Declarations of Cuban Minister of Foreign Affairs: Cuba has never and will never commit attacks against diplomats

Oct

2017

From the Cuban Foreign Ministry, Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla denounced the decision "unfounded and unacceptable" that the State Department took today by ordering the departure of 15 Cuban diplomats from the United States.

The minister said in Havana that "there is no evidence" of the occurrence, causes and origin of the alleged "incidents" against US government officials in Cuba, which supposedly caused an array of varying health issues.

Rodríguez Parrilla reaffirmed that "Cuba has never perpetrated nor will it perpetrate attacks of any nature against diplomatic officials or their families, without exception. Furthermore it will not allow nor has it allowed its territory to be used by third parties for this purpose. "

The Chancellor emphasized that the measure announced by the United States Government, "without conclusive investigative results or evidence of incidents" has an "eminently political" nature.

He urged Washington not to continue politicizing an issue that could lead to "an unwanted escalation, as well as weaken and further reverse bilateral relations, already affected by the announcement of the new policy made last June by President Donald Trump."

The diplomat commented that the State Department has kept filtering malicious information for political reasons. However, the data and elements supplied to the Cuban authorities are "insufficient".

He emphasized that "the main obstacle to the clarification of the incidents has been the lack of direct access to those affected and to the doctors who examined them" by the Cuban expert committee. He also detailed the obstacles that prevent the clarification of the facts and the conclusion of the investigation:

Delayed delivery of evidence and lack of value.

Absence of reliable and verifiable primary information.

Impossibility to make exchanges with experts from the United States with knowledge of facts of this nature and of the technology that may have been used, despite having repeatedly raised it as a necessity to advance research.

Rodriguez stressed that the Cuban authorities have acted "with great seriousness, professionalism and immediacy" and that they have carried out an investigation "exhaustive and priority by indication of the highest level of the Government".

He informed that on February 21, Raul Castro, personally, reiterated to the Chargé d'Affaires a.i. of the US embassy in Havana than the importance of sharing more information and cooperating between the competent authorities of both countries.

However, "the data provided subsequently continued to lack descriptions or details that would facilitate the characterization of the facts or the identification of possible perpetrators, if any," he said.

Cuba, for its part, gave its counterpart "all the facilities, including the possibility of importing equipment, as a sign of goodwill and the great interest of the Cuban government in concluding the investigation," said the Foreign Minister.

In addition, in response to repeated requests from the United States, the island agreed that "representatives of specialized agencies from that country would travel to Havana on three occasions (in June, August and September) to work on the ground for the first time in 50 years."

Before concluding his statements and giving way to a dialogue with the press, the Minister reiterated his willingness to cooperate in order to clarify this situation, although he considered the most efficient collaboration of the United States authorities to be essential.

Q&A with the Press:

AP: The measures taken by the United States and the one that Cuba has taken mean that we are living today in Havana the melting between the two countries after a kind of spring of two years?

Bruno Rodríguez: Cuba has not taken any action against the United States, it does not discriminate against its companies, it invites its citizens to visit it, it favors dialogue and bilateral cooperation, it does not occupy any part of the territory of the United States. and has adopted absolutely no bilateral measure, on the contrary it has favored a respectful course on the basis of sovereign equality, to treat our differences and to live civilly with them for the benefit of both peoples and countries.

The policy announced by President Donald Trump on June 16, and other events that have occurred in this regard, are indeed a setback and have weakened the bilateral relationship.

The unjustifiable, unmotivated political decision to demand the abandonment of the territory of the United States by 15 officials of our embassy is an act of an absolutely political nature that only benefits those who would derail the possibility that relations between both countries continue to advance, who want to reverse the progress made in recent years, can only benefit the dark interests of a handful of people.

AP: What happened to the Canadians? Apparently they had the same affectation as the Americans, and Canada decided not to protect them or something?

Bruno Rodríguez: I must say that the Cuban authorities are in contact and cooperation with the Canadian authorities.

ACN: I would like you to dwell on what the US government has given the Cuban government to justify the withdrawal of the diplomatic staff from Washington and, furthermore, how will the Cuban consular function remain in the US?

Bruno Rodríguez: Could respond more properly the US side. It is difficult to explain what the State Department has argued for the adoption of these measures, both the withdrawal of its personnel partially from Havana and the decision that part of the Cuban diplomatic personnel leaves the territory of the USA.

This is Secretary Tillerson's statement of September 29, months after US spokesmen always spoke of 'incidents', lack of evidence, investigative findings, or information that would link the health conditions described by American diplomats with In these incidents, Secretary Tillerson first uses the word 'attacks' and says that employees of the US embassy have suffered a variety of damages from attacks of unknown nature, curiously afterwards says "researchers have been unable to determine the responsible or the cause of these attacks. "

In the conversation with Secretary Tillerson, I can affirm that he did not provide an atom of information that the Cuban side had not previously known and which does not include absolutely a particle of evidence or conclusive research results, or even information of elements of research in progress.

