Lawmakers Denied Meeting with Top U.S. Diplomat

Marco Rubio’s State Department prohibited Chargé d’Affaires Mike Hammer, the top U.S. diplomat in Havana, from meeting with Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) and Rep. Jonathan Jackson (D-IL) during their recent visit to Havana, the legislators said in a letter to Rubio on Wednesday.

​The letter explains that although an official appointment with Hammer was scheduled, he later told them that “Department leadership directed him not to meet Members or brief them over the phone.”

The representatives are asking Rubio for an explanation for this action, which represents “a troubling departure from long-standing norms of cooperation (...) in the conduct of American foreign policy.” 

Jayapal and Jackson visited Havana in their capacity as members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Upon returning to the U.S., they released a statement criticizing Trump’s oil blockade, which they called “cruel collective punishment.”

They are demanding “copies of any formal or informal communication or directives,” as well as “who issued the directive, when it was issued, and whether it was written or verbal.”

“Given the ongoing negotiations between the Trump Administration and the Cuban government and threats from President Trump to ‘take’ Cuba, denying members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee access to embassy officials sends a troubling message that the Administration is attempting to block voices that disagree with it,” the statement reads.

The letter is also signed by four other Democratic members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, including its ranking member Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY).