Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe and Fidel Castro of Cuba. The two nations have a long record of solidarity and mutual cooperation.
Originally uploaded by Pan-African News Wire File Photos
Cuba, a terrorist country?
THURSDAY, April 30, was an unfortunate day for the United States. That day it occurred to it to once again include Cuba on its list of terrorist countries. Involved as they are in their own crimes and lies, perhaps even Obama himself was unable to disentangle himself from that mess. A man whose talent nobody denies must feel ashamed of that cult to the lies of the empire. Fifty years of terrorism against our country come to light in an instant.
How to explain to those who are aware of the atrocious act of the sabotage of an airplane in mid-flight with its passenger and crew, U.S. participation in the act, the recruiting of Orlando Bosch and Posada Carriles, the supplying of explosives and funds and the complicity of that country’s intelligence agencies and authorities. How to explain the campaign of terror that preceded and followed the mercenary Bay of Pigs invasion, the attacks on our coasts, towns, transport and fishing ships, the acts of terrorism inside and outside the United States? How to explain the hundreds of thwarted plans for assassinating Cuban leaders? What to say about the introduction of viruses like hemorrhagic dengue and the swine fever that, genetically speaking, did not even exist in the hemisphere? I am just mentioning some of the acts of terror committed by the United States, which are recorded in their own declassified documents. Aren’t these acts a cause for shame for the current administration?
The list of repugnant activities that could be enumerated would be endless.
At our request, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez sent me the textual words of the question that an Agence France-Presse reporter asked him on April 30, along with his convincing answer.
Rigoberto Díaz, of the AFP: "Coinciding with the final moments of this meeting and also regarding an issue that has been addressed at this event, the United States government has again included Cuba on the list of countries sponsoring terrorism, together with Sudan, Iran and Syria. I would like your opinion on this."
Bruno’s answer:
"We do not recognize the U.S. government as having any political or moral authority to make any list, on any issue, or to ‘certify’ good or bad conduct.
"The Bush government was ‘certified’ by world public opinion as an aggressive, war-mongering government that violated international law, as a government responsible for extrajudicial executions.
"Bush has been the only president to boast in public, in the U.S. Congress, of having engaged in extrajudicial executions, a government that kidnapped people and illegally transferred them, that created secret prisons – and nobody knows whether they have been maintained – that created a concentration camp where torture is used, on a piece of land that it has usurped from the Republic of Cuba.
"In terms of terrorism, the U.S. government historically has had a lengthy record of acts of state terrorism, not just against Cuba.
"In the United States, Orlando Bosch and Posada Carriles – both of them responsible for numerous terrorist actions, including the bombing of a Cuban civilian airplane in mid-flight – are freely walking the streets. There has been no response to Venezuela’s petition for the extradition of Posada Carriles, who is facing various charges, but not as a notorious international terrorist.
"The United States government engineered a rigged trial of the five Cuban anti-terrorist fighters whom, to this day, remain as political prisoners in its jails.
"The United States government protects acts of state terrorism committed by Israel against the Palestinian people and the Arab peoples. It remained silent in face of the crimes perpetrated in the Gaza Strip.
"Therefore, the United States should not be recognized as having the slightest moral authority, and I frankly believe that nobody pays any attention to or reads those documents because, for one thing, their author is an international criminal in many of the themes that he criticizes.
"Cuba’s position against any manifestation or form of terrorism — wherever it is committed, whatever state it is committed against, in whatever any form it is undertaken, with whatever purpose that is proclaimed — is clear and consistent with its actions.
"Cuba has been the victim of terrorism for many years and has a totally clean record in that matter. Cuban territory has never been used for organizing, financing or executing terrorist acts against the United States of America. The State Department, which issues those reports, could not say the same."
This statement, issued at the foreign ministers’ meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement, is still not well known by the population, which has received an abundance of news of every kind in recent days. If the State Department would like to argue with Bruno, there are enough facts to bury them with their own lies.
Fidel Castro Ruz
May 2, 20097:12 p.m.
Translated by Granma International
United States prevents Silvio from attending Pete Seeger's 90th birthday
THE U.S. State Department, currently under the leadership of Hilary Clinton, has prevented the famous Cuban singer/songwriter Silvio Rodríguez from attending celebrations in New York for the legendary American folk singer Pete Seeger’s 90th birthday.
The CubaDebate website yesterday published a message from Silvio, who was in Paris, saying that he had not received a visa on Friday, thus thwarting his plans to travel to the United States on an invitation from the event’s organizers.
"The blockade is still an active policy in the doings of the U.S. government," the website stated.
In a message to his sister and manager in Havana, Silvio stated: "It is 8:40 p.m. on Friday, May 1 in Paris and I have just connected to the website where the U.S. embassy in France publishes news on visa applications. Mine appears as still being processed, as it has been since I applied for it. Since today is the day that I was supposed to fly to New York and the visa hasn’t appeared, I leave for Havana tomorrow.
"I think that the State Department’s attitude is very much in contradiction with President Obama’s express desire for a rapprochement with Cuba. As a worker in, I still feel as blocked and discriminated against as by other governments. I hope that this will really change some day. Thanks for your help," the Cuban nueva trova artist wrote at the end of his note.
Peter Seeger, who gave global backing to the popularity of Guantanamera – by Joseíto Fernández, with verses from José Martí – has been a tireless critic of the U.S. blockade of Cuba, which he has visited five times.
Translated by Granma International
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