Dominican Republic orders Cuban diplomats out; Havana cites US pressure

Santo Domingo has not broken ties, Dominican daily reports

The Dominican Foreign Ministry said Thursday that it had formally requested the withdrawal of nine members of Cuba’s diplomatic mission and their families, giving them seven days to leave the country. The ministry did not publicly disclose the reasons for the decision, according to United Press International. It said the measure falls within the authority granted to receiving states under international law and the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.

Cuba’s Foreign Ministry strongly rejected the move. In a statement, the ministry said there was “no justification” for the removal of its diplomats and maintained that they had complied with the Vienna Convention and Dominican law.

Havana went further, accusing the government of Dominican President Luis Abinader of acting at Washington’s urging as part of what it described as a U.S. effort to isolate the island and damage its diplomatic relations in the region. “There is no other explanation for this action than the Dominican Republic government’s submission to pressure from the U.S. government,” the Cuban Foreign Ministry said in its statement.

Cuba pointed to previous decisions by Santo Domingo as evidence, Cuba said, of a shift toward Washington’s policy on the island. Those included Cuba’s exclusion from the postponed Summit of the Americas and a change in the Dominican Republic’s position on Cuba’s annual U.N. resolution opposing the U.S. embargo.

The Cuban government said the latest decision would “seriously damage” relations between the two governments but maintained that it would not undermine longstanding ties between the Cuban and Dominican peoples.

The two governments gave different numbers of diplomats affected by the measure. The Dominican Foreign Ministry said nine Cuban mission members and their families had been ordered to withdraw. Cuba said the Dominican government had ordered the expulsion of 10 Cuban diplomatic officials and their families. Neither government explained the discrepancy.

The Dominican government has not announced a break in diplomatic relations with Havana. Diario Libre reported that the government intends to preserve diplomatic ties despite requesting the withdrawal of the Cuban mission members.

The two countries have a history of diplomatic ruptures and rapprochement. Cuba severed relations with the Dominican Republic in 1959 during tensions between Fidel Castro’s newly established revolutionary government and Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo. The countries restored full diplomatic relations in 1998 after nearly four decades.