MIAMI, United States. – First Colonel Mario Méndez Mayedo, head of the Directorate of Identification, Immigration and Immigration of the Ministry of the Interior (MININT) of the Cuban regime, received a visa to travel to New York and participate in the United Nations (UN) General Assembly, despite the fact that the entity to which he belongs is currently sanctioned by the United States due to its human rights violations. .
Although the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MINREX) of Cuba did not mention Méndez Mayedo in your statement about the Cuban delegation that will attend the UN, an article from the official media Cubadebate confirmed the participation of the senior military officer in a meeting with Cuban Americans at the headquarters of the Cuban diplomatic mission in New York.
During this meeting, Méndez Mayedo, together with Ana Teresa González, MINREX official, discussed the new migration and citizenship laws approved in July by the National Assembly. According to Cubadebatethese laws were previously presented by Méndez Mayedo himself to Cuban legislators.
The colonel explained that the new immigration law eliminates the restrictions that prevented Cubans from maintaining their property if they remained outside the country for more than 24 months.
This rule also grants broad powers to the MININT to prohibit travel in the name of “national security” or in response to “hostile actions” against the Cuban government, a policy that was already applied informally before the legislation.
In fact, Méndez Mayedo has played a decisive role in the ban on leaving the country applied to Cuban dissidents, according to the Foundation for Human Rights in Cuba, which included him on his list of repressors.
According to The New Heraldobtaining the visa for Méndez Mayedo has raised questions, as the US has sanctioned the MININT for its role in human rights violations, particularly for the movement restrictions imposed on citizens critical of the Government.
However, a State Department spokeswoman cited by that media explained that the US has the obligation, under the UN Headquarters Agreement, to issue visas for certain trips related to the organization, even for officials of sanctioned governments. . “The United States takes its obligations as a UN host country seriously,” the spokeswoman said.
Despite his participation in the aforementioned meeting, Méndez Mayedo has not been seen in photos or public activities related to the Cuban delegation to the UN, suggesting that his visit may have been limited to private meetings. Nor does it appear that official meetings between the Cuban and American delegations have been scheduled during the week of the General Assembly.
In the meeting with Cuban Americans, both Méndez Mayedo and Ana Teresa González defended the measures of the Cuban regime to, supposedly, improve relations with its diaspora. “We have made prolonged efforts towards the full normalization of Cuba’s relations with its emigrants who love their homeland and their families,” said Bruno Rodríguez, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Cuba, quoted by Cubadebate.
