By KHRISNA VIRGIL
Tribune Staff Reporter
kvirgil@tribunemedia.net
AS INTERNATIONAL criticism continues to grow over the repatriation of a group of Cubans, Cabinet will today consider cancelling planned discussions with a US congresswoman, The Tribune understands.
Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the US representative for Florida’s 27th congressional district, was supposed to be a part of a meeting with the Bahamas government ahead of blasting the Christie administration over sending 24 Cubans back to their dictatorship home, well placed sources said yesterday.
Through her office of communications, Ros-Lehtinen confirmed: “Bahamian officials are working on setting up a meeting in Washington, DC, at a date and time that will be mutually convenient. I look forward to such a meeting.”
However, ahead of those discussions, Ros-Lehtinen on Friday, chastised officials in the Bahamas for a “spineless decision” to send the group back knowing that Cuba maintains poor human rights practices.
In another statement yesterday she said: “It is pathetic that a government feels so beholden to the Castro regime that officials would classify as lies the very words they uttered to our State Department officials and conduct themselves in a manner not conducive to a free society.”
Her words, The Tribune was told, have infuriated officials prompting calls to cancel any subsequent discussions with her that could have otherwise been held.
When this newspaper interviewed Foreign Affairs Minister Fred Mitchell at the College of the Bahamas yesterday he dismissed Ros-Lehtinen’s statement. He did not confirm whether the cancellation of the meeting would be on Cabinet’s agenda.
He said: “She does not speak for the US government and so she is just another voice crying in the wilderness. The people we pay attention to is people who are authorised to speak on behalf of the United States government and (what she said) is not the US government’s position. So whatever she says can twist in the wind.”
The congresswoman joined several other officials, including Senator Marco Rubio, who has been branded a favourite among potential Republican candidates for the 2016 US presidential race, Bill Nelson, Mario Diaz-Balart and Albio Sires in writing a letter to express concern over the treatment of Cubans detained in the Bahamas.
It was written on August 16, 2013 and addressed to Prime Minister Perry Christie.
The letter said: “The description of their treatment is deplorable, but we recognise your government’s efforts in accepting responsibility and for committing to a full investigation into what occurred.
“It is our understanding that the government of Panama offered asylum to the Cuban refuges on humanitarian grounds. Given the fact that the Cuban regime maintains one of the world’s worst records on human rights, we are disappointed by your decision to repatriate the freedom-seeking Cuban refugees back to their brutal oppressors.
“We urge you to halt any further repatriation of Cuban freedom-seekers in the future.”
Attempts were made to reach Ros-Lehtinen, but they were not successful. However, Alex Cruz, Communications Director for the congresswoman, said that another statement was to be released on her behalf. Up to press time, it was not received by The Tribune.
Comments
proudloudandfnm 11 years, 2 months ago
Is this woman just stupid? She needs to take a good long look at the US's foot dry, foot wet policy. You get caught foot wet and you go back to Cuba. The Coast Guard patrols between Florida and Cuba and when they catch a boat full of Cubans they simply take them back.
This woman and Rubio are liars and opportunists. They are so hard up to get the Latino vote they'd lie thru their teeth.
Fred I am no PLP, but you're doing exactly what you're supposed to. Keep up the good work.
And please do not waste any of our money on any investigations as a result of this fake video that guy Ramon put out. He is collecting millions in donations since he aired that Cuban made video....
TalRussell 11 years, 2 months ago
Comrades is this the same republican Ros-Lehtinen who has defended former fugitive Velentin Hernández, convicted of murdering Luciano Nieves, a fellow Cuban exile who supported negotiations with the Cuban government? In the 1980s, Ros-Lehtinen lobbied for the release and pardon of Cuban exile Orlando Bosch, who had been convicted of terrorist acts and has also been accused of involvement in the 1976 bombing of Cubana Flight 455, which killed 73 people? PM Christie and Minister Freddy should place this woman on the "stop list," forever forbidding her nutty backside from ever visiting our Bahamaland, something she has never done. For until it served her own self-serving political interests, not the Cuban nationals, she could have cared less about the interests of what goes on in Bahamaland.
ayatollah 11 years, 2 months ago
Ms go f yourself please talking fool
TalRussell 11 years, 2 months ago
I'm surprised the Congresswoman can spare the time to be messing with Bahamaland's democratically elected government when she and her radical Tea Party cohorts are so damn busy with their old tricks of rising costs for seniors by ending Medicare guarantees, including her own fellow senior Cuban/Americans, all the while protecting tax breaks for her Republican millionaires and big corporations. Unfortunately, as nutty and politically self-serving as she is, it's still advisable for PM Christie to step in and quickly defuse the situation.
avecbundy 11 years, 2 months ago
This woman does NOT speak for the US Government and it appears as if she, and likely her staff whom she relies upon, do not have the facts. In any event, while as a country we want to respect and honor the terms of international treaties on human rights, we simply do NOT have the resources to address the cost of caring for Cubans and others. That's the reality.
What about the Haitians and others detained in the Bahamas? It appears that the US Congresswoman seems partial only to the plight of Cubans. What does she have to say about the US Government routinely sending illegal Cubans back, many of whom may be crazy or criminals. Who wants them? I guess it's acceptable because it's the USA. Not so. What's good for the goose is good for the gander, regardless of size of country. Imagine if we relent and give in to these illegals coming to the Bahamas, the floodgates will be open and I can assure you that no country, not even the big bad USA, would give us a single penny to deal with them. Who pays for uninvited guests?
No Mariel boat lift here.
I surely hope we stand up and hold firm to not only refusing to meet with this big mouth uninformed US Congresswoman after running her big mouth and putting the cart before the horse just like a typical bullying American but that we keep on sending the illegals back regardless of where they come from. If they want change in their countries, it is not OUR headache. Let the people rise up and take their country back, then there will be no need for them to flee Cuba or where ever and it will NOT as it should not ever be, a problem for the Bahamas.
Who the heck does she think she is?
concernedcitizen 11 years, 2 months ago
feel better ? bigger ? now that you have generalized everyone in the U/S ..is Obama a "typical bullying American "?? Do you realize that through the U/S presidents directive at the state department 400,000 americans visited Cuba last year through the cultural exchange program ..Next time you go to Ft Lauderdale look at the ads featuring direct flights to Cuba for americans ,,the tour company pulls the permit under the cultural exchange program .. Are you also aware that our stopover numbers have not rebounded since the recession while the DR ,Jamaicas and TCI have increased .,.I don,t think spewing derogatory comments at 90% of our visitors and our very lifeblood really helps our number one industry ,,, although it may make you feel special ..........
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