(EFE) pilot who left the Island last October in a fumigation plane.
The Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, Carlos Fernández de Cossío, expressed the discomfort of the Cuban Government to the highest representative of the US legation, at the headquarters of Foreign Affairs, in the absence of the appointment of an ambassador.
According to the note, Cuba had requested the United States “in four verbal notes” to return the pilot, who until last Thursday he was detained at a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Florida.
“In these notes, as on this occasion, it is reiterated that acts of air piracy constitute crimes typified in various international conventions ratified by Cuba and the United States”
“In these notes, as on this occasion, it is reiterated that acts of air piracy constitute crimes typified in various international conventions ratified by Cuba and the United States,” continued the note from the island’s Foreign Ministry.
The pilot Rubén Martínez, 29 years old, who arrived in South Florida in a vintage Russian-made Antonov An-2 plane who belonged to the state-owned National Air Services Company (ENSA), justified his request for asylum under the figure of “credible fear”, alleging that, if he returned to the Island, “his life” would be “in danger”.
The Foreign Ministry censured the decision of the US Government -although the granting of asylum was made by a judge- and “of its judicial system, which makes them, in practice, accomplices and encouragers of piracy and aerial hijacking, crimes that , if tolerated and protected, could encourage similar unlawful acts with negative repercussions for the national security of both countries.”
In this sense, on his Twitter account, Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez added that the asylum given to Martínez “violates Cuban national legislation, International Law and the commitment signed by the US Government.”
Meanwhile, the Cuban delegation that will travel to the US this week will be concerned, as confirmed by a State Department spokeswoman, to visit a port facility in North Carolina and address maritime security issues with the US Coast Guard.
The trip, without a specific date, is part of the strong increase in arrivals of Cubans to the US coasts. So far in fiscal year 2023, which began last October, the US Coast Guard has already arrested almost 5,000 people on the Island.
Cuban officials from the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Transportation will meet with the Coast Guard and supervise a port facility in North Carolina.
In their meetings they will address the US Port Security Program, which seeks to “reduce risks” of security and trade in US seas, ports and ships, the spokeswoman said.
In their meetings they will address the US Port Security Program, which seeks to “reduce risks” of security and trade in US seas, ports and ships, the spokeswoman said.
“This coordination is not new nor does it represent a change in United States policy,” remarked the State Department official, who recalled that both countries have cooperated on this matter for decades and that the last similar visit by a Cuban delegation was in 2019.
In turn, he emphasized that Cuba “cannot expect a substantial improvement in relations with the United States if it does not correct the situation regarding human rights.”
“We have made constant calls to the Cuban government, both in public and in private, to immediately and unconditionally release all political prisoners,” he said.
Republican Senator Marco Rubio wrote a letter to President Joe Biden last Friday, expressing his “serious concern” about the visit by Cubans, noting that both the Cuban Ministry of the Interior and several of its officials have been sanctioned. by the US for human rights violations and corruption.
“I want to know why national security protocols are being shared with one of our biggest foreign adversaries,” said the legislator, who represents the state of Florida.
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