The Cuban government cut off electricity to the U.S. diplomatic mission in Havana a week ago, and U.S. requests for power to be restored have gone unanswered, the State Department said Monday.
The facility has been operating with generator power.
Work at the mission continues, including interviews of refugees and outreach programs for the Cuban people, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said. "I would just say that the bullying tactics of the Castro regime aren't going to work," he added.
He said Cuban authorities also reduce the availability of water to the mission from time to time. McCormack said he suspects that the decision to cut the power was in response to efforts by the mission to provide information to the Cuban people.
"That, of course, is not something that the Castro regime takes kindly to," he said.
In January, President Fidel Castro complained about use of the U.S. mission to carry human rights messages to passersby on outdoor electronic signs.
Castro called the signs provocations.
So's cutting the power. Perhaps ALL of Cuba needs to be dark for a couple weeks?