Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau warned Cuban Communist Party thugs in a message on Thursday that American authorities had identified those participating in actos de repudio (“acts of repudiation”), targeted mob humiliation attacks, against America’s top diplomat in the country.
The charge d’affaires of the American embassy in Havana, Mike Hammer, has incurred the ire of the Castro regime throughout the year by traveling the island and engaging in meetings with regular Cuban citizens and known anti-communist dissidents rather than fully amplifying the agenda of the Communist Party. Hammer, who has become popular on the island for his direct engagement outside of the watchful eye of the Party, most recently incurred the ire of the Castro regime this month by meeting with a member of the Catholic clergy and other locals in the eastern region of Camagüey to discuss the worsening humanitarian crisis on the island as a result of communist oppression.
During multiple stops on the weekend of February 1, communist sympathizers surrounded Hammer and his team at the hostel they were staying in and menacingly insulted him, shouting “murderer” and “fascist” at the diplomat.
These attacks are typically called “acts of repudiation” and sometimes involve violence, such as hurling projectiles at the target, and surrounding their homes so that they feel trapped. Cuban security agents often participate in these attacks, alongside local Party members. During some attacks, the communists bring children to participate.
The incidents targeting Hammer were unique in that the regime typically uses “acts of repudiation” to silence Cubans believed to be opposed to the government or leaders of dissident movements. Outside of Cuba, in some instances, mob attacks are used to make it impossible for events that inconvenience the Castro regime, such as talks or meetings on human rights, to proceed — or to silence human rights activists. An “act of repudiation” against a credentialed diplomat in the country was an unprecedented escalation.
“Small groups of agents of the Cuban regime have been harassing our distinguished Chargé d’Affaires in Havana, Ambassador @MikeHammerUSA, as he travels around the island in furtherance of his diplomatic duties,” Landau, the deputy secretary of state, noted in a message posted to X on Thursday. “I want those people to understand that we know who they are, and will respond accordingly with, among other things, visa sanctions.”
“Under basic norms of international law, diplomats must be free to perform their duties free of harassment by thugs,” Landau observed.
Landau has developed a reputation within the State Department for actively imposing visa sanctions on enemies of the United States, human rights violators, and others the administration of President Donald Trump has deemed inadmissible to the United States. In September, Landau became the focus of memes shared online by opponents of Latin America’s leftist regimes, who dubbed him “The Visa Snatcher” and tagged him in posts identifying individuals with links to repressive regimes enjoying the benefits of freedom in America. Landau has embraced the “Visa Snatcher” moniker.
“Deputy Secretary Landau prefers to be referred to in English as ‘The Visa Snatcher.’ This Administration does not believe that the United States should grant visas to persons whose presence in our country does not align with U.S. national security interests,” a State Department spokesperson told Breitbart News in September.
An attack by a foreign state against a diplomat is a violation of the Vienna Convention, which governs international diplomacy. As per Article 29 of the convention, “the person of a diplomatic agent shall be inviolable.”
“He shall not be liable to any form of arrest or detention. The receiving State shall treat him with due respect and shall take all appropriate steps to prevent any attack on his person, freedom or dignity,” the international legal document reads. Cuba is a party to the Vienna Convention.
The Cuban government has yet to formally address the attacks on Hammer. Several reports by anti-regime Cuban and Cuban-American journalists identified at least one person participating in the mob attacks on Hammer as a member of the Union of Young Communists in Camagüey, identified as “Yoel Santiesteban.” Santiesteban’s Facebook account reportedly published some of the videos of the mob attack, boasting of having participating in it, writing, “Of course I was there! What would you expect from a young communist?” The account has since been locked and its previously public content made unavailable.
The attacks do not appear to have deterred Hammer from holding meetings with Cubans around the island. After the attack, on February 8, Hammer published a video in Santiago de Cuba, on the eastern half of the island, thanking Cubans for inviting him to their homes and sharing his contact information.
“To all our followers, thank you for your messages of support, I read them all but I can’t answer them because there are thousands upon thousands,” the envoy wrote. “I appreciate your comments of solidarity very much and your interest in speaking with me. Above all [I appreciate] the many of you who invite me to your homes although there is no electricity to even have a coffee. It doesn’t matter, I want to hear from you, know of your situation and your aspirations.”
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