Posted on 11/05/2002 10:18:50 PM PST by kattracks
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Citing unacceptable activities, the State Department ordered the expulsion Tuesday of two Washington-based Cuban diplomats for their role in support of a spy for Cuba who recently was sentenced to a 25-year prison term, a State Department official said.
In a separate action, two members of Cuba's mission to the United Nations were asked to leave the country for "engaging in activities deemed to be harmful to the United States."
State Department press officer Frederick Jones said two first secretaries of Cuba's diplomatic mission in Washington, Oscar Redondo Toledo and Gustavo Machin Gomez, were declared "persona non grata" and were ordered to leave the country in 10 days.
Jones said Redondo and Machin were linked to the case of Ana Belen Montes, an employee of the Defense Intelligence Agency who spied for Cuba for years because, she said, she was outraged by American policies toward Cuba.
"We call on the Cuban government to ensure that there will be no similar episodes or new actions in the future against the interests of the United States," Jones said.
As for the New York-based Cubans, Jones said only that they acted outside their official capacity as members of the Cuban mission to the United Nations.
Jones said the record of espionage "by the Cuba regime against the United States is long."
Copyright 2002 Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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