Federal officials showed a Cuban government delegation around restricted areas of Miami International Airport — outraging county commissioners who voted Tuesday to condemn the Transportation Security Administration and President Joe Biden, according to reports.
Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said that the Miami-Dade Aviation Department, which operates the airport, wasn't notified about the Monday tour and that she contacted the Department of Department of Homeland Security to find out why, CBS News reported.
County Commissioner Kevin Marino Cabrera also called the visit an "unbelievably reckless act" and said its timing — on the 122nd celebration of Cuban Independence Day — was "particularly painful" and "adds insult to injury for our community."
The unannounced State Department tour gave Cuban officials access to secure areas at the airport for five hours, Axios reported, citing local leaders.
During a Tuesday meeting of the Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioner, airport director Ralph Cutié said five officials from the communist country's transportation department were allowed to inspect a TSA checkpoint and baggage screening area, according to Axios.
"As a Cuban-American and native Miamian, I'm appalled that this took place," Cutié said.
Commissioners voted unanimously to condemn the TSA for the tour and Biden for his administration's recent decision to remove Cuba from a roster of countries that were "not cooperating fully" with anti-terrorism efforts, Axios said.
The annual list was sent to Congress last week by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, with a State Department spokesperson saying that circumstances had "changed from 2022 to 2023," the Miami Herald reported on Thursday.
The spokesperson reportedly noted that the U.S. and Cuba had "resumed law enforcement cooperation in 2023, including on counterterrorism."
North Korea, Iran, Syria and Venezuela remain on the list and Cuba is still listed by the State Department as among the world's state sponsors of terrorism, a designation it received in 2021, the Herald said.
