MINREX called the charge d’affaires responsible for the “blasphemous messages” from the US Embassy in Cuba

On March 18, 2024, Cuban Vice Minister Carlos Fernández de Cosio summoned the US Chargé d’Affaires, Benjamin Ziff, to protest the “intrusive conduct” and “slanderous messages” of the US government and its embassy in Cuba. .

The MINREX statement included a formal protest against the conduct of the United States Embassy in Cuba.

According to the information offered, in text The US diplomat is reminded that diplomatic missions in any country must meet minimum standards of decency and integrity, “something the US Embassy in Cuba did not do.”

Similarly, it is emphasized that the diplomatic office and its employees are bound to behave in accordance with the norms of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.

As is known, on the evening of this Sunday, March 17, there were protests in different regions of Cuba (Santiago, Bayamo and Santa Marta) due to the lack of food and the prolonged blackout. After the demonstrations, internet connection outages are reported, especially in the central and eastern provinces of the island.

Message from the United States Embassy in Cuba

In the wake of the protest, the United States Embassy in Cuba tweeted:

“We are aware of reports of peaceful protests in Santiago, Bayamo, Granma and other places in Cuba, with citizens protesting the lack of food and electricity. “We urge the Cuban government to respect the human rights of the protesters and address the legitimate needs of the Cuban people.”

Several diplomats reacted at the diplomatic headquarters, among them, Josefina Vidal, one of the faces of the thaw between Cuba and the United States in the Obama era.

“How arrogant and despicable to ask the Cuban government to meet the needs of its people, while the US government has been enforcing a brutal blockade for over 60 years to deprive my people of necessities and suffocate them!” wrote.

A conversation with Minreux after the protest in Santiago de Cuba

On March 18, 2024, United States Chargé d’Affaires, Benjamin Ziff, was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs by Vice Minister Carlos Fernández de Cossio, who formally expressed his strong disapproval of the government’s interventionist behavior and slanderous messages. American and its embassy in Cuba regarding the internal affairs of the Cuban reality.

With the delivery of a formal note of protest, the American diplomat was reminded of the minimum standards of decency and integrity that are expected of a diplomatic mission in any country and that the United States Embassy in Cuba appears unable to observe, however. At the time, it was emphasized that this diplomatic office and its employees were bound to behave in accordance with the rules of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.

At the meeting, attention was also drawn to the difficult economic situation that Cuba is currently going through and, in particular, to the direct responsibility of the United States government to deal with the shortcomings and difficulties that the population faces on a daily basis. base. With the depression and inadequacy of supplies and essential services under the weight and impact of an economic blockade designed to destroy the country’s economic potential.

An apparent attempt by the United States government to limit and obstruct every effort by the Cuban state to find solutions and respond to the country’s economic and social needs was rejected.

The shaky plan and its execution is plain for all to see. It is based on the reinforcement of merciless economic warfare to incite and exploit the natural inflammations of the population. It is funded by billions of dollars from the United States federal budget each year. It has a powerful technological infrastructure to exploit digital networks from within US territory and for offensive purposes. It enjoys the participation of important media outlets of the main American and international press and the mercenary support of people living mainly in the south of the state of Florida in the United States, whose way of life is an industry of aggression against Cuba. .

If the United States government had minimal and honest concern for the well-being of the Cuban population, it would remove Cuba from an arbitrary list of states that supposedly sponsor terrorism; will end the suppression of fuel supplies the country needs to import; Every Cuban in the world will stop following monetary transactions; End barbaric persecution against Cuban medical cooperation programs in the world; Stop intimidating businessmen, visitors, artists and anyone who feels they have an interest and right to interact with the Cuban people.