Cuba Rejects Intervention In Syria

Cuban President Raul Castro greets Libyan Minister of Finance and Planning Abdulahafid M. Zlitni in Havana. President Castro reiterated the call for a negotiated settlement to the civil war inside the North African state., a photo by Pan-African News Wire File Photos on Flickr.

Havana. June 8, 2012

Cuba rejects intervention in Syria

UNITED NATIONS, June 7.—Cuba today reiterated in the UN its rejection of any form of direct or indirect foreign intervention in Syria, and condemned support for irregular armed groups operating in the country.

Oscar León González, Cuba’s alternating permanent representative at the UN, denounced policies of interference and destabilization aimed at imposing a regime change in Damascus and emphasized that the UN Security Council cannot act as an instrument for such actions in any country.

The obligation of the Security Council is to promote peace, not violence, to avert destabilization and protect innocent people. It must not be used or manipulated for geopolitical ends, León González stated.

Speaking in the General Assembly, the Cuban diplomat added that these obligations are also the responsibility of the UN as a whole, starting with member states and the Secretary General.

He noted that information available regarding the crisis in Syria is fragmented, imprecise and subject to frequent manipulation, and that he viewed as alarming calls backing the use of force and violence.

He also condemned a tendency to disregard the proposals and measures of the Syrian government and endorsed the efforts being made by some countries to attain a peaceful solution to the crisis.

He criticized the maneuvers of certain NATO members to obtain Security Council backing for military aggression against Syria and the complicity of the corporate media, accustomed to distorting realities and not having to answer for the consequences of its acts.

León González recalled the precedents created by recent cases of manipulation of the UN Charter, double standards and violations of international law, and voiced Cuba’s opposition to attempts to undermine Syria’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity.

At this time of difficulty for a UN member state, the role of the international community is to help safeguard the peace and stability of the country, he affirmed. (PL)