The ambassador of Cuba in the Dominican Republic, Ángel Arzuaga Reyes, along with a group of approximately ten diplomats and consular officials, left the country on Sunday, according to a report by Listín Diario.
The operation began in the early hours of Sunday, August 16, when witnesses in buildings near the diplomatic mission reported unusual activity. "Those people left a long time ago, around 3:00 in the morning; there was a movement of vehicles in front of the embassy, and later in the morning, a truck left with their belongings," stated an employee from the area who preferred to remain anonymous.
Hours later, the group arrived at the Las Américas International Airport (AILA), completed the immigration procedures, and boarded a flight with Sky High airline headed to Havana, which took off around 7:00 in the morning.
The entire operation was conducted with a marked secrecy. Neither the Dominican authorities nor the agencies involved in airport operations made any public statements regarding the circumstances of the departure.
The deadline set by the Dominican Chancellery expired precisely that Sunday, Restoration Day, a date on which the Dominican Republic commemorates the restoration of the Republic in 1863. The government of President Luis Abinader had notified nine officials of the Cuban mission on August 13 that they must leave national territory, citing Article 9 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, which allows for the declaration of a diplomat as persona non grata without providing a public explanation. The measure affected a total of about 21 people, including the officials and their family members.
There is a discrepancy between both governments regarding the number of expelled diplomats: while Santo Domingo mentioned nine diplomats, Havana asserted that it was ten. The Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs strongly rejected the measure, labeling it an "act of subordination" to Washington's policy, denying that its officials had committed any irregularities. The chancellor Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla supported that official statement.
Versions obtained by local press through diplomatic sources pointed to alleged intelligence activities as the real reason for the departure, a claim that the Dominican Foreign Ministry did not officially confirm, citing diplomatic discretion. The Foreign Ministry did clarify that the measure does not imply a formal break in bilateral relations between the two countries.
The expulsion occurs in a regional context of increased pressure on the Cuban regime, heightened after the capture of Nicolás Maduro by U.S. forces in January 2026, which weakened the Cuba-Venezuela axis. U.S. Congressman Carlos Giménez praised the Dominican decision and stated that "Cuba's freedom is not negotiable".
What remains unanswered is whether the officials who traveled to Havana plan to return to their positions or if this measure indicates their permanent withdrawal from the Cuban diplomatic mission in Santo Domingo, a question that no authorities from either country have clarified so far.
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