US accused of violating Vienna Convention
HAVANA (AP):
CUBA’S FOREIGN minister on Tuesday accused the United States of violating the Vienna Convention and the deal re-establishing diplomatic relations between the two countries.
Soon after, the US announced a new sanction on Cuba meant to cut off the island’s supply of petroleum from Venezuela.
In two tweets, Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez said unspecified
“illegal actions” by the US Embassy in Havana violated both the international codes of conduct for diplomats and the agreement to reopen embassies in Washington and Havana in 2015.
“Illegal actions by #US embassy in #Cuba are interference in the internal affairs of the country and are intended to attack our constitutional order,” Rodríguez tweeted. “They violate the Vienna Convention, the agreement for the re-establishment of relations and Cuban and US laws.”
The US Treasury said it was designating the Cuban company Corporacion Panamericana SA as a violator of American sanctions on Venezuela.
Such designations make it difficult for companies like Panamericana to do business even outside the US because of third parties’ fears of repercussions for dealing with a sanctioned entity.
The Treasury Department said that after the US sanctioned the state-owned oil importer Cubametales, Cuba moved employees and contracts over to Panamericana, which was not yet sanctioned.
In one example that occurred over the summer, Cuba shifted its dealings with a North African oil provider from Cubametales to Corporacion Panamericana, the Treasury Department said.