Could Statement By U.S. Department of State Be Precursor To Expulsion Of Cuba's Ambassador To U.S.?
/Could the statement by the United States Department of State be a precursor to the expulsion of H.E. Jose Cabanas, Ambassador of the Republic of Cuba to the United States?
Consider this scenario: The United States recalls for consultations Dr. Mara Tekach, Charge d’Affaires at the United States Embassy in Havana, Republic of Cuba. The reason- the United States will not permit the government of the Republic of Cuba to insult its diplomats. As the United States Embassy in Havana no longer has a Charge d’Affaires, there is no reason for the Republic of Cuba to have an Ambassador in the United States; H.E. Jose Cabanas, Ambassador of the Republic of Cuba to the United States is expelled. [NOTE: Ambassador Cabanas was to have been replaced during the last two years, but the government of the Republic of Cuba recognized that the Trump Administration would not credential a replacement]. With neither Ambassador nor Charge d’Affaires in either country, the United States downgrades embassies to interests sections and again requests the government of Switzerland to manage United States interests in the Republic of Cuba. Once completed, the United States Department of State returns the Republic of Cuba to the list of State Sponsors Of Acts Of International Terrorism with reasoning based upon the role of the Republic of Cuba in Venezuela and other countries. The Obama Administration removed the Republic of Cuba from the list in 2015. The current list: Iran, North Korea, Sudan and Syria.
From the United States Department of State: “Countries determined by the Secretary of State to have repeatedly provided support for acts of international terrorism are designated pursuant to three laws: section 6(j) of the Export Administration Act, section 40 of the Arms Export Control Act, and section 620A of the Foreign Assistance Act. Taken together, the four main categories of sanctions resulting from designation under these authorities include restrictions on U.S. foreign assistance; a ban on defense exports and sales; certain controls over exports of dual use items; and miscellaneous financial and other restrictions. Designation under the above-referenced authorities also implicates other sanctions laws that penalize persons and countries engaging in certain trade with state sponsors.”
Potential Impact: A return of the Republic of Cuba to the list of State Sponsors Of Acts Of International Terrorism could adversely impact regularly-scheduled commercial airline service as insurance companies may increase costs for and/or choose not to cover passengers and equipment; authorized financial transactions could be impacted as financial institutions determine that compliance is not worth the reputational risk; credit card transactions could be impacted as issuers determine compliance is not worth the reputational risk; authorized exports could be impacted as exporters and processors of export transportation choose to avoid engagement with a listed country. The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the United States Department of the Treasury would increase both its focus upon enforcement of existing sanctions and creating new sanctions.
Cuban Government Allegations of Political Interference Against U.S. Chargé d’Affaires
22 November 2019
Michael R. Pompeo, Secretary of State
The U.S. government strongly condemns the Castro regime’s accusations against our Chargé d’Affaires at the U.S. Embassy in Havana, Mara Tekach. The regime has launched these baseless allegations against her in an attempt to distract the international community from its abysmal treatment of the Cuban people, especially the ongoing arbitrary detention of dissident Jose Daniel Ferrer. Nevertheless, our Chargé d’Affaires and her team at the U.S. Embassy in Havana remain steadfast as they carry out the President’s mission to defend human rights and advance the cause of democracy in Cuba.
A key part of this work is to call out the Castro regime’s reprehensible human rights violations and abuses. The dedicated U.S. diplomats at Embassy Havana also meet with human rights defenders in Cuba, as U.S. diplomats do throughout the world.
Cuba’s Ambassador in Washington enjoys freedom of expression here in the United States and uses it to publicly criticize our government. We only wish other Cuban citizens, including the over 100 other political prisoners currently incarcerated by the Cuban regime and the hundreds of other dissidents subject to official harassment, could enjoy that same right to freedom of expression and the ability to criticize their own government in Cuba, as they could if Cuba honored its international human rights commitments.
Instead, the Castro regime’s first recourse is to dust off obsolete talking points from what should be a bygone era and describe any independent voices as mercenaries, subversives, and spies. The reality is that it is the repression of the Cuban people, the stifling of their dreams, and the denial of their dignity that discredit the communist regime and their revolution.
The United States has, and will continue to, openly and transparently express our grave concerns about the treatment and condition of human rights defenders in Cuba. The United States stands for the fundamental freedoms of expression, religion, association, and assembly – and we will stand by those in Cuba who desire the same.
