Cuba, December 16: Cuba has arrested a US citizen for handing out cellphones, laptops, and other communications equipment to Cuban dissidents on behalf of the Obama administration.
The US State Department, confirming the December 5 arrest of an unidentified US citizen, said that the incident could rattle sensitive US-Cuban relations but should not have a long-term impact.
Analysts say President Barack Obama’s initiative to improve relations with Havana will not be derailed by the incident.
“It may cause an interruption in the near term, but ultimately I don’t believe it will affect the new dialogue on migration, re-establishment of postal service, and other matters,” said Phil Peters, a Cuba expert at the Lexington Institute in Virginia.
Dan Erikson, another Cuba analyst with the Inter-American Dialogue in Washington, said the arrest could be a warning to the Obama administration not to pursue USAID-funded programs with the excuse of supporting human rights and civil society.
The Maryland-based organization Development Alternatives Inc., which says it has a federal contract to support “just and democratic governance in Cuba,” described the arrested US citizen as a sub-contractor employed “to assist Cuban civil society organizations.”
Cuba calls such dissident groups mercenaries and traitors. The Cuban government has often accused the US of supporting them openly and covertly in order to undermine the government of the Caribbean island.
——Agencies