CUBA DETAINS SOME DIPLOMATIC POUCHES

C O N F I D E N T I A L HAVANA 001005

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

FOR WHA/CCA
FOR WHA/EX
FOR OFM
FOR OIG
FOR A/LM

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/24/2017
TAGS: AMGT ATRN CU
SUBJECT: CUBA DETAINS SOME DIPLOMATIC POUCHES

Classified By: COM Michael E. Parmly for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) SUMMARY AND ACTION REQUEST: For the second time in a
month, the Cuban government detained unclassified pouches
destined for USINT Havana. Cuban officials claimed that the
contents of these rejected pouches may violate the Vienna
Convention by including items for personal rather than
official use, but would not say how their suspicions arose.


2. (C) SUMMARY AND ACTION REQUEST CONTINUED: USINT
recommends that the Department continue pouch shipments to
Havana in spite of the risk that some may be rejected, as
this is the principal lifeline for official supplies and
personal mail. Likewise, the Department should use caution
and consult with USINT if considering reciprocal measures.
End summary and action request.


3. (U) The foreign ministry (Minrex) sent diplomatic note
number 2713 on October 22, notifying USINT of "difficulties
presented by six diplomatic pouches" currently at the
airport. In response, USINT general services officer met
with three Cuban officials at the airport on October 24:
Ambassador Reinaldo Calviac Lafert, chief of Minrex protocol
at the airport; Emilio Gonzlez Farrat, commercial director
of the Aerovaradero freight forwarding company and the Cubana
airline; and an unnamed Customs inspector. Calviac took the
lead.

Cuban procedures for incoming pouches
--------------


4. (C) Calviac explained that Customs is the first Cuban
agency to deal with incoming pouches. If Customs finds
anything of concern, they notify Minrex, which in turn
notifies the diplomatic mission in question. Otherwise,
Minrex doesn't become involved with pouches. (COMMENT: This
is different from what we've been told recently, which is
that Customs has changed its procedure and now consults with
Minrex on every incoming pouch shipment for every foreign
mission. When asked, Calviac stated that there has been no
such change in procedure.) In this week's case, Customs and
Minrex have "well-founded reasons to believe that the
material in these six pouches does not comply with article 27
of the Vienna Convention," a phrase Calviac repeated several
times throughout our discussion.

What's wrong with these six?
--------------


5. (C) We attempted to clarify why Customs thinks these six
bags, part of a shipment of 28 pouches, might contain
objectionable material - and how they know the other bags
don't contain such material. The Cubans strongly denied
opening diplomatic pouches. But they fudged when asked
whether they X-ray the bags, saying that they could not
discuss "specific procedures." When we asked whether they
use dogs to bomb-sniff and/or drug-sniff incoming pouches,
they stated that their airports do have such sniffer dogs and
use them "just as would any airport in the world."


6. (C) Asked what sort of items might violate the Vienna
Convention on diplomatic pouch usage, Calviac explained that
the pouch is to be used only for official correspondence and
for articles intended for official use of the mission. He
claimed that items for diplomats' personal use should not be
included in diplomatic pouches, but should be imported using
a Minrex-issued duty free entry permit, known in Cuba as a
"franquicia." (COMMENT: As there is no APO in Havana, we
have for many years used the pouch for personal mail and
catalog orders. Other countries' missions in Havana do the
same with their pouches. Minrex has been notoriously
capricious in issuing and not issuing franquicias for import
of USINT's official and personal goods.)


7. (C) We told Calviac that all USINT pouches contain only
items for official use of the mission. We did not
specifically address his assertion that use of the pouch for
diplomats' personal mail may violate the Vienna Convention.
We also provided him with copies of the Department's circular
notes 03-54 and 04-181, describing our treatment of other
countries' pouches in the US.

Open up or ship out
--------------


8. (C) Regarding the six offending pouches, Calviac said we
have two choices: We may ship them back to the US, or we may
have them opened in the presence of a USINT officer and
airport authorities. In the second option, Calviac stated
that the opening would be filmed "so that all parties would
know what is in the bags." The overseeing American officer
would need to arrive at the airport with written authority
from USINT and with materials to re-seal the bags in case
they needed to be re-exported.


9. (C) In the future, Calviac told us, if Customs and Minrex
are again concerned with the contents of our pouches, they
will continue to advise us by diplomatic note and may offer a
face-to-face meeting like the one yesterday. In any case,
our options would be the same: ship the pouches back, or open
them at the airport.


10. (C) After the meeting, airport authorities granted our
request to see the six bags inside the Customs bonded
warehouse. Together with our other pouches pending release,
they appeared to be in good condition and unharmed. Cuban
officials told us specifically that there was no problem with
tears in the bags themselves.

Same story three weeks ago
--------------


11. (C) In a similar incident about three weeks ago, the
Cubans denied import approval for three crate pouches, while
approving the rest of 16 crates shipped concurrently. We are
returning the three crates to SA-32 via US Despatch Agency
Miami, where we understand they will be opened and inspected.
We believe two of the crates contain air conditioners - a
puzzle because several of the crates that were released also
were AC units. The third crate probably is a mix of
officers' mail and small official purchases.


12. (U) Other than the three crates rejected and shipped
back, and the six bags rejected this week, all incoming
pouches to date have been cleared and released to us.


13. (C) COMMENT: USINT believes that Cuban authorities
routinely X-ray incoming pouches. However, this alone would
not explain their choice of bags to detain, as the detained
pouches contain the same types of items found in other bags
that are released. The best guess is that this is another
act of random harassment by the Cuban government.


14. (C) COMMENT CONTINUED: We should, therefore, limit the
time and energy we expend to determine the Cubans' "system,"
and we should not alter our own pouch shipments to Havana.
In addition, we request that the Department consult with
USINT on any planned reciprocal action against the Cubans, as
such measures can have unintended consequences for our
operations. Unless otherwise advised, we will plan to ship
these six pouches back to USDA Miami for re-packing and
re-shipment to Havana.
PARMLY