This article was originally published on Washington times - National. You can read the original article HERE
The Transportation Security Administration said Thursday it has apologized to Miami officials after it gave a tour to a Cuban delegation of its security arrangements at the international airport.
TSA had previously defended the tour as a routine courtesy extended to many nations, but critics — including members of the Miami-area Cuban community — said Cuba is far from a normal nation. The Communist dictatorship is a designated state sponsor of terrorism.
The agency said it met with Miami’s mayor, Miami-Dade County officials and people from the airport to say they bungled how they handled the visit.
“TSA apologized that this visit was not coordinated and communicated ahead of time with airport and county officials,” the agency said, promising to do better at coordinating future delegation visits.
It said it works with every country that has direct flights into the U.S. and said Cubans have made visits before, including one in 2018.
Diario Las Americas, which first reported on the visit, said it involved seeing backstage areas with sensitive technology including new x-ray technology.
TSA, though, said the delegation didn’t have access to “sensitive technology or systems.”
Emilio Gonzalez, former CEO of the airport, said hosting Cuba was a serious bungle.
“Nobody in their right mind, no federal employee, would approve this unless they had top cover at the highest levels,” he said. “You do not invite a country as a state sponsor of terrorism to visit any installation, let alone a sensitive airport, as is Miami International Airport.”
Mr. Gonzalez, who also ran U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in the Bush administration, said the delegation may have been able to get a close-up look at the layout of the airport and at how it’s staffed.
This article was originally published by Washington times - National. We only curate news from sources that align with the core values of our intended conservative audience. If you like the news you read here we encourage you to utilize the original sources for even more great news and opinions you can trust!
Comments