Antiterroristas.cu
STATEMENT BY AMBASSADOR PEDRO NUÑEZ MOSQUERA, PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF CUBA, AT THE SECURITY COUNCIL GENERAL DEBATE ON THE BRIEFINGS BY CHAIRMEN OF SUBSIDIARY BODIES OF THE SECURITY COUNCIL. New York, 11 May 2010
Mr. President,
We thank the Chairmen of the Committees established pursuant to resolutions 1267, 1373 and 1540, for the information provided.
Cuba condemns all acts, methods and practices of terrorism in all its forms and manifestations wherever, by whomever, and against whomsoever committed, whatever their motivations. The Cuban territory has never been used nor will it be used to mastermind, finance, or carry out terrorist acts against any country.
Our country supports the position of the 118 Member States of the Non-Aligned Movement, contrary to the unilateral drafting of lists accusing States of allegedly supporting terrorism, which are not in accordance with the International Law and UN resolutions.
Since 1982, the US Government has been including Cuba on the Department of State’s annual list of “States sponsoring international terrorism”. With the purpose of keeping Cuba in that list, diverse pretexts, all of them untenable, have been used along these years without presenting the least evidence of the participation of our country in any terrorist act.
The inclusion of Cuba on such list has entailed the application of economic sanctions by the US Government, including the freeze of financial transactions, the prohibition of transfer of technology, as well as measures of restrictions and isolation against our country and its citizens. These sanctions are in addition to already draconian measures imposed by the economic, commercial, and financial blockade decreed by the US Government against Cuba more than 50 years ago.
Cuba demands its immediate exclusion from that spurious list, since it constitutes an unjust, arbitrary, and politically-motivated designation that contradicts the exemplary conduct of our country in facing terrorism and questions the serious character of the United States in the fight against this scourge.
By keeping Cuba in this list, the US Government denies the political rationality it publicly proclaims, and follows the wrong path of its predecessors, as it resorts to political manipulations and flagrant lies against Cuba, in order to justify its discredited, isolated, and untenable policy against our country.
It is not in Cuba, but in the United States, where a terrorist mafia acts with impunity, and has masterminded, financed, and carried out hundreds of terrorist acts against the Cuban nation.
During the last 51 years, the US Government has been involved in numerous terrorist acts causing the Cuban people 3,478 deaths, 2,099 disabled persons, and material losses amounting to over 54 billion dollars.
While the US government arrogates the right to label the conduct of other nations on terrorism to itself, it assumes a double standard as it does not prosecute those confessed responsible for horrible terrorist acts against Cuba and allows them to remain free.
Despite having all the evidence to accuse Luis Posada Carriles as a terrorist, who has been rightly rated the most notorious terrorist of the western hemisphere, the US government has just carried out a judicial process against him for petty offenses. The sham of the process is evidenced also in the continuous delays and postpositions, proving a lack of interest in prosecuting and sentencing this individual.
Cuba reiterates that the way the US Government has handled this case is a clear and flagrant violation of resolution 1373 and other Security Council and UNGA resolutions, as well as of several international legal instruments on the fight against terrorism.
Cuba demands once more that US authorities prosecute Posada Carriles as a terrorist or extradite him to the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, in response to the request made by this government since 15 June 2005, nearly five years ago.
If the new US administration really wants to prove its commitment to the anti-terrorist fight, it has now the opportunity to act firmly without double standards against the terrorist organizations that, from US territory, have been attacking Cuba throughout all these years.
It has the opportunity to make justice and release, without further delay, the five Cuban anti-terrorist fighters it has kept as political prisoners for almost 11 years, in high-security prisons, in spite of the fact that they were just trying, with great altruism and courage, to gather information about the Miami-based terrorist groups, in order to prevent their violent acts and save the lives of Cuban and US citizens.
It is in the hands of the US government to stop using the issue of terrorism for political purposes and to end the unfair and groundless inclusion of Cuba on the list of countries that supposedly sponsor terrorism.
Mr. President,
For several years now, our country has submitted to the Security Council detailed information on terrorist acts against Cuba. Our denunciations remain without a concrete response.
We reiterate our willingness to make a more detailed presentation on these questions before the Counter-Terrorism Committee, or submit to it any additional information or clarification considered necessary.
As in the past, Cuba will continue to strictly abide by Security Council Resolutions 1267, 1373 and 1540, and to cooperate with the subsidiary bodies established pursuant to them.
Thank you.
