Caulfield chosen to head Cuba mission

WASHINGTON, April 27 (UPI) -- Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has approved the selection of veteran diplomat John Caulfield to head the U.S. mission in Cuba, officials said.

Caulfield, currently the head of the U.S. Embassy in Venezuela, will replace Jonathan Farrar who has been in Cuba for the past three years, the Miami Herald reported Wednesday.

U.S. officials said the reassignment of Farrar to Nicaragua is not related to complaints by Cuban dissidents that he failed to meet with them often enough and criticized them too harshly.

When he takes over in Cuba, Caulfield will have the title of chief of mission of the U.S. Interests Section in Havana.

The mission was established by President Jimmy Carter in 1977 after decades of no relations between the United States and Cuba.

Caulfield's appointment hasn't been officially announced but it won't require Senate approval since the United States doesn't have a full-fledged embassy in Cuba.