Concerned US congressmen are set to meet with Bahamian officials in Washington to discuss the alleged abuse of detained Cubans.
A press release transmitted to The Nassau Guardian from the Office of Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, indicated that the meeting will take place sometime this week. The release, which was written in Spanish, had to be translated.
“Congressman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Lincoln Diaz-Balart, Mario Diaz-Balart, and Luis Fortuno from Puerto Rico, will meet with the Bahamian Ambassador in Washington [Joshua Sears], in order to express dissatisfaction over the treatment of Cubans in The Bahamas,” the statement read. ” The meeting will be held next week in the office of Ros-Lehtinen in Washington.”
The release added that the Congresswoman requested the meeting after what she called, continuous “mistreatment” of Cubans in The Bahamas.
“The objective of the meeting is to let the Bahamian Ambassador in Washington know, that the mistreatment of Cubans detained in that country cannot continue and that we want concrete steps to be taken by the Government of The Bahamas, [so] that these incidents will not happen again,” she said.
The Guardian attempted to reach Ambassador Sears for comments, but he was unavailable.
Meanwhile, the alleged “mistreatment” of Cubans held at The Carmichael Road Detention Centre gained publicity, after Miami-based WLTV-Univisi�n 23 reporter, Mario Vallejo claimed he was beaten.
Representatives of WLTV said Mr Vallejo was on
assignment covering the detention of seven Cuban migrants being detained, after being stranded on Elbow Cay.
Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen reportedly wrote The United States Ambassador to The Bahamas John Rood, expressing her concern over the incident. Last week, Cuban exile groups marched outside The Bahamas Consulate in downtown Miami, in protest.
On Sunday, Prime Minister Perry Christie smashed claims made by some Cuban nationals, that The Bahamas is a “savage” country. He said the attacks by The Cuban American Community in South Florida, have been “unfair and unjustified.”
The nation’s commander-in-chief added, that the Government is doing all it can, to ensure that the matter is properly investigated and responded to.
“We believe we have acted promptly. I was in Trinidad and we spoke to the American Ambassador, a Congressman in Washington, our US Ambassador and our counsel, and most certainly, we were fully [pleased] of the progress we were making in settling all of the concerns we had, with respect to the issue.”
By: JASMIN BONIMY, The Nassau Guardian
