[Cincinatus' Wife]

Get outta town, U.S. tells Cuban 'diplomats' in New York!!!***UNITED NATIONS - The United States has ordered seven Cuban diplomats at the country's U.N. Mission in Manhattan to leave the country for engaging in "activities deemed harmful to the United States" - the usual diplomatic language for spying, an American official said Tuesday. A number of Cuban diplomats at the Cuban Interests Section in Washington also were being expelled, U.N. diplomats said on condition of anonymity.

A letter ordering the seven U.N.-based diplomats to leave was delivered to the Cuban Mission in Midtown on Monday evening, the official said. It did not give them any time frame to depart. The U.S. official said the Cubans were being expelled "for engaging in activities deemed harmful to the United States outside their official capacity as members of the permanent mission of Cuba to the United Nations." "These activities constitute an abuse of their privileges of residence," the official said on condition of anonymity.

The latest U.N. directory lists 37 accredited Cuban diplomats, led by Ambassador Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla. The names of those ordered expelled were not released. The Bush administration and Cuban authorities have engaged in an escalating diplomatic tit-for-tat reminiscent of the Cold War days in U.S.-Cuban relations. Until Tuesday, this involved more mundane issues like fixing embassy plumbing.**

[Cincinatus' Wife]

14 Cuban diplomats expelled from U.S.*** The United States has expelled 14 Cuban diplomats based in Washington and New York for "unacceptable activities" and "activities inconsistent with diplomatic status," the State Department said yesterday. Spokesman Philip T. Reeker also said the United States was reviewing its policies toward Cuba in light of a deteriorating human rights situation in the communist nation, where more than 70 journalists and dissidents were jailed last month by Fidel Castro's regime.

Seven diplomats based in the Cuban Interests Section, housed in the Swiss Embassy in Washington, were given 10 days to leave the country as of yesterday morning, Mr. Reeker said. "We've declared them persona non grata, requiring their departure from the United States," he said. Another seven diplomats were ordered to leave from the Cuban mission to the United Nations in New York for "activities deemed to be harmful to the United States outside of their official capacities as members of the permanent mission of Cuba to the United Nations," Mr. Reeker said.

The Cuban mission, headed by Ambassador Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla, refused to comment. Mr. Reeker declined to elaborate on the reasons for the expulsions or to provide the names of those expelled. He said a "range of officers" - but not the heads of the missions - were being forced out. He said the State Department called the Cubans from the Interests Section at 9 a.m. yesterday and delivered the notice verbally and with a diplomatic note. According to Mr. Reeker, the Cuban Interests Section in Washington is authorized to have 26 permanently accredited staff. The Cuban mission in New York had 37 diplomats. The U.S. Interests Section in Havana is permitted 51 positions.***