14ymedio, Havana, May 8, 2025 — The US limited, this week, the mobility of Cuban diplomats on its territory. Officials will now be required to submit prior notification before visiting “state, local and municipal governments of the US and its territories.” The measure also includes access to educational and research institutions, including “national laboratories and agricultural facilities.” The resolution does not specify, however, whether the representatives of Havana could expect formal authorization for their travel.
The new requirement instituted by the State Department was published on Wednesday in the US Federal Register and is adopted “under the Foreign Missions Act,” according to the text. So far, the Cuban authorities have not reacted to the measure, but it is to be expected that they will respond by also restricting the movement of US diplomats on the island.
For decades and until the diplomatic thaw between the two countries, driven by the Obama administration in 2014, Cuban diplomats based in Washington could not travel within a radius of more than 50 miles outside the American capital, without prior special authorization from the State Department. The limitation also applied to the diplomats of the then US Interests Section in Havana.
In 2013, the US government began allowing Cuban diplomats to leave with greater flexibility
In 2013, the US government began allowing Cuban diplomats more flexibility to leave Washington and New York to attend public events in other cities. A similar process took place on the island, where travel by American representatives became increasingly frequent. The recent country tours of Mike Hammer, head of mission of the US Embassy in Cuba, are an example of this new diplomacy on wheels.
The official, who has become the new pet peeve of the official Cuban press, recently released a video, only 37 seconds long, in which he sent a message to the population inviting them to approach him and talk to him if they meet him during one of his tours.
“I am visiting Cuba because I know, from my experience as a diplomat for more than 35 years, and having been an ambassador in Chile and Congo, that it is very important to understand a country and its people, to travel and visit all the provinces. So, when you see me on the street, I would like to talk with anyone who wants to share their perspectives, their ideas, and I hope we have a good conversation. See you around and until next time,” said a friendly Hammer.
The video constituted a challenge precisely in a week when the diplomat was singled out by the official press, which accuses him of maintaining “disrespectful behavior contrary to the norms of international law.” Randy Alonso, director of Cubadebate, called Hammer’s performance “stupid and meddling” and pointed to him as a “subversive agent and self-promoter” on the island.
Since last December, Hammer, who had been in office for only one month, began meeting with some opponents
Since last December, Hammer, who had been in office for only one month, began meeting with some opponents, starting with the leader of the Ladies in White, Berta Soler, and the historic dissident Martha Beatriz Roque. The official medium Razones de Cuba had already accused the diplomat of having met with “two worn-out figures of the Cuban counterrevolution,” and warned: “The new representative of the United States has gone down the wrong path, because nothing good can be expected from that scourge.”
Hammer, instead of becoming inhibited, continued to meet with activists, independent journalists and relatives of political prisoners. He visited José Daniel Ferrer, leader of the Patriotic Union of Cuba who had just been released from prison – a measure that was reversed earlier this month by the Supreme Court. He also approached the hermitage of the Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre and met with the former prisoner of the Black Spring Félix Navarro – like Ferrer, who has just been returned to prison – the dissident Oscar Elías Biscet and the Camagüey priest Alberto Reyes.
In addition, he visited the province of Camagüey and met with Henry Constantín and Iris Mariño, independent journalists for La Hora de Cuba, and relatives of political prisoners Andy García Lorenzo and Aroni Yanko García Valdez, in Santa Clara. His meetings with opponents and relatives have multiplied in recent days in all the Cuban provinces.
Hammer has also met with part of the exile. During a visit to Madrid, the diplomat was with Yanelis Núñez of the feminist platform Alas Tensas; Iliana Hernández and Luz Escobar, independent journalists; and Angélica Garrido, former political prisoner. All these meetings have been questioned by the official media, accusing him of weaving an anti-Cuban network. Connections that could have their days numbered if Havana responds to the new measure taken by Washington restricting the mobility of US diplomats on the island.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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