Obama move called ploy to justify ongoing embargo

HAVANA: Cuba signaled its growing anger with the United States on Tuesday by calling in the top US diplomat in the country to protest its inclusion on a list of countries whose US-bound air passengers must get extra security screening.

In a statement, the Cuban government said it had delivered a note of protest calling the new measures a "politically motivated" ploy to justify the US' 47-year-old trade embargo against the Island. On Monday, the measures were denounced in Cuba's state-run press as "anti-terrorist paranoia", Reuters reported.