A person walks past the Cuban Embassy in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, on Thursday. The Dominican government formally requested that the embassy withdraw nine members of its diplomatic mission and their family members within seven days. Photo by Orlando Barria/EPA
Aug. 14 (UPI) — Cuba accused the Dominican Republic of bowing to U.S. pressure after Santo Domingo ordered members of the Cuban diplomatic mission and their families to leave the country, escalating tensions between the Caribbean neighbors.
The Dominican Foreign Ministry said Thursday it formally requested the withdrawal of nine members of Cuba’s diplomatic mission and their families and gave them seven days to leave the country. The ministry did not publicly disclose the reasons for the decision.
The ministry said the measure falls within the authority granted to receiving states under international law and the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.
Cuba’s Foreign Ministry strongly rejected the decision, saying there was “no justification” for the removal of its diplomats and maintaining that they had complied with the Vienna Convention and Dominican law.
Havana, however, provided a different number of diplomats affected by the measure, saying the Dominican government had ordered the expulsion of 10 Cuban diplomatic officials and their families. Neither government explained the discrepancy.
Cuba accused the government of Dominican President Luis Abinader of acting at Washington’s urging as part of what Havana described as a U.S. effort to isolate the island and damage its diplomatic relations in the region.
“There is no other explanation for this action than the Dominican Republic government’s submission to pressure from the U.S. government,” the Cuban Foreign Ministry said in its statement.
The Cuban government pointed to previous decisions by Santo Domingo as evidence of what it characterized as a shift toward Washington’s policy on Cuba, including Cuba’s exclusion from the postponed Summit of the Americas and a change in the Dominican Republic’s position on Cuba’s annual U.N. resolution opposing the U.S. embargo.
Cuba said the latest decision would “seriously damage” relations between the two governments, but maintained that it would not undermine longstanding ties between the Cubans and Dominicans.
The two countries have a history of diplomatic ruptures and rapprochement. Cuba severed relations with the Dominican Republic in 1959 during tensions between Fidel Castro‘s newly established revolutionary government and Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo. The countries restored full diplomatic relations in 1998 after nearly four decades.
The Dominican government has not announced a break in diplomatic relations with Havana. Dominican newspaper Diario Libre reported that the government intends to preserve diplomatic ties despite requesting the withdrawal of the Cuban mission members.
