The Bush administration is expelling 14 Cuban diplomats for engaging in "activities inconsistent with diplomatic status," a U.S. official said on Tuesday, using diplomatic language that can refer to spying. "It is seven here (Washington) and seven in New York." Those expelled were from the Cuban interest section in Washington and from the Cuban interest section in the United Nations, an American diplomat said earlier in Havana. The United States did not release the names of those expelled.
Last month Cuba sentenced 75 dissidents to long prison terms for allegedly working with the United States and executed three men for hijacking a ferry in a failed bid to reach the United States. The arrests and executions brought protests from governments, human rights organizations and others worldwide. Cuba last week rejected U.S. charges that the Caribbean island sponsored terrorism, and accused the Bush administration of obsessively trying to overthrow President Fidel Castro's government. In Havana, the communist government did not immediately comment on the expulsions.
Torn between Latin America and Home Front. Move as you see fit, Fred. |