Cuba Accuses Top U.S. Diplomat of ‘Unfriendly Conduct’ for Meeting with Actual Cubans

The Cuban communist regime over the weekend issued a verbal warning to the head of the U.S. embassy in Havana, Mike Hammer, accusing the diplomat of engaging in alleged “interfering and unfriendly conduct.”

Hammer has been in charge of the U.S. embassy in Havana since November 2024, leading the U.S. diplomatic mission to the island nation as its chargé d’affaires. The United States has not appointed an ambassador to Cuba in more than six decades following the rise of the communist Castro regime.

In the past few weeks, Hammer, who speaks Spanish fluently, has traveled around Cuba to personally meet with local residents, political dissidents, and families of the regime’s political prisoners.

The U.S. embassy in Havana detailed that the encounters have allowed Hammer to listen to Cubans’ stories, concerns, and dreams. Some of the encounters have allowed Cubans to share their religious beliefs and traditions with the American diplomat. Cubans who wish to meet with Hammer can send an email to the U.S. embassy in Havana. In one such visit, Hammer pointed out that he has received a warm reception from Cubans.

Hammer’s actions have drawn the ire of the Castro regime, which in state media in April accused the U.S. diplomat of being an “subversive agent” and promoter of the United States in Cuba – describing the job of any ambassador, but framing it pejoratively.

On Friday, the Cuban Foreign Ministry issued a formal protest note accusing Hammer of engaging in “interventionist” behavior and claiming that the U.S. diplomat is “inciting” Cubans to “commit serious criminal acts” and act against regime authorities. The Castro regime did not present evidence to substantiate the accusations leveled against the American diplomat.

The Director of bilateral issues of the Foreign Ministry’s U.S. general directorate, Alejandro García del Toro, delivered the protest note to Hammer.

“García del Toro emphasized, as stated in the Note Verbale delivered, that by inciting Cuban citizens to commit criminal acts of marked gravity, to attempt against the constitutional order or to stimulate them to act against the authorities,” the Foreign Ministry complained, “and to demonstrate in support of the interests and objectives of a hostile foreign power, the diplomat assumes a provocative and irresponsible conduct.”

“He [García del Todo] added that the immunity he enjoys as a representative of his country cannot be used as a cover for acts contrary to the sovereignty and internal order of the country to which he is accredited, in this case Cuba,” the Ministry continued.

The Ministry continued by referring to Hammer’s May 19 visit to the tomb of Cuban founding father José Martí in Santiago de Cuba on the occasion of the 130th anniversary of his death — which also occurred on the eve of May 20, Cuban Independence Day.

Cuba seceded from Spain on May 20, 1902, with some minimal help from the United States. The Castro regime does not celebrate May 20 and bans Cubans from observing the holiday. Instead, the communist regime forces the nation to celebrate July 26, the date of late dictator Fidel Castro’s 1953 terrorist attack on the Moncada military garrison, as Cuba’s “true” independence day.

Hammer’s visit to Martí’s tomb appears to have greatly upset the Castro regime, particularly after Hammer cited Martí on that day, who once said, “Respect for the freedom and thought of others, even of the most unhappy entity, is my fanaticism: if I die, or am killed, it will be for that.”

“The Ministry’s Note Verbale also rejected the public and insulting manipulation of the Chargé d’Affaires when referring to the National Hero José Martí,” the Ministry specified, “with which the American showed that he does not know that independence and anti-imperialism, as pillars of the Cuban nation, are based on José Martí’s conviction and warning regarding the danger posed to Cuba by the United States’ desire for domination.”

The U.S. State Department told Martí Noticias on Friday, “It is not the United States that has turned the Cuban people against the regime; rather, its own ‘corrupt, inept and failed’ policies have done so.”

Similarly, a State Department official told Reuters that Hammer proudly represents President Donald Trump by implementing an “America First foreign policy and seeking accountability for the Cuban regime for its malign influence across the Americas.”

“We will continue to meet with Cuban patriots, religious leaders, and those fighting for the freedoms of Cubans,” the official said.

Prior to the regime’s formal protest note, Hammer held a press conference in Miami on March 23 in which he said he would continue visiting and meeting Cubans. Hammer emphasized that none of the Cubans he has so far conversed with blame the United States for Cuba’s precarious situation, contrary to the regime’s decades-long assertions that the United States’ “embargo” is the culprit of the nation’s woes.

Hammer recounted that he has noticed that the Castro regime sends individuals during his meetings to prevent his interactions with locals, or to at least disrupt them from occurring in a fluid and spontaneous manner. Additionally, Hammer denounced that regime-affiliated individuals have incited others on social media to boycott the encounters.

“We stand with the Cuban people, with anyone who wants freedom, freedom of expression, assembly, religion, and the press. We stand with them,” Hammer said. “That is why our embassy and our team have been traveling around the country, asking ordinary Cubans to meet with us to hear their concerns, their experiences, their dreams, and also their criticisms of the U.S. government.”

“There is a lot of surveillance, you see cameras everywhere, they are filming us constantly,” he added. ”What does worry me is that the authorities and cyber-activists are encouraging militants to come and disrupt my trips and activities.”

Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.