hehheh hehheh Cuba sux. Lets attack Cuba. Wars cool. hehheh
Posted on 05/14/2003 1:34:29 PM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
In Washington, a senior Bush administration official said those ordered home from the Cuban mission in Washington engaged in three kinds of improper activities: monitoring and surveillance, association with known criminals and the attempted recruitment of spies.
HAVANA - The U.S. government's expulsion of 14 Cuban diplomats is an "aggressive step" aimed at provoking a confrontation between the two countries, the Foreign Ministry said Wednesday.
The ministry also said in a published statement that it will take its time responding to "this new provocation."
"The Foreign Ministry rejects this new aggressive step by the United States government against our country and our diplomatic representatives in Washington and New York," read a ministry statement published Wednesday in the Communist Party daily Granma.
"With these actions, the American government shows, once again, that it has openly launched a course of provocations and foreign meddling against Cuba."
This was the first response by Fidel Castro's government to the expulsions announced Tuesday. The Bush administration ordered the expulsion of 14 Cuban diplomats - seven from the United Nations and seven from Washington - for engaging in "inappropriate and unacceptable activities."
The expulsion order is by far the largest ever involving Cuban diplomats.
In Washington, a senior Bush administration official said those ordered home from the Cuban mission in Washington engaged in three kinds of improper activities: monitoring and surveillance, association with known criminals and the attempted recruitment of spies.
State Department spokesman Philip Reeker said the seven Washington-based diplomats were declared "persona non grata," while the seven in New York were expelled for "activities deemed to be harmful to the United States outside of their official capacity," he said.
The 14 Cubans were given 10 days to leave the United States, Reeker said.
"Cuba will take the time necessary to respond to this new provocation by the government of the United States," the Foreign Ministry statement said.
It also said the expulsions were part of a larger plan by Cuban exiles in Miami to spark a confrontation that will break migration agreements between the two nations and shut Interests Sections operated in each other's country.
Because Cuba and the United States lack full diplomatic relations, they do not have embassies in each other's country. Instead, missions known as Interests Sections in Washington and Havana provide consular services and allow for a minimum of contact between the two countries.
Until Tuesday, the largest expulsion involving Cubans was last fall when four were ordered home. Two were expelled for their role in support of Ana Belen Montes, a spy for Cuba who worked for the Defense Intelligence Agency. The other two were based at the United Nations.
U.S. officials said the expulsions should not be considered a response to the recent sentencing of 75 dissidents to long prison terms. Cuba accused the dissidents of being mercenaries linked to the U.S. Interests Section in Havana - a charge the dissidents and American diplomats denied.
The U.S. government's expulsion of 14 Cuban diplomats is an "aggressive step" aimed at provoking a confrontation between the two countries, the Foreign Ministry said Wednesday.Not aggressive enough.
Translation: This caught us off guard and we don't know what to do about it.
It seems like we're always provoking those poor communist Cubanos.
Oh, the horrors!!
Btw, Castro has intimated that he might open the flood gates of another massive exodus to relieve some of the political pressure on his regime.
President Bush has said he will consider such exodus an act of war.
Cuba-US relations remind me of a Mexican standoff
A baby step.I love babies.
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