CAMEROON – The Trump administration is weighing fresh restrictions on Cuban officials traveling to the United Nations, adding to mounting pressure on Havana as the island’s foreign minister accused Washington of subjecting the Cuban people to collective punishment through its escalating policies.
Although the State Department approved a large Cuban delegation to attend this week’s U.N. General Assembly, officials are considering “strict controls” on those expected to return next month for the annual vote on the long-standing U.S. economic embargo against Cuba.
The possible measures were described by U.S. officials and outlined in an internal document obtained by The Associated Press. The officials spoke anonymously because the administration has not reached a final decision on the scope or details of the restrictions.
The prospect of tighter limits on Cuban diplomats working in New York comes as Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez criticized what he called a “lack of progress” in talks between Havana and Washington. He also condemned the oil blockade imposed by the Trump administration on the Caribbean nation in January.
“What defines the present status of the Cuba-U.S. relations is the brutal tightening of the economic and financial blockade and the total oil siege imposed on our country, which is equivalent to a naval blockade,” Rodríguez said in Spanish during an interview with AP on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly, where world leaders are meeting.
Speaking through a translator, Rodríguez responded to President Donald Trump’s sweeping address to the United Nations on Tuesday. Trump again described Cuba as a “failed state” and said he was “seeking a fundamental change in the situation in Cuba.”
The administration has sought to push Cuba toward political change by restricting fuel supplies to the island. The resulting shortages have contributed to widespread blackouts, disrupting essential services including cooking, water distribution, internet access and telephone communications.
“Communism will never be coming to America, but freedom will be coming to Cuba,” Trump said at the U.N.
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Rodríguez, who has been Cuba’s foreign minister since 2009, said there are currently no meetings scheduled with U.S. officials. Still, he maintained that “Cuba remains willing to keep these channel of contacts open.”
He declined to identify when the most recent discussions occurred. Previous exchanges, he said, were “respectful,” but public comments and policy moves from U.S. officials afterward became “extremely aggressive.”
Millions of Cubans have been left without reliable electricity as the country’s power grid has failed at least six times since the U.S. energy blockade began at the start of the year. The restrictions have made it difficult for Cuba to import the fuel required by its thermoelectric plants, as well as replacement parts for infrastructure that is often outdated.
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Washington has also imposed additional financial penalties on industries in the already heavily sanctioned country and expanded enforcement of rules barring Americans who travel to Cuba from doing business with government-owned or government-linked entities.
“These measures hamper some processes that could lead to discussion of things in the common interests of both nations,” Rodríguez said.
At the same time, Havana has introduced historic economic reforms that give the private sector a larger role. Cuban officials, Rodríguez among them, insist the changes are not concessions to Washington, even as they move in a direction favored by the Trump administration.
Cuban delegation could face new obstacles to visit United Nations
Rodríguez and other Cuban officials plan to return to New York next month for the U.N. General Assembly’s annual vote on the U.S. economic embargo. For more than three decades, the resolution has typically denounced Washington’s policy toward Cuba by overwhelming margins.
Cuban officials already face stringent rules in New York and Washington because the United States has designated Cuba a state sponsor of terrorism. Their movement and travel are restricted to a 25-mile radius around the U.N. headquarters in Manhattan.
Additional U.S. travel limits could therefore complicate—or even prevent—the Cuban delegation’s participation in the vote, which has been held for more than 30 years.
Last year, Washington’s diplomatic isolation over the embargo eased somewhat when Argentina, Ukraine and Hungary—countries closely aligned with the Trump administration—voted against the Cuban-backed resolution. The shift came as tensions also increased across the region over U.S. military actions.
While General Assembly resolutions are not legally binding, they reflect world opinion.
Rodríguez told the AP last year that the U.S. had mounted a pressure campaign to influence the vote. He said then that Havana had heard from other countries, mainly in Europe, that the State Department was encouraging them to vote against the resolution.
In response, a State Department spokesperson said last year that “the Cuban regime does not deserve the backing of America’s democratic allies.”
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