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 before the deadline set by the Dominican government for their departure, according to a report by Listín Diario.
The operation began in the early hours of Sunday, August 16, when witnesses in nearby buildings reported unusual activity at the diplomatic mission. “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 area employee who preferred to remain anonymous.
Hours later, the group arrived at the Las Américas International Airport (AILA), completed the immigration procedures, and boarded a Sky High airline flight heading to Havana, which took off around 7:00 AM.
The entire operation took place under a strong veil of secrecy. Neither the Dominican authorities nor the agencies involved in airport operations issued public statements regarding the circumstances of the departure.
The deadline set by the Dominican Chancellery ended precisely that Sunday, Restoration Day, a date when the Dominican Republic commemorates the restoration of the Republic in 1863. The government of President Luis Abinader had notified on August 13 nine officials from the Cuban mission that they must leave the national territory within seven days, citing Article 9 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, which allows for a diplomat to be declared persona non grata without the need for a public explanation. The measure ultimately affected around 21 people, including the officials and their family members.
There is a discrepancy between the two governments regarding the number of diplomats expelled: while Santo Domingo mentioned nine diplomats, Havana claimed there were ten. The Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs strongly condemned the measure and labeled it as an "act of subordination" to Washington's policy, denying that its officials had committed any wrongdoing. Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla supported that official statement.
Unidentified journalistic sources indicated that alleged intelligence activities under diplomatic cover might be the real reason for the expulsion, a hypothesis that the Dominican government did not officially confirm. 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 following 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 "the freedom of Cuba is not negotiable."
What remains unanswered is whether the officials who traveled to Havana plan to return to their positions or if the measure signifies their permanent departure from the Cuban diplomatic mission in Santo Domingo, a question that no authority from either country has clarified so far.
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