In less than a month, federal planes from the United States have landed twice in Havana, amidst the still uncertain dialogues between Cuba and Washington. However, none of the flights seem to have been to negotiate the island’s near future, but rather have arrived loaded with FBI agents. The first of them brought a team of experts to investigate the shooting by Cuban Border Guards at a boat from Florida in February, which ended the lives of five people. The FBI’s second visit to the Cuban capital, this Monday, was a rescue mission: it had the mission of bringing back a 10-year-old minor who was taken to the island by one of his mothers, a trans woman, and her partner, who have been accused of “international parental kidnapping,” according to a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice.
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By Tuesday morning, the X account U.S. Government Planes, which tracks the air transport of government executives and support staff in real time, reported that at 3:25 PM on Monday, a Boeing 752 departed from Richmond International Airport and arrived at José Martí Airport in Havana. That same night, at 7:47 PM, flight trackers had already alerted to the plane’s return.
They brought back the minor and two other people: Rose Inessa-Ethington, 42 years old (the minor’s biological parent and currently a trans woman) and Blue Inessa-Ethington, 32 years old, both U.S. nationals, from Cache County, Utah.
On March 28, the child was supposed to travel by car to Canada for a camping trip with Rose Inessa-Ethington, her partner, and the latter’s three-year-old son. That day, the 10-year-old minor told his biological mother that they were in Canada. However, on April 3, when the mother thought her son was coming home, he was actually traveling to Mexico City.
On April 1, the couple and the child took a flight from Mérida (Yucatán) and landed in Havana in less than two hours. FBI Special Agent Jennifer Waterfield told a federal court in Utah that, after searching the Inessa-Ethington couple’s home, they found that they had withdrawn $10,000 in cash and “had to-do lists detailing plans to empty bank accounts, learn Spanish, obtain tourist visas, and store belongings in a warehouse,” as reported by The New York Times.
FBI investigators found notes in the accused couple’s home with instructions from a mental health therapist in Washington, which spoke of “gender-affirming healthcare for children.” There was also a request to send the specialist $10,000. According to the Utah Attorney’s Office press release, “the minor, who was born male, identified as a girl.”
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The World Health Organization describes gender-affirming care as “a combination of social, psychological, behavioral, or medical interventions, including hormonal treatments or surgery, designed to support and affirm a person’s gender identity.” In the case of minors, surgeries are not performed; instead, hormonal treatments or other types of care and attention are applied. However, the Utah Attorney’s Office note states that the child’s maternal family said that, in addition to being concerned about the minor’s well-being, they feared the reason for the trip was “to perform gender reassignment surgery before puberty.”
On April 16, Cuban authorities had already located the family’s whereabouts on the island, after a Utah state court ordered the child to be immediately returned to his mother, to whom it granted sole custody of the minor, which she previously shared with his biological father. This Monday, upon their return to the United States, the couple appeared before a court in Richmond, Virginia, for their arraignment.
“We thank law enforcement for acting quickly to return the child to his biological mother,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Utah, Melissa Holyoak.
For now, Cuban authorities have not offered details of the incident, which takes place in a particular context, where constant threats to “liberate” the island arrive from Washington, and repeated displays of patriotism from Havana. Just a few days ago, on April 10, the first U.S. delegation to set foot in the country since the reestablishment of relations with Barack Obama arrived in Cuba. Although Cuban officials deny some of the information revealed by USA Today, a State Department source told the U.S. outlet that they had addressed the release of political prisoners, greater internet access with the installation of Starlink service, the dismantling of the economic blockade against the island, and the lack of political freedoms for Cubans.
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