President
Obama is sending two senior officials to represent the United States at
a service on Tuesday for the late Cuban leader Fidel Castro. But don’t
call it an official delegation, the White House insisted.
“I
can tell you that the president has decided not to send a presidential
delegation to attend the memorial service today,” Press Secretary Josh
Earnest told reporters. “I can tell you, however, that Deputy National
Security Adviser Ben Rhodes will attend the service, as will the top
U.S. diplomat in Cuba, Jeff DeLaurentis.”
Rhodes
was one of the key architects of the secret diplomacy with Cuba that
led to the stunning December 2014 announcement that the two Cold War
adversaries would renew diplomatic relations and pursue deeper economic
ties. Obama nominated DeLaurentis, the top U.S. official at the embassy
in Havana, to be ambassador, but Republicans have blocked the
nomination.
Although
Rhodes and DeLaurentis “will be representing the United States at the
memorial service this evening,” Earnest said, Obama has withheld the
official “delegation” designation in a symbolic show of disapproval
toward the government in Havana.
”There
are many aspects of the U.S.-Cuba relationship that were characterized
by a lot of conflict and turmoil, not just during the Castro regime, but
we continue to have some significant concerns about the way the Cuban
government currently operates, particularly with regard to protecting
the basic human rights of the Cuban people,” the spokesman said.
“This
is an appropriate way to show respect, to participate in the events
that are planned for this evening, while also acknowledging some of the
differences that remain between our two countries,” Earnest said.
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