Following revelations Cuban officials toured Miami International Airport this week, NBC 6 has learned that Cuban delegations have visited the busy airport twice before, in 2011 and 2015.
Cuban delegations have visited American airports a total of six times “with the purpose of exchanging technical information on aviation security,” a Transportation Security Administration official confirmed.
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The latest visit, this past Monday, sparked outrage among Miami politicians, who demanded an explanation from President Joe Biden’s administration. But it turns out previous visits to U.S airports happened during the Donald Trump and Barack Obama administrations.
“I’m appalled that this took place,” said Ralph Cutie, director at Miami International Airport, who went on to disclose neither he nor Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava knew about the recent visit.
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Cutie told the County Commission that five Cuban officials got a tour of a TSA checkpoint and baggage screening area for about five hours.
“Never, ever should this happen again,” Miami-Dade Commissioner Oliver Gilbert said during Tuesday’s heated commission hearing.
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In a highly divisive, partisan world the issue seemed to bring politicians together.
“We need a response from this administration, from Washington, D.C. as to what happened and how are they going to make sure that this doesn’t happen again, but across the country,” Miami-Dade Commissioner Rene Garcia said.
On Wednesday, TSA officials confirmed Cuban delegations have also visited airports in Atlanta, Tampa, Fort Lauderdale, New York City and Philadelphia.
“It makes absolutely no sense to me. It’s quite frankly disgusting,” said Miami-Dade Commissioner Kevin Cabrera.
“I was shocked and dismayed when I learned of this late yesterday [Monday]," Levine Cava said.
Levine Cava called the visit inappropriate especially given May 20 is Cuban Independence Day.
“Unfortunately it does allow potential vulnerabilities to be exposed, contrary to security calls,” said Levine Cava, who added her office had reached to the White House with hopes of getting an explanation.
On Wednesday, when the story broke about the most recent visit, Congressman Carlos Gimenez was highly critical of the visit and called it a slap in the face for Cuban-Americans living in South Florida.
"This is putting Americans at risk. Don't you think that maybe Cuba will be talking to Hezbollah, to Hamas, to ISIS, to Al-Qaeda and say hey, here is the security measures that the United States takes in order to protect their passengers and their citizens and their residents and their travelers from terrorism,” Gimenez said.
NBC6 has learned the Cuban delegation also visited MIA in August 2011 and September 2015, when Gimenez was mayor of Miami-Dade. He said no one informed him about either visit.
“In August 2011, Cuba inspectors conducted a reciprocal visit to observe security measures at Last Point of Departure airports at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York and Miami International Airport in Miami. During this visit, the Cuban delegation presented TSA with a copy of its Civil Aviation Security Program, which was a breakthrough in sharing information,” a TSA official confirmed.
The latest visit occurred nearly a week after the United States removed Cuba from a list of countries that do not fully cooperate in the fight against terrorism.
On Tuesday, TSA said it routinely works with all countries with direct flights to the United States.
“TSA hosts government officials and members of the aviation community at U.S. airports to foster a strong global aviation security posture," the TSA said in a statement Tuesday. "U.S. and Cuban authorities jointly manage the airspace between Cuba and the United States and ensure the safety and security of travelers using our airports. The Republic of Cuba has six last point of departure airports with direct flights to the United States, and accordingly TSA continually works to strengthen the security framework with Cuba and other Caribbean nations."
The decision marks a tepid yet symbolically significant move by the Biden administration, which has largely maintained Trump-era restrictions thus far.
By way of a spokesperson, the Cuban government called the visits part of an ongoing exchange between the two countries.
"This visit is nothing new and aligns with bilateral cooperation that has historically existed between U.S. and Cuban officials when it comes to aviation security. As part of the exchange, members of the TSA have also regularly traveled to Cuban airports," said Press Advisor Abel Derivet.
Prior to the most recent visit, a three-member Cuban delegation last visit visited U.S. aviation facilities in 2018 when Trump was president. During that visit, the Cuban delegation “visited Transportation Security Administration (TSA) Systems Integration Facility (TSIF) in Arlington VA, TSA Training Center in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and Philadelphia International Airport.”
