Cuba accuses US diplomat of supporting illegal actions

The Cuban government has made its first extensive comment on the detention of dissident José Daniel Ferrer

The Cuban government has made its first extensive comment on the detention of dissident José Daniel Ferrer.

It accuses the top U.S. diplomat in the country of directly supporting illegal actions by Ferrer, head of one of the country’s largest opposition groups.

The statement in Granma, the Communist Party’s official newspaper, says Ferrer was detained Oct. 1 with three other people on suspicion of kidnapping and assaulting another man.

It says that since the detention, the United States has used the case in a campaign to discredit Cuba.

The Cuban statement says the U.S. Embassy and charge d’affaires Mara Tekach have “focused in recent months on the failed goal of recruiting mercenaries and promoting division among our people.”