The Cuban government has threatened the US diplomatic mission in Havana if it doesn't immediately take down Christmas decorations outside its offices, the top American diplomat on the island said on Tuesday.
The trimmings of Santa Claus, candy canes and white lights twirling down palm trees outside the oceanfront building don't appear to be the problem.
What is likely irking the Cuban authorities, US Interests Section Chief James Cason said, is a lit-up sign that says 75 -- a clear reference to 75 Cuban government opponents rounded up in a massive crackdown last year and sentenced up to 28 years in prison.
"Our intent, in the spirit of Christmas, was to call attention to the plight of these 75," Cason told reporters. "We're prepared to pay whatever price for the things we believe in."
Cason said officials from Cuba's foreign ministry, including the director of North American affairs, insisted the decorations be taken down in meetings on Saturday and Tuesday. The US Interest Section refused, and was told there would be consequences.
"They could expel us, they could continue to hinder our activities," Cason said. "We don't know what they're going to do."
"We'll find out shortly," he said.
US relations have been rocky with Cuba ever since President Fidel Castro launched a communist revolution in the country more than four decades ago.
Under the administration of US President George W. Bush, economic sanctions against the island have been tightened, and a blueprint for a democratic transition has been designed.
The government opponents imprisoned last year were accused of receiving money from US officials to undermine the island's system -- a charge the activists and the US government denies.
Since the crackdown in March of last year, 14 of the original 75 prisoners have been released for medical reasons.
Last Friday, Cason gathered dissidents as well as the relatives of political prisoners at his home to bury a time capsule with messages spelling out their dreams for a different kind of Cuba to mark International Human Rights day.
Despite the actions of the Cuban government, Cason said the US diplomatic mission will defend its activities -- and its choice of holiday ornamentation.
"Our position is that our Christmas decorations are up through Christmas," he said. "It's a matter of principle to us."
A beauty queen who pulled out of the Miss South Africa competition when her nationality was questioned has said she wants to relocate to Nigeria, after coming second in the Miss Universe pageant while representing the West African country. Chidimma Adetshina, whose father is Nigerian, was crowned Miss Universe Africa and Oceania and was runner-up to Denmark’s Victoria Kjar Theilvig in Mexico on Saturday night. The 23-year-old law student withdrew from the Miss South Africa competition in August, saying that she needed to protect herself and her family after the government alleged that her mother had stolen the identity of a South
BELT-TIGHTENING: Chinese investments in Cambodia are projected to drop to US$35 million in 2026 from more than US$420 million in 2021 At a ceremony in August, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet knelt to receive blessings from saffron-robed monks as fireworks and balloons heralded the breaking of ground for a canal he hoped would transform his country’s economic fortunes. Addressing hundreds of people waving the Cambodian flag, Hun Manet said China would contribute 49 percent to the funding of the Funan Techo Canal that would link the Mekong River to the Gulf of Thailand and reduce Cambodia’s shipping reliance on Vietnam. Cambodia’s government estimates the strategic, if contentious, infrastructure project would cost US$1.7 billion, nearly 4 percent of the nation’s annual GDP. However, months later,
HOPEFUL FOR PEACE: Zelenskiy said that the war would ‘end sooner’ with Trump and that Ukraine must do all it can to ensure the fighting ends next year Russia’s state-owned gas company Gazprom early yesterday suspended gas deliveries via Ukraine, Vienna-based utility OMV said, in a development that signals a fast-approaching end of Moscow’s last gas flows to Europe. Russia’s oldest gas-export route to Europe, a pipeline dating back to Soviet days via Ukraine, is set to shut at the end of this year. Ukraine has said it would not extend the transit agreement with Russian state-owned Gazprom to deprive Russia of profits that Kyiv says help to finance the war against it. Moscow’s suspension of gas for Austria, the main receiver of gas via Ukraine, means Russia now only
‘HARD-HEADED’: Some people did not evacuate to protect their property or because they were skeptical of the warnings, a disaster agency official said Typhoon Man-yi yesterday slammed into the Philippines’ most populous island, with the national weather service warning of flooding, landslides and huge waves as the storm sweeps across the archipelago nation. Man-yi was still packing maximum sustained winds of 185kph after making its first landfall late on Saturday on lightly populated Catanduanes island. More than 1.2 million people fled their homes ahead of Man-yi as the weather forecaster warned of a “life-threatening” effect from the powerful storm, which follows an unusual streak of violent weather. Man-yi uprooted trees, brought down power lines and smashed flimsy houses to pieces after hitting Catanduanes in the typhoon-prone
RSS