Cuban embassy in Washington attacked with Molotov cocktail: Here’s what happened

A man reportedly threw two Molotov cocktails at the Cuban embassy in Washington, DC, on Sunday night. Secret Service officers were called around 8 pm to respond to the attack on a busy street in the Adams-Morgan section of the city. Embassy officials reported that someone had thrown a “possible incendiary device” at the building, Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said on Monday. Cuba’s foreign minister, Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla, described the incident as a ‘’terrorist attack’’ on X. “Anti-Cuban groups resort to terrorism due to the moral bankruptcy of their hatred against Cuba and the impunity they believe they enjoy,” Rodriguez said in a statement posted on his X account. The attack occurred just after Cuban president Miguel Diaz-Canel returned to his country after attending this year’s United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York. Fortunately, no one was injured, and no serious damage was done to the diplomatic building. Officers, too, acted quickly to launch an inquiry. Here is what exactly happened. ‘The target of terrorist attack’ According to a statement from the Cuban foreign ministry, the person threw the Molotov cocktails “from the sidewalk over the perimeter fence of the facility, which hit the front wall of the diplomatic mission.” “There were no injuries to the personnel who were present at that headquarters,” the statement stated. “At the request of the Cuban diplomatic mission, officers of the United States Secret Service arrived at the building and had access to its facilities to verify the violent action perpetrated,” reports CNN. The event, however, was condemned by Cuban president Miguel Diaz-Canel, who tweeted that the violence “could have cost valuable lives.” Cuban foreign minister Bruno Rodriguez said on X that the Cuban Embassy “was the target of a terrorist attack by an individual who threw two Molotov cocktails,” a type of crude grenade made from a bottle filled with flammable liquid and a wick that’s lit just before it’s thrown. He said no one was injured. A spokesman for the Cuban Embassy did not immediately respond to a request for additional information on Monday. The president Miguel Diaz-Canel demanded “action from the American authorities.” The investigation According to The Hill, US Secret Service agents acted quickly and initiated an investigation when Cuban Embassy officials called the agency’s Uniformed Division shortly after the attack. Cuba’s ambassador to the United States, Lianys Torres Rivera, said the embassy had “immediately communicated with United States authorities, who were given access to the mission to take samples of the Molotov cocktails.” [caption id=“attachment_13169582” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Cuba’s communist government, which is despised by many exiles in the United States, described the incident Sunday night as a “terrorist attack.” Reuters[/caption] National security advisor Jake Sullivan stated that the US “strongly condemns” the reported attack on the Cuban embassy in DC. “We are in contact with Cuban embassy officials and law enforcement authorities to ensure an appropriate and timely investigation as well as to offer our support for future protective efforts,” Sullivan said, as reported by ABC News. “All attacks and threats against diplomatic facilities are unacceptable,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told AFP. “We are in contact with Cuban embassy officials and, consistent with our obligations under the Vienna Convention, the department is committed to the safety and security of diplomatic facilities and the diplomats who work in them,” he said. He added that the State Department was coordinating with Washington police in the investigation. Second attack In 2020, a Cuban man who sought asylum in the US opened fire with an AK-47 at the Cuban Embassy, spraying the front of the building with nearly three dozen rounds. Authorities said the man told them he opened fire because he wanted to “get them before they could get him.” [caption id=“attachment_13169602” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] It was the second attack against the Cuban mission in Washington in recent years, after a man opened fire on the building in April 2020. There were no injuries from that attack either. AP[/caption] The shooting left bullet holes in the glass around the embassy’s door, and bullets pierced the bronze statue of Jose Marti, the Cuban writer and national hero, as well as the columns and facade of the building. Cuba built the embassy in 1917. It closed in January 1961 as Cold War tensions between the two countries escalated, and it reopened as an “interests section” in 1977. In July 2015, it became an embassy again as the two countries restored relations under President Barack Obama and President Raul Castro. The embassy is on a busy street between the embassies of Poland and Lithuania. While protests outside foreign embassies are common in Washington, attacks are rare, and the US constantly condemns instances that affect its own missions abroad. With inputs from AP and AFP