Cuba is preventing provincial Cubans who live outside Havana from attending the U.S. embassy’s traditional Independence Day celebration on July 4, the independent outlet 14 y Medio reported on Monday.
14 y Medio’s report is based on a public statement issued on Monday morning by the Coexistence Study Center (CEC), an independent Cuban think-tank. CEC denounced on Facebook that two of its leading members, Dagoberto Valdés and Yoandy Izquierdo, were interrogated by a Cuban state security official identified as “Major Ernesto” upon returning from a Cuba-related event hosted by the Florida International University.
The two men were called for questioning at a local immigration office in the city of Pinar del Río over their recent trip to the United States and asked questions related to the nature of the event, such as the number of attendees and their participation in other public events.
During the interrogation, CEC further explained, the Cuban official told Valdés and Izquierdo that due to “superior decisions,” Cuban provincial residents are barred from attending the Fourth of July reception in Havana even if they were invited by the U.S. embassy due to the recent “counter-revolutionary” actions of the embassy’s top diplomat Mike Hammer and the “international situation.”
“He [Mayor Ernesto] said he was communicating this to avoid actions on the road like those that occurred with both members of Convivencia on the eve of May 1 of the previous year, when they were returning from a church event,” the statement read.
CEC said that, although he had been called for interrogation at another date, Izquierdo was asked the same questions but was also asked about other personal issues, such as his mother´s health. The think tank concluded by stressing that, “in this way, they not only continue to harass Convivencia [CEC], but also regulate freedom of movement.”
14 y Medio pointed out that, although it is not the first time that the Castro regime has coerced CEC members to prevent them from attending the U.S.-hosted reception in Havana, it was “unprecedented” that the restrictions are applied to the embassy’s top diplomat. The regime has repeatedly accused Hammer of being a “subversive agent” of the United States.
Hammer has led the U.S. embassy in Havana as its chargé d’affaires since November 2024. America has not appointed an ambassador to Cuba in over six decades after late murderous dictator Fidel Castro forcefully took power and established his authoritarian communist rule. Over the past year, Hammer, a career diplomat, traveled across several Cuban cities to meet with local residents to learn more about their culture, traditions, and religious beliefs. Hammer said that he has received a warm reception from Cubans.
The encounters have allowed Cubans to share their stories and concerns with Hammer, who speaks Spanish fluently. During a press conference in Miami in March, Hammer said that none of the Cubans he had so far spoken to throughout his trips have blamed the United States for Cuba’s dire situation despite the Castro regime’s decades-long narrative that the U.S. “embargo” is the culprit of all of Cuba’s problems.
Hammer has also met with Cuban political dissidents and relatives of some of the regime’s political prisoners. In February, the U.S. diplomat met with José Daniel Ferrer, who leads the Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU), the largest dissident organization in the country at a time when Ferrer had been recently released from prison. Weeks later, the Castro regime reimprisoned Ferrer and ransacked his house in Santiago de Cuba, which serves as UNPACU’s headquarters.
Hammer’s actions have greatly infuriated the Castro regime, which officially accused Hammer in May of “inciting” Cubans “to commit serious criminal acts” against the communist authorities. At press time, the Castro regime has not publicly shown evidence to substantiate its accusations against Hammer.
Last week, speaking on behalf of the Castro regime, Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernández de Cossío doubled down on the regime’s accusations against Hammer during an interview given to the Spanish news agency EFE. The official asserted that the Castro regime would consider expelling Hammer over his “subversive” behavior.
“With regards to the diplomat [Hammer], we are not going to rule out any action insofar as we think that what he is doing is dangerous, if we come to that conclusion — which we have not — and insofar as we pay close attention to what he is doing,” Fernández de Cossío said.
An unnamed U.S. State Department official told Reuters in May that Hammer proudly represents President Donald Trump by implementing an “America First foreign policy and seeking accountability for the Cuban regime for its malign influence across the Americas.”
“We will continue to meet with Cuban patriots, religious leaders, and those fighting for the freedoms of Cubans,” the official said.
Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.
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