Cuba: diplomat expulsions, gas crisis part of US offensive
Michael Weissenstein, Associated Press
Updated 12:00 pm CDT, Friday, September 20, 2019
HAVANA (AP) — Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez said Friday that the U.S. expulsion of two Cuban diplomats and energy shortages across the island are part of a Trump administration offensive that will fail to force concessions by his government.
Rodríguez told reporters that Cuba was weighing its response to the expulsion of two diplomats posted to Cuba's permanent mission to the United Nations. He also said energy shortages and long gas lines in Cuba are due to a Trump administration campaign of pressuring Cuba's energy suppliers across the world not to send petroleum products to the island.
During his annual press conference enumerating the effects of the U.S. trade embargo on Cuba, Rodríguez said the Trump administration was waging a campaign to pressure Cuba's fuel suppliers and shippers in South America, Europe and North Africa.
"These actions include direct threats, persecution of transport companies, pressure against governments where tankers are flagged or registered and actions against insurance companies, he said. "This is an escalation seeking to dissuade and intimidate, and to create additional difficulties for the Cuban people."
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https://www.chron.com/news/world/article/Cuba-diplomat-expulsions-gas-crisis-part-of-US-14455426.php
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