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Mike Hammer, head of mission for the United States Embassy in Havana, published a photograph this Friday alongside three Cuban-American ambassadors with a question that acts as a direct provocation to the regime: “Why are Cubans so successful outside of Cuba?”
In the image, Hammer appears alongside his colleagues Peter Lamelas, ambassador to Argentina; Kevin Cabrera, ambassador to Panama; and Bernie Navarro, ambassador to Peru, all four dressed in navy blue formal suits in what seems to be a governmental location in Washington.
The rhetorical question has an implicit answer that directly points to the Cuban political system: the single-party socialism hinders individual development, private initiative, and social mobility, while those same Cubans who emigrate and gain access to systems of economic and political freedom reach the highest positions.
The three ambassadors mentioned by Hammer represent careers that illustrate this contrast.
Peter Lamelas, a Cuban-American doctor and businessman who emigrated from Cuba at the age of four on a Red Cross ship, defines himself as "Cuban by birth, American by the grace of God."
Kevin Cabrera, born in Florida in 1990 of Cuban-American descent, was confirmed by the Senate as ambassador to Panama on April 9, 2025 after serving as a commissioner for Miami-Dade County and state director of Trump's campaign in Florida in 2020.
Bernie Navarro, founder of Benworth Capital in Coral Gables, was sworn in as ambassador to Peru on January 16, 2026, by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, also Cuban-American, who holds the highest position a citizen of that descent has ever occupied in a U.S. administration.
This concentration of Cuban-Americans in key positions of foreign policy is part of a deliberate strategy of the Trump administration to shape hemispheric policy with officials who have firsthand knowledge of the failure of the Castro model.
The three ambassadors in the photo are joined by Benjamín León Jr., a Cuban-American appointed as ambassador to Spain.
Hammer, with 37 years of experience in the Foreign Service, frequently uses social media to criticize the Cuban regime and connect with the diaspora.
In February, after suffering a repudiation act in Trinidad organized by the Cuban government, he publicly responded with a defiant message: "We will not be intimidated!"
That same month, during a meeting with over 100 Cubans from the European diaspora held in Madrid, Hammer conveyed the message from Trump and Rubio with a phrase that summarizes Washington's stance: "Change in Cuba is going to happen."
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