MIAMI. – Barely 5 days had passed since the State Department of USA will identify Cuba how a country can be counted on to combat international terrorism, when another equally surprising news became the headline of the media that offers coverage of the Cuban issue.
Offered in exclusive scoop by DIARIO LAS AMÉRICAS, on Monday, May 20, we made public the information, revealed by a source from inside the Miami International Airportthat air security agents at the service of the Havana regime were touring restricted areas of that airport terminal, to which only TSA agents (for its acronym in English), that is, security officers, have access. the Transportation Security Administration who guarantee through their work and the use of technology the control of luggage for the safety of travelers and consequently of the country.
When this news broke, the reaction of the local authorities was immediate because according to information compiled by this newspaper, neither the mayor Daniella Levine Cava – under whose jurisdiction as the highest county authority the airport operates – had been informed of the visit, nor had Ralph Cutié , Director of Aviation of the demarcation.
Given the event, considered to have a high impact on national security, the next day, in the context of a meeting, the County Commission unanimously approved a motion in which the thirteen legislators who make up the committee demanded that the White House offer them an explanation. for the unusual and inexplicable visit, taking into account the level of access to information in sensitive areas, of one of the busiest airports in the country.
But the surprises as a result of this news, which also provoked the reactions of Senator Marco Rubio, as well as congressmen María Elvira Salazar and Carlos Giménez, do not end yet.
Today, when analyzing the decision announced on Tuesday, May 28 by the Biden government, that the owners of small and medium-sized Cuban businesses, the so-called MSMEs, will be able to have access to credit and accounts in US banks, a report published in the Martí Noticias portal, would serve to begin to unravel the tangle of questions that have been opened by the barrage of “favors,” one after the other, that Washington has granted to Havana in recent days, as if the thaw policy that had begun by Barack Obama in 2014 would have begun to have a second moment, based on some secret agreement adopted between high officials of both countries and that only those who have promoted or facilitated it know.
In the Martí Noticias article titled Who were the Cuban officials who visited the Miami airport?From a document from the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs that this news portal consulted, it was learned that the Cuban Foreign Ministry arranged diplomatic visas for the five island officials who toured the Miami International Airport for about five hours.
This group of officials, who according to the document consulted, traveled to participate in a working meeting between the US Transportation Security Agency and representatives of the Cuban Civil Aviation, was headed by Carlos Radamés Pérez Andino, vice president of the Institute. of Civil Aeronautics of Cuba; Also part of the group, according to the visa application submitted by the Cuban Department of Foreign Affairs, were Nestar María Rojas Álvarez, Lorenzo de la Rosa Garcés, Jossue Puigvert García and Benedicto Nelson Gutiérrez Acosta. All of them, Martí Noticias assures, received the A2 visa that is issued in the US to diplomats and foreign officials.
Common and usual, according to a TSA statement
After the astonishment and indignation caused by the visit of Cuban officials to areas of high security sensitivity in the busiest airport in the state of Florida, through a statement issued, TSA responded that “the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) “TSA regularly works with all countries with direct flights to the United States. TSA hosts government officials and members of the aviation community at US airports to promote a strong global aviation security posture.”
“U.S. and Cuban authorities jointly manage the airspace between Cuba and the United States and ensure the safety of travelers using our airports. The Republic of Cuba has six last point of departure airports with direct flights to the United States, for “TSA continually works to strengthen the security framework with Cuba and other Caribbean nations.”
Likewise, the TSA communication added after the reaction to the visit, “the TSA works closely with its Cuban counterparts to promote the security of civil aviation in both countries. This implies that the TSA inspects Cuban airports to certify their capacity to accommodate flights to the United States and occasional reciprocal visits by the Cuban Ministry of Transportation to U.S. airports to demonstrate best practices.”
In addition, they assured in the statement that “Cuban officials did not have access to sensitive technology or systems. They received an overview of TSA security operations, including the equipment that anyone inspected at the checkpoint can see, which demonstrates the best practices in civil aviation security, so that Cuba considers the implementation of similar measures with similar systems.”
And after other arguments that try to explain the reason for the visit, the statement concludes, “the visit was coordinated with the assistance of the State Department.”
Even more questions
After this statement and taking into account the events that have occurred in which, in an isolated but consecutive manner, Cuba has been at the center of important decisions adopted by those who have decision-making power in matters of US foreign policy, two more questions are added to the list of Questions pending answers: Is it usual for air security officials from a country that is an adversary of the United States, such as Cuba, an ally of enemy powers such as China, Russia, Iran and North Korea, to have access to the country, protected under a visa? of diplomats? Is it usual for the resources and technology acquired to protect citizens, residents and travelers in the United States to be shown to officials of a country whose intelligence and espionage work has caused proven damage to the nation?
Depending on the answers, any reader who was not influenced by the feeling caused by the anthological political dispute between Cuba and the United States, even between the Cuban exiled migration and the Cuban regime, will be able to form their own opinions.
@Iliana Lavastida
