Socialist Action /October 2001
Cuba Condemns Trade Center Attack
The Cuban government rejected the Sept. 11 acts of terrorism in the United
States and immediately offered its condolences to the people and authorities
of this country for the loss of life.
According to the on-line edition of the Cuban newspaper Granma, Foreign
Minister Felipe Perez Roque said that Cuba's historical position is to "totally
condemn and reject terrorism wherever it comes from and against whomever
it is perpetrated."
The Cuban minister made his statement in Havana's Jose Marti International
Airport a few hours after the attacks on the World Trade Center twin towers
in New York and the Pentagon in Washington.
"Our people have had to suffer 40 years of acts of terrorism, so
we know the consequences of this type of action," emphasized Perez
Roque.
The Cuban minister of foreign affairs stated that the island has notified
regional air traffic control authorities that the island is willing to offer
facilities in Cuban airports for aircraft in mid-flight, due to the present
situation in U.S. airspace
"Our reaction really is one of a feeling of total rejection of
this action," he reiterated.
Asked about those acts of terrorism being attributed to Palestinian terrorists,
the foreign minister indicated that Yasser Arafat, president of the Palestinian
National Authority, was one of the first to expressly condemn what occurred
today.
Regarding a notion that Cuba was involved, he confirmed: "I do not
believe it is necessary to refer to this, and I trust that such a barbaric
idea would not occur to anybody."
After the news became known on the island, normal television transmissions
were interrupted and full and detailed information was offered on the incident,
which was described as "a national tragedy for the United States."
Socialist Action /October 2001 |