Biden Administration Continues Focus Upon Injuries To U.S. Diplomats At Embassy In Havana

United States Department of State
Washington DC
11 February 2021

Daily Briefing with Mr. Ned Price

QUESTION: Thank you. I have a couple questions on Latin America. The first one is about Cuba. I know the government is currently reviewing the policy towards Cuba, but so far, has the new administration found any evidence that the Cuban Government was responsible – behind the attacks in the embassy in Havana? And also, what is the Biden administration doing to find out what was the cause of those attacks?

MR PRICE: Great. Well, I appreciate the question, and I would start by saying that – and it’s something I’ve said here before – is that, of course, we have no higher priority than the safety and the security of U.S. personnel, their families, other U.S. citizens, both, of course, in this country and around the world. The U.S. Government is working to determine what happened to our staff and their families and to ensure the well-being and health of our officials going forward. That investigation remains underway. It remains a high priority, and I can tell you that during the transition period, this was one of the first briefings, comprehensive briefings that, as Secretary-designate at the time, Secretary-designate Blinken requested of the transition team. And he has, in fact, received updates during his time as Secretary of State. He has made clear that this is a priority for him, and those updates will continue going forward.
What I can also say is that – and the department established an interagency task force to coordinate the government’s response to these incidents in May of 2018. More recently, and in fact, just this week, to reassert the department’s leadership and responsibility for U.S. Government personnel overseas, we elevated, as I said, this week the coordinator role to a senior-level position so that a high-level official will be empowered to advise senior departmental leadership, coordinate the department’s interagency response to the health security incidents, and to provide continuing support to affected personnel. This advisor will be positioned in a senior role and will report directly to the department’s senior leadership to ensure, as I said, that we continue to make significant strides to address this issue and to ensure our people are receiving the treatment they need. We’ll have additional details on this new role in the coming days, I would expect.

QUESTION: Ned, I want to ask a Cuba question, if I may.

MR PRICE: Okay.

QUESTION: Okay. A month ago today, in one of its last acts, the former administration listed Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism. Can you update on what is happening? Are you going back to a detente with Cuba? Are diplomats going to be going back, some of the —

MR PRICE: Yeah.

QUESTION: — diplomats that were withdrawn? Just update us on the Cuba situation.

MR PRICE: Well, I think when it comes to Cuba, we have – there are broad principles at play for our orientation towards the country. First, support for democracy and human rights will be at the core of our efforts through empowering the Cuban people to determine their own future. And second, we believe that Americans and especially Cuban Americans are the best ambassadors for freedom and prosperity in Cuba. You’ve heard me say in this briefing, in previous briefings, again, that we are committed to making sure that human rights are a core pillar of foreign policy. We are redoubling our dedication to human rights throughout the hemisphere, and I think that will, again, be a North Star as we review our approach to Cuba going forward.

QUESTION: You have a lot of north stars going on. Can I —

MR PRICE: I think every time it’s been interests and values, and interests and values are inextricably linked when it comes to our human rights.

QUESTION: Can I follow on that, on Cuba? And this is a very specific question, so if you could – if you don’t have an answer, I understand, but if you could take it. And that is that you probably know that the Cuban Government has introduced COVID restrictions requiring people coming into the country to quarantine in hotels. Well, Americans and Cuban Americans are not allowed under – or they can, I suppose, but then they’re subject to Treasury penalties – to stay in almost all Cuban hotels. So as part of the review into the Cuba policy, is this something that you guys are looking at with an eye toward perhaps doing it more urgently than in other parts? Or are these people who are going in just SOL?

MR PRICE: You’re right. Let me take that question back. I think that our review of our approach to Cuba is very much ongoing. But let me take that question back and see if we have anything we can add.