Borrell: EU’s controversial Cuba ambassador made ‘mistakes’

The EU’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said Wednesday that the bloc’s ambassador to Cuba, Alberto Navarro, had committed “mistakes” — a remark that came after the diplomat signed a controversial letter to U.S. President Joe Biden.

Yet Borrell declined to say whether he would sack the ambassador, as a group of MEPs has requested.

Navarro came under fire last month for co-signing an open letter that asked Biden to “personally take executive action” to lift business and travel restrictions on Cuba. The letter also urged the U.S. to “stop being a hostile neighbor” to Cuba and to “stop interfering in our domestic affairs.”

The EU ambassador’s decision to sign the sharply-worded letter — which otherwise mostly featured ordinary Cuban citizens — irked some in Brussels, who said it was inappropriate for Navarro to make such demands of the U.S. president.

Shortly after the letter, Borell summoned the ambassador to Brussels “to provide explanations” for his behavior.

Speaking at a press conference Wednesday, the diplomatic chief said he “had the opportunity to meet with the ambassador,” and added: “I have received three letters from various lawmakers questioning certain circumstances that occurred in the management of our diplomatic representation [in Cuba]. We are doing an evaluation of these. It’s evident that mistakes were made, but we need to evaluate them on their own terms.”

One of the letters Borrell received came from 16 MEPs, including several senior lawmakers. It urged him to fire Navarro over the Biden letter, as well as other alleged missteps, such as obstructing the participation of regime-critical Cubans in a Parliament hearing.

But Borrell did not say whether he would follow the MEP’s request: “When the evaluation is finalized, I will reply to the lawmakers who asked me,” he told reporters.

A spokesperson for Borrell’s office did not immediately reply to questions about whether the ambassador would remain in his role during the evaluation, or whether he had returned to the EU delegation in Cuba following his meeting with Borrell.