Cuba says its Paris embassy targeted by gasoline bombs

Associated Press
Updated ·1 min read

HAVANA (AP) — The Cuban Embassy in Paris was attacked with gasoline bombs, Cuba's foreign minister said Monday night.

Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez did not offer any details of the incident in a post on his Twitter account announcing the attack.

But the Foreign Ministry’s International Press Center later said the attack occurred around midnight. It said three Molotov cocktails were thrown, with two hitting the embassy and setting a fire. Cuban diplomats extinguished the blaze as French firefighters and police arrived at the scene, it said.

In his tweet, Rodriguez put the blame on Washington.

“I hold the U.S. Government responsible for its continuous campaigns against our country that encourage these behaviors and for calls for violence, with impunity, from its territory,” he said.

Over the past three weeks, Cuban embassies in many cities around the world have been the scene of demonstrations both against and for Cuba's government in reaction to protests that erupted across the island on July 11 and 12.

Cuba has accused the U.S. government of fomenting a social media campaign aimed at destabilizing the Caribbean nation, which is going through a severe economic crisis exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic and U.S. sanctions.