The Hindu : U.S. expels 14 Cuban diplomats

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, May 15, 2003

International

International

U.S. expels 14 Cuban diplomats

WASHINGTON may 14. The United States 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, announced on Tuesday, is by far the largest of six over the years that have involved Cuban diplomats.

A senior U.S. administration official said those ordered home from the Cuban mission in Washington were found to have engaged in three types of improper activities: monitoring and surveillance, association with known criminals and the attempted recruitment of spies for Cuba.

A U.S. State Department spokesman said the seven Washington-based diplomats had been declared ``persona non grata.''

The seven in New York were expelled for ``activities deemed to be harmful to the U.S. outside of their official capacity,'' he said. He said the 14 were given 10 days to leave the country.

The action was unusually harsh in that the number of those ordered out of the country exceeds the total number of Cubans involved in similar cases since 1969, according to a preliminary official count.

A U.S. official said the action should not be considered a response to the arrest of some 75 dissidents who were given long prison sentences after brief trials earlier this spring — a move that drew strong U.S. criticism.

A formal response to the Cuban crackdown could come on May 20, regarded by most Cuban-Americans as Cuban Independence Day.

The official said a range of options is under consideration.

The highest-ranking Cuban expelled from the U.N. mission was Adrian Francisco Delgado Gonzalez, a counsellor listed as No. 3 in the latest U.N. diplomatic directory. Another counsellor, Alfredo Jose Perez Rivero, listed as No. 5, was also ordered to leave, U.S. officials said.

The five other diplomats ordered to leave were the mission's first secretary, Helmut Domenech Gonzalez, second secretary Enrique Miguel Mesa Levis, third secretary Miguel More Santana and attache Juan Carlos Rodriguez Lueje, U.S. officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The latest U.N. directory lists 37 accredited Cuban diplomats, led by Ambassador Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla.

The identities of the diplomats in Washington were not disclosed. The chief of the Cuban mission in the capital, Dagoberto Rodriguez, will be allowed to remain.

Under mutual agreement, Cuba is allowed to have 26 diplomats and staff members at its Washington office. — AP

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