10 U.S. diplomats remain in Havana
By Mimi Whitefield Tribune News Service
Posted: April 8, 2018 at 3:38 a.m.
MIAMI -- As Cuba faces a generational shift in power, with Cuban leader Raul Castro expected to retire from the presidency April 19, the United States has few official eyes and ears on the island.
An embassy roster, which was updated March 22 on the State Department's website, lists no political or economic officers and a total of only 10 diplomats, including Charge d'Affaires Philip Goldberg, the chief of mission in the absence of an ambassador. There are no public affairs or cultural officers listed, either.
Most of the jobs that remain after the United States reduced personnel levels in response to mysterious incidents affecting the health of its diplomats deal with maintenance, security or the internal functioning of the embassy that sits along Havana's seaside Malecon.
On March 2, the State Department announced that for the indefinite future it would staff the Havana embassy at the minimum level "necessary to perform core diplomatic and consular functions."
More:
http://www.nwaonline.com/news/2018/apr/08/10-u-s-diplomats-remain-in-havana-20180/?news-national
Miami "exile" politics:
Vigilia Repugnante
