The government of the Dominican Republic ordered on Thursday that nine officials of the Cuban Embassy in Santo Domingo and their respective families leave the country before next Sunday, August 16.
The decision affects a total of about 21 people, including nine Cuban diplomats, their wives, and children, as revealed by the Dominican newspaper Listín Diario.
Until now, the Dominican Foreign Ministry had not publicly explained the reasons for the measure. The mentioned outlet indicated that an official statement was expected in the coming hours that could clarify the reasons behind the ultimatum.
The order arrives amidst a noticeable cooling of relations between Santo Domingo and Havana, characterized in recent months by decisions and statements from the government of President Luis Abinader that demonstrate a shift in stance towards the Cuban regime.
In May of this year, Abinader stated that Cuba "is obviously not a democratic State". Two months later, the Dominican Republic abstained in the United Nations vote on the U.S. embargo against Cuba, which concluded with 136 votes in favor of the resolution against the sanctions, nine against, and 30 abstentions.
The signs of distancing had begun earlier. In October 2025, Santo Domingo excluded the Cuban regime, along with Nicaragua and Venezuela, from the X Summit of the Americas, which was initially scheduled to take place in Punta Cana. The Dominican authorities argued at that time that the decision aimed to promote "the development of the forum." The meeting was subsequently suspended and rescheduled for 2026.
The forced departure of the nine officials and their families marks a new episode in diplomatic relations that span more than a century.
Cuba and the Dominican Republic established diplomatic ties in 1902, although these were interrupted during the dictatorship of Rafael Leónidas Trujillo, amid his conflicts with Fidel Castro. Relations were definitively restored in 1998.
Until now, the Dominican Ministry of Foreign Affairs described them as relations "grounded in deep historical, cultural, and solidarity ties."
The decision by Santo Domingo comes, moreover, in the context of increasing diplomatic isolation of Havana in several countries in the region during 2026.
In March, Ecuador expelled all personnel from the Cuban diplomatic mission in Quito and granted a 48-hour deadline to leave the country. Havana responded by closing its embassy in the Ecuadorian capital.
That same month, Costa Rica closed its diplomatic representation in Havana and requested the Cuban regime to withdraw its personnel from San José.
Most recently, the president of Colombia, Abelardo de la Espriella, announced the severing of diplomatic relations with Cuba and Nicaragua as part of a plan that includes the closure of 14 embassies and 15 consulates.
In light of these incidents, the Cuban regime has described the measures as "arbitrary" and "unjustified" and has attributed them to pressure from the United States.
The decision of the Dominican Republic is particularly significant because it does not apply only to individual officials: the families of the nine diplomats will also have to leave Dominican territory within the established timeframe.
At the time of this report, the Dominican Foreign Ministry had not yet released the announced official statement, so the formal reasons behind Luis Abinader's government ordering the departure of the Cuban diplomats and their families remain unknown.
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