The State Department on Wednesday refused to comment on reports that no political dissidents were invited to Friday’s flag-raising ceremony at the U.S. embassy in Cuba, and said flatly that it has nothing to say at all on who was invited, and who wasn’t.
State spokesman Mark Toner was asked about reports that no one representing groups opposed to the Castro regime would be attending the ceremony marking the opening of the U.S. embassy after more than 50 years, but each time, he deflected.
Toner was first asked what dissidents Secretary of State John Kerry might meet with during his trip, and where those meetings would take place, including whether any would happen at the official ceremony.
“I’m not going to, frankly, get into detail, walking through his schedule for that day, who he’s going to meet with, where, and what and how that’s going to look,” Toner said. “Frankly, I would leave that for him or for others to speak to as we get closer to the actual day.”
The event is just two days away.
“The secretary has been very clear, and we’ve been very clear that he plans to meet with a broad range of civil society during his day, during the day in Cuba, in Havana,” he added. “But I don’t want to get into specific details about who, and as I said, who he’s going to meet with, where that’s going to take place.”
Some reports have suggested that the Cuban government warned the U.S. that inviting political dissidents to the event would lead Cuban officials to boycott the event. That prompted Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., to say failing to invite dissidents is a “new low” for Obama.
But Toner refused to say if that was the case.
“I can’t speak to what we may have, or may not have, shared with, or discussed with the Cuban government,” he said.
When asked why no dissidents were expected to attend, Toner declined to answer that, and admitted that if he answered it, he’d be answering whether those reports are true.
“Again, then you’re asking me to implicitly confirm whether they’re not or not,” he said. “I’m not going to speak to who the invitees are to specific events. I’ll let others do that as we get closer.”
