign Minister.
Six months ago, the State Department made the decision to cut its staff assigned to Cuba in response to alleged sonic attacks on the health of its diplomats, although their origin is still unknown and is still being investigated.
“It is false that the diplomatic staff of the Embassy is or has been at risk,” added Fernandez de Cossio.
The Cuban diplomat stressed that “it is false that it was allowed in Cuba or that any deliberate action against diplomats of the United States may have occurred in Cuba.”
Cossio criticized on Twitter that Washington continues to use the word “attack”, when “it knows perfectly well that no attack or deliberate act occurred in Cuba against its diplomats.”
“The United States has sufficient evidence that Cuba is a safe country for US diplomats or any country, as well as for Cubans and for more than 4 million foreign visitors every year,” he added.
The reduction of diplomatic personnel in Havana affected Cubans who want to reunify with their families in the United States and now have to do the paperwork at the US Embassy in Bogota, Colombia.
The foreign ministry official added that this measure “affects in particular the consular services on which thousands of citizens depended on to obtain non-immigrant visas. They are now forced to incur considerable additional expenses in the search for tourist visas at US embassies in third countries.”
[Editor’s note: Cuban President Obama came to Havana in March 2016. His message addressed to Cubans, very popular among many, was harshly criticized by Fidel Castro and later by the government of Raul Castro and his subordinates, despite the openings that the new US relationship with Cuba offered to the regime. Now they have Donald Trump and Senator Rubio to set the tone in bilateral relations.]
With my basic understanding of physics, none of these bogus allegations from the US State Department is worth even evaluating. Further proof is that the “victims” has become state secret and in hiding, while the medical charts may have been shredded. This is the real Fake News!
What is not fake news, is that Obama, a Black man who is an example of modesty, honesty and decency, risked his political capital by opening diplomatic relations with Cuba, took his entire family to Cuba, walked the streets of Havana without arrogance and gave a speech that was in accordance with his intellect, knowledge an desire to build a friendly relations with Cuba at the Alicia Alonso Theater.
The Cuban response was quick, crushing and offensive. Some questioned his honesty, others wanted to know what he aspired and another went as far as writing a derogatory article Black, are you Swede?
During his remaining time in office, Cuba did not take one step forward to improve bilateral relations, promote investment, entangle the United States in social activities, but kept demanding more from Obama even though everyone one knew that GITMO, the Embargo and others were codified into law and were beyond his reach.
The US Congressional Black Caucus, who were in the trenches with Cuba since 1991and became its staunchest supporter in Washington, was hurt and disappointed with this behavior and with all the activities surrounding the opening of both embassies in Washington and Havana, in which many longtime allies were shunned or forgotten, for 5 year old or less Hispanic solidarity groups rapidly patched together in Miami and Washington and who occupied center stage in all events.
Again the same voices that never stopped demanding more from Obama are absent, silent and pleading with stone-age, ignorant, bully Donald Trump, to return embassy employees in Cuba and to allow Americans to visit Cuba.
Cuba 500 years struggle with racism and prejudice is like sporulating bacteria, that when conditions are appropriate, they recover their vegetative form with the deadly virulence we find in Tetanus or Botulinus.
Excelente article Moses seems like it’s the most likely scenario when you have two liers like Trump and Castro
Interesting possibility: amp.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/cuba/article203221919.html
The Cuban foreign ministry official is quoted “…or that any deliberate action against diplomats…”. It should be noted that the carefully crafted response includes the word “deliberate”. That is too say that Cuba acknowledges that something took place but that it may have been an accident. Really? Fat chance….