Havana, July 23, 2021.- Communist Party of Cuba Political Bureau member and Minister of Foreign Affairs Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, during a press conference yesterday, denounced the fallacious arguments presented by the U.S. government to justify new sanctions against Cuban individuals and institutions, and the Biden administration’s attempts to manipulate public opinion against the Cuban Revolution.
He referred to President Joseph Biden's communiqué reporting the adoption of sanctions against Cuba’s Minister of the Revolutionary Armed Forces, Army Corps General Alvaro Lopez Miera, and the Ministry of the Interior´s National Special Brigade, unilateral measures which he described as irrelevant in practice, but significant given their political and interventionist nature.
"The President of the United States announces sanctions on those responsible for what he calls repression against the Cuban people, which I categorically and absolutely reject. No act of repression against the Cuban people has occurred here, nor has a social explosion occurred, as I have already stated, despite the persistent fabrications of some well-established international press media," he said.
He questioned the change of opinion of the U.S. President, who now declares that Cuba is an important priority for his administration, contrary to what he had previously stated, but which provides him with arguments to justify maintaining the blockade and imposing more sanctions.
Rodríguez stated: "The President of the United States and his government could do better addressing patterns of racial discrimination within its own territory, the judicial errors, the systemic racism, and brutal repression of social protests, including legitimate protests against the cold-blooded murders of Afro-descendant citizens. It could also address the situation of more than 400 of its own journalists who suffered injuries or violence while covering anti-racist demonstrations."
He insisted that the White House lacks the moral authority to demand the release of persons detained in Cuba, considered an act of interference and intervention: "They lie when they refer to peaceful demonstrators, they avoid recognizing that violent acts were committed, they avoid the accusations that have been made by our government, first of the persistent instigation of terrorism, organized from U.S. territory," and added that the U.S. government has yet to refute accusations that he made personally, several days earlier.
The Cuban Foreign Minister insisted that Cuban authorities and, in particular those of internal order, acted with strict adherence to the law, with absolute respect for regulations governing their conduct, with the minimum of force in the face of vandalism and violent acts that caused injuries to police officers and Cuban citizens proclaiming their support for the Revolution and the nation’s government.
"Currently, the country is in absolute calm, services are operating in complete normalcy,” he said, calling on the international press to “walk the streets of the country’s cities and report, with objectivity, the tranquil conditions, despite the adverse conditions caused by the pandemic’s impact."
"I challenge any authority in the U.S. government, which is allegedly concerned about so-called protesters here, or entities of any country, to present one case of a missing person. I commit myself to disproving it, within a few hours, with sufficient evidence," he emphasized, referring to fabricated, totally false lists of missing persons that are circulating in the media and on social networks.
He noted the fact that, in several countries of the Americas, there have been thousands of murders of human rights defenders, social activists and community leaders, persons who joined peaceful processes, which Washington has been very timid about addressing, so-called false positives, the murders of civilians presented as members of armed groups.
"It is not in Cuba where sophisticated means of repression, heavy equipment, chemical substances, stun guns, automatic launchers of toxic gases are used." This is happening in Europe and in the United States, he said, although the press reports little about it.
"I challenge the U.S. or any other government to cite the name of one minor who is currently in detention. I reject the unsustainable slander that the lives of minors or youth have been lost in connection with these events," he said, while reaffirming that in Cuba the judicial processing of detainees is conducted in strict compliance with the Constitution and procedural laws, which guarantee due process, adding that many have already been released, after being fined or placed under house arrest, pending trial.
"I categorically reject that there has been one case of torture, and I call on persons who have referred to such cases to present names, places and evidence," he stated.
The Minister went on to address internet access, noting that the main obstacle to connectivity for Cuban citizens to the web, digital networks and other telecommunications services is the U.S. blockade.
He emphasized Cuba’s concern about the manipulation of information and images for clearly political purposes, presenting examples of reports by CNN en español and Fox News, displaying systematic, untrue manipulation of the facts, violating their own rules and the elementary standards of journalism, using sophisticated technologies to adulterate specific contents.
In reference to verbal attacks on the leadership of our nation, Rodriguez spoke as “as a witness and participant in the government’s commitment to addressing the hardship and shortages, the depravation and anxieties generated by the problems the population faces due to the shortage of supplies, the deficit of medicines, and the difficult conditions we are experiencing these days," while noting the statistics indicating clearly that Cuba has confronted the pandemic, better than many countries, as in the case of lethality.He noted that the Covax mechanism is not viable for Cuba, given the limited immunization coverage it could guarantee and the exorbitant expense. "This mechanism has failed miserably in supplying the vaccines that were contracted and paid for… while transnational corporations have enriched themselves in a contemptible manner, at the expense of the pandemic, and fail on a daily basis to meet with their obligations."
The Minister addressed President Biden's most recent comments on the review of remittances to Cuba, recalling that measures adopted by the Trump administration made the functioning of existing mechanisms impossible.
"U.S. spokespersons are lying shamelessly when they say that the Cuban government appropriates a portion of all remittances," he stated, calling on those making such allegations to present evidence, since no taxes or duties whatsoever are deducted from remittances by the Cuban government.
At another point during the press conference, Rodriguez denounced the U.S. government for pressuring other sovereign governments to condemn Cuba in the wake of the July 11 disturbances, and invited the press to review the Declaration published on social networks, and disseminate the unethical behavior of the U.S. State Department.
He presented evidence of attempts to generate instability and undermine Cuba’s constitutional order, in a political media campaign that began on June 15 and continues, holding Washington responsible. "It is their responsibility to prevent the continuing instigation of violence and terrorism in our country by media based in Florida."
He referred to alleged damage to the health of U.S. diplomats in Havana, something that has been investigated by eminent experts over the course of four years, and became an issue that has only served to justify the reduction of consular services and obstacles created for Cubans wishing to visit or emigrate to the United States, a shameful move, of interest only to the ultra-right in Florida.
"I have denounced the U.S. government’s irresponsible, politically motivated behavior regarding migratory issues, noting that it will bear responsibility if this continues to cost lives and provoke irregular, disorderly travel from Cuba to the U.S." he emphasized, adding a warning about pretensions to mount a provocation, using a flotilla of leisure craft traveling to the limits of Cuban territorial waters.
“I reiterate that the U.S. government continues to persist, to this very minute, with a barrage of statements and accusations, in an act of crude interference in the internal affairs of the Republic of Cuba, in an effort to alter the constitutional order and in violation of international law and our own laws," he concluded.
(Cubaminrex-Granma)