The United States will reportedly retaliate against Cuba for its attacks on American diplomats in Havana by expelling the majority of Cuba’s embassy staff here.
The report in the Miami Herald was based on “multiple sources familiar with the plan,” three of whom said the announcement will come Tuesday.
According to those sources, the State Department will kick out nearly two-thirds of the Communist regime’s personnel in its Washington outpost.
The U.S. has pulled most of its own diplomats out of its embassy in Havana last month after mysterious “sonic” attacks sickened at least 25 Americans there.
U.S. officials told the Associated Press that the intention wasn’t to retaliate against Cuba, but to ensure that the countries maintain a similar number of diplomats in other’s capital.
The U.S. and Cuba only re-established diplomatic relations last year at the initiative of the Obama administration, a move President Trump was critical of as a candidate but has not undone. They had been cut off more than a half-century ago as Fidel Castro established a communist dictatorship that remains in power to this day.
• Victor Morton can be reached at vmorton@washingtontimes.com.
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