The Writing on the Wall

According to The Miami Herald:

Cuban embassy official in Mexico defected

A Cuban diplomat based in Mexico and her husband defected last week, but their whereabouts remain unknown, worried relatives said Tuesday.

Yusimil Casañas, 25, head of the passport section of the Cuban embassy in Mexico City, and her husband, Michel Rojas, 32, disappeared March 17, said her uncle, Esteban Casañas Lostal, who lives in Canada.

Yusimil's mother contacted him to report the defections and ask for his help in case they were detained by Mexican authorities, who may refuse them asylum and force them back to Cuba, Casañas Lostal said.

Casañas previously served in the Cuban diplomatic mission at the United Nations in New York, her uncle said. He had no further information on Rojas, though spouses of Cuban diplomats abroad generally also work in the embassies.

The Cuban embassy in Mexico is one of the largest the island maintains around the world, in part because it's also a base for intelligence, political and propaganda operations against the United States, according to U.S. intelligence experts.