CubaMinrex. Sitio del Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores de Cuba

Raul Castro Urges Obama to Be Consistent in the Struggle against Terrorism.

CUBA, October 8, 2010.-  Cuban President Raul Castro urged his American counterpart, Barack Obama, to be consistent in his commitment to fighting terrorism.

Speaking during the main ceremony to mark the “Victims of State Terrorism Day” at the Universal Hall of the Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces in Havana, the Cuban leader urged President Obama to act with determination and eliminate double standards that have historically applied to those from US territory who have perpetrated and continue to perpetrate terrorist acts against Cuba.

Raul said that if President Obama addressed these concerns, “it would be an honorable response to the open letter published yesterday and sent by the Committee of Relatives of the Victims of the Cubana airplane that was blown up midair over the coast of Barbados.¨

The head of state said that 34 years ago, 73 innocent people (11 Guyanese, 5 citizens of the Democratic Popular Republic of Korea and 57 Cubans) were killed in midair when a bomb exploded aboard a Cubana de Aviacion passenger plane that had just taken off from Barbados.

He noted that the Cuban people have been the target of state terrorism since the triumph of the Cuban Revolution in 1959 and that the painful losses suffered that day were added to the numerous other victims.

Raul continued by saying, “Fires, bombings and all sorts of acts of sabotage were carried out; airplanes and boats were hijacked; Cuban citizens were kidnapped; there were attacks against our embassies and assassinations of diplomats; dozens of our facilities were machine-gunned; multiple assassination attempts were carried out against the main leaders of the Revolution; and in particular, hundreds of assassination plans and attempts were carried out against the life of the Commander in Chief. However, the consolidation of the revolutionary process forced the CIA terrorists and their bosses —who with their actions intended to provoke panic and demoralize the Cuban people— to draw up a plan to invade Cuba and create, in Florida, the largest intelligence center outside of their mainheadquarters in Langley.”

Raul continued to give examples by saying, “The attack against Playa Giron (Bay of Pigs) caused the death of 176 compatriots and left 50 others permanently disabled.” He explained that following the assassination of Kennedy, his successor, Lyndon B. Johnson, continued with subversive plans against the island and, between 1959 and 1965, the CIA organized, financed and supplied, from US territory, an estimated 229 armed counter-revolutionary groups, and some 3,995 mercenaries. These terrorists killed 549 Cuban combatants, farmers and teachers working in the national literacy campaign; and left thousands wounded and hundreds permanently disabled.”

Raul said that Orlando Bosch and Luis Posada Carriles, the authors of the Barbados crime and countless others against Cuba, have lived and still live with impunity in Miami.

Raul said that the revealing declarations by self-confessed terrorist Chávez Abarca confirm the existence of new methods of international terror and provide irrefutable proof about the guilt of Posada Carriles and his sponsors in the United States.”

He added that, despite all these crimes, Cuba has always been an example in the fight against terrorism and has ratified the condemnation of all such acts, in all its forms and manifestations. He noted that Cuba has signed all 13 existing international conventions on this issue and strictly abides by the commitments and obligations of the UN General Assembly resolutions and those of the Security Council.

The leader stressed that Cuba does not possess nor intends to possess any type of weapons of mass destruction, and fully complies with its obligations under existing international instruments on nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons.

He also pointed out that the Cuban territory has never been and never will be used to organize, finance or carry out terrorist acts against any other country, including the United States.

Raul mentioned that on several occasions Cuba has informed the US Government about its willingness to exchange information regarding assassination plans and terrorist acts.

Raul added, “We have also provided ample information to the U.S. government on terrorist acts against Cuba, particularly between 1997 and 1998, when we provided the FBI with abundant evidence on the bombings of several Cuban tourist resorts, and even gave them access to the perpetrators of these crimes, under arrest here, as well as to several witnesses.”

Raul pondered about how long President Obama will ignore international demands and allow injustice to prevail, something that is in his hands to eliminate. And he also asked until when will the Five Cuban Heroes remain in jail? The Cuban head of state added that the current government of the United States, with their recent ratification of the arbitrary inclusion of Cuba in the State Department‘s annual list of “States Sponsors of Terrorism, has ignored the exemplary records of Cuba once again. (Cubaminrex-RHC)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

<< Back