Credit : cu.usembassy.gov /  Mara Tekach ,  Chargé d’Affaires at U.S. Embassy Havana, CUBA  

By Gary Raynaldo  /  DIPLOMATIC  TIMES

Cuba accused the top U.S. diplomat in the country of working closely with José Daniel Ferrer, a dissident detained last month and who heads one of the country’s largest opposition groups. The  Cuban government made the accusation against U.S.  charge d’affaires Mara Tekach who work in the American Embassy in Havana.  Tekach and the U.S. Embassy in Cuba have tried to foment division among Cubans, “identifying areas of the economy where they can direct coercive measures, and trying to slander and discredit the performance of the Cuban government and Cuban revolution,” a Cuban government statement said.

Ferrer was arrested last month on charges that became clear later and which led the United States, opposition groups and human rights organisations to demand his release, according to media reports.  Supporters of Ferrer said that he was charged with assault and described the case as an invention whereas the Cuban government’s statement indicates that Ferrer was arrested on October 1 along with the 3 other people on suspicion of kidnapping and assaulting another man.

“Instead of promoting peaceful bilateral relations, “that country’s diplomatic mission in Cuba and particularly its chargé d’affaires have concentrated on…recruiting mercenaries, promoting division and confusion among our people.” –  On Cuba News. 

U.S. Secretary Of State Pompeo Condemns Accusations against  Chargé d’Affaires 

Credit: Gary Raynaldo /   U.S. Department of State in Washington D.C.

“The U.S. government strongly condemns the Castro regime’s accusations against our Chargé d’Affaires at the U.S. Embassy in Havana, Mara Tekach.  The regime has launched these baseless allegations against her in an attempt to distract the international community from its abysmal treatment of the Cuban people, especially the ongoing arbitrary detention of dissident Jose Daniel Ferrer.  Nevertheless, our Chargé d’Affaires and her team at the U.S. Embassy in Havana remain steadfast as they carry out the President’s mission to defend human rights and advance the cause of democracy in Cuba.”

-Secretary Of State Mike Pompeo

Credit: U.S. Department of State /   The U.S. Embassy in Cuba reopened in 2015 during President Barack Obama’s normalization of relations with the island.

“Cuba’s Ambassador in Washington enjoys freedom of expression here in the United States and uses it to publicly criticize our government,” Pompeo added.   ” We only wish other Cuban citizens, including the over 100 other political prisoners currently incarcerated by the Cuban regime and the hundreds of other dissidents subject to official harassment, could enjoy that same right to freedom of expression and the ability to criticize their own government in Cuba, as they could if Cuba honored its international human rights commitments.