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.
U.S. officials vigorously defended the mass expulsion, even as questions arose about its timing, the lack of public disclosure of evidence to support charges of espionage and whether genuine national security concerns led to the action -- and not political motivations.
Administration officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, laid out the chronology of what they said was ongoing concern about Cuban intelligence activities.***
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