The statement issued today by the State Department states that "since reducing US personnel in Havana due to the current incidents that damage the physical security of our personnel since the Cuban government has not taken all necessary measures to prevent any attack on the physical integrity, liberty or dignity of accredited US diplomatic personnel and members of their respective families. "

The State Department does not say that attacks have occurred, it speaks again of incidents that supposedly damage physical security. It imputes to the Cuban government not to have taken all the necessary measures to avoid any attack, does not say that they have happened.

Interestingly, this is the rationale you use to request that the people who are listed below should leave the US. in a term of seven days. It is unacceptable, inexplicable, that the argument to require Cuban diplomatic personnel to leave US territory is that the US by its own decision reduced the presence of US diplomatic personnel in Havana or that the Cuban Government allegedly did not take measures.

If the desire of the US side has been to protect the health of its diplomats, what relationship can this have with the decision to reduce the presence of Cuban diplomatic personnel in Washington. Is this an action of reciprocity? Obviously it can not be, because there has not been any measure or any Cuban decision that anyone could think of reciprocating.

Is it a measure of prevention, health protection of diplomatic personnel? It is absolutely unthinkable.What is this? Obviously, a political decision is not a technical decision associated with the ongoing research process. It is a retaliatory measure. What's its purpose? It would be good for the American side to explain.

In the statement this morning, Secretary Tillerson adds as a purpose of his order, or the order to withdraw Cuban diplomatic personnel from Washington, is "the objective of ensuring fairness in the operations of the respective diplomatic missions. "What does that mean?" I ask the State Department.

That is, why is it a goal to "ensure equity" between unilateral, unthinking, unfounded, unjustifiable decisions of the Department of State in relation to its own staff, which it could try to explain for preventive reasons as to its health, but what relation can this have with the arbitrary, politically motivated decision, with clearly political objectives, to cut off part of the Cuban diplomatic presence in Washington DC.

What did a State Department official say this morning? Well he has made an announcement, has said that a diplomat has appeared more affected, the press has quickly asked: "When did this happen?". Was it in September? In August? Last week? He replied that it happened in January of this year, and that they have decided to announce it now because it has been, they said, "reassessed," a response given by the anonymous State Department official. The lack of seriousness of this report is surprising.

It must be said that State Department officials have been constantly filtering malicious information with political objectives to the American press, shielding themselves on anonymity. This other anonymous also, a clandestine official author of the briefing this morning tries to answer his question saying: "The attacks are a reflection of a series of incidents."

I do not know if translators can explain in English or Spanish what this phrase means, "the attacks are a reflection of a series of incidents that are affecting our diplomatic staff and have persisted for a long time. They have shown very clearly that our staff are suffering from these attacks coming from someone who is using unknown pathways and methods. "

In other words, "attacks" are a "reflection of incidents" that are supposed to come from someone who is "using unknown ways and methods". "The decision to rate them as attacks reflects that there has been a consistent pattern among our staff members who have been affected," he says. What does it mean in Spanish or English that: "The decision to qualify them as attacks reflects that there has been a consistent pattern among our affected staff members." But then it ends by adding "There is no other conclusion we could reach." Science fiction, futurism, what is it?

"What happens to the Cuban diplomats who must leave the country is that this guarantees that there is an equitable number of personnel that allows the operation of our respective embassies," he says. That is, does reducing staff in the two territories facilitate, guarantee, allow the operation of embassies? When the State Department has said that the US embassy is reduced to giving "emergency services only", it does not make sense.

"The medical team is analyzing all the symptoms and they are taking into account all the possibilities, but they have been able to confirm that the symptoms we have described are happening and that our staff is showing symptoms." Cantinflas!

That is to say, it is an incomprehensible rhetoric that tries to disguise the essential thing that is the lack of data, conclusive results of investigation, evidences, information. They ask: "Will family reunification be significantly affected, what is the message for Cubans?" He responds: "We are evaluating the impact that the reduction of our staff will have on these issues."

That is, how to assess the impact on issues of family reunification, immigrant visas, and visitors to the United States. How to assess the impact of abruptly and almost completely cut off consular services in Havana and Washington? Can it be evaluated after it has been done?

Because the situation of the consulate of Cuba in Washington is of extraordinary precariousness, after the decision of the United States to retire personnel has remained a single consular official in Washington. I understand that the same thing happens, unfortunately, also in the United States consulate here in Havana.

And he emphasizes that "it has been said that the priority is in the security, protection and well-being of US diplomatic personnel abroad." And he confesses that "they will remain available,If the United States government applied these standards for its foreign service, it would have to be closing dozens of embassies in the world now.

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