Controversy over a visit for security cooperation between the US and Cuba
[note – the translation of this article was delayed]
14ymedio, Havana, 21 May 2024 — The visit of a delegation of Cuban officials to the Transportation Security Administration of Miami International Airport for an “exchange of knowledge” put many terminal workers on alert. According to local media, “some U.S. officers” consider that “letting the agents of the Cuban dictatorship enter those facilities is the same as letting Castro spies into the heart of the airport.”
Although the report published by Diario Las Américas does not clarify it, it is likely that this meeting was conceived as part of the cooperation program on security issues between Washington and Havana. This collaboration provides for actions such as visiting institutions, exchanging information and working together to, for example, avoid terrorist attacks and drug trafficking operations.
Nor is it the first time that complaints arise from the United States over the access of Cuban officials to “sensitive information” about U.S. national security, despite the fact that the authorities of both governments have clarified on several occasions that these are routine meetings that have been taking place for decades.
The Miami media report is only about the alleged annoyance among U.S. officials
The Miami media report is only about the alleged annoyance among U.S. officials. The date on which the visit to the airport facilities occurred, however, was not mentioned, and the official press of the Island did not acknowledge the meeting.
According to the American newspaper’s source, some workers wondered why Cuba was given access to “sensitive information, a practice reserved for representatives of allied countries,” since, according to the testimony offered to the media, “it is known that those who govern Havana are friends of all our enemies.”
The source also explained that Cuban officials “had direct access to the new three-dimensional X-ray technology, among whose objectives is the identification of explosives to prevent terrorist groups from introducing them into the cockpit of an airplane and other sensitive sites. It is something inconceivable, absurd, unjustifiable and very dangerous.”
The “unusual journey,” as it was described, is the equivalent of “opening the door of our security to Cuban officers, which also means opening the door to Iran, North Korea, Venezuela, Russia and other regimes that are enemies of American democracy.”
An incident that also attracted criticism about the cooperation agreement was the scheduled meeting between members of the Cuban Border Guard Troops and the U.S. Coast Guard in Washington in March 2023, which ended up being canceled.
The meeting was to take place at the headquarters of the Coast Guard in North Carolina
The meeting was to take place at the headquarters of the Coast Guard in North Carolina as part of the International Port Security Program, and a meeting of members of the Cuban Ministries of the Interior, Foreign Affairs and Transport was planned at the headquarters in Washington, in addition to a ride through the Wilmington facilities by boat. The visit, due to disagreements between the Governments, was reduced to only this last part to avoid “a major diplomatic crisis.”
On that occasion, numerous members of Congress asked for the total cancellation of the visit. Florida Republican Senator Marco Rubio sent a letter urging President Joe Biden to suspend a trip that, in his opinion, allowed Cuban intelligence agents to access sensitive national security facilities.
Last January, a group of U.S. officials met in Havana with representatives of the Cuban Government to discuss issues of cooperation in security and public order. The source was present at the meeting of the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security and the State Department, which sought to create new agreements to “fight crime” with the Cuban side.
In February, Cuban authorities met in Washington with U.S. representatives to discuss collaboration on security, and one of the U.S. officials declared that “effective cooperation in criminal matters may sometimes include the exchange of information, such as information about fugitives or other wanted people,” although he clarified that these meetings are routine.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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