End the Attacks on Cuba
Statement by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Cuba Regarding the Terrorist Attack Against the Cuban Embassy in the U.S.
- Bruno Rodríguez
Parrilla -
Good afternoon:
As the Ministry of Foreign Affairs informed in a
prompt
manner, at around 2:00 o'clock today, that is, in the early hours of
the morning on Thursday, April 30, 2020, a terrorist attack was
perpetrated against the embassy of the Republic of Cuba to the
United States in Washington. An unidentified individual shot at
the building of the Cuban embassy in the U.S. using an assault
rifle.
 None of the
members of the staff of the mission,
who are safe and
protected, were injured, but some material damage was caused to
the building as a result of the numerous gunshots.
Cuba's diplomatic mission in Washington has a
security and
protection system in place against any threat that may jeopardize
the diplomatic officials, their family members and the
facilities.
The individual, whose identity has not been
reported to the
Cuban government, was arrested by the local authorities and
remains in their custody.
We appreciate the professional behaviour of the
law
enforcement agency officers who very quickly arrived at the scene
of the incident.
Today, at noon, I summoned the Chargé
d'Affaires of the U.S.
embassy in Havana, Mrs. Mara Tekach, to discuss this serious
incident.
I protested in the strongest of terms the grave
terrorist
attack perpetrated against the Cuban embassy. I asked her: How
would the U.S. government react to such an attack against any of
its embassies? I recalled the unfair actions and threats made by
the U.S. Government, without the least explanation or evidence,
about the so-called acoustic attacks against American
diplomats.
 
Damage done in terrorist attack on the embassy of the Republic
of Cuba to the
United States in Washington, DC, April 30, 2020.
It is the obligation of all States to take all
appropriate
steps to protect the premises of a diplomatic mission accredited
to that country against any intrusion or damage and to prevent
any disturbance of the peace of the mission or attack on its
dignity or its normal functioning, as established by the Vienna
Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961.
I demanded the utmost cooperation from U.S.
government
authorities to clarify the facts and assure that such incidents,
including the one that just occurred, do not happen again or
remain unpunished.
This attack against the Cuban embassy in the
United States has
in any case been encouraged by the increasingly hostile rhetoric
against our country that has both publicly and systematically
involved the U.S. Secretary of State as well as high officials of
that Department in charge of Western Hemisphere relations, and
even of the U.S. embassy in Havana.
It is impossible not to see the connection between
such
actions and the strengthening of the aggressive and hostile
policy that the U.S. applies against Cuba, or the tightening of
the blockade, which includes non-conventional measures even in
times of the COVID-19 pandemic, which affects the whole
planet.
The actions to instigate violence against Cuban
medical
personnel in third countries, as was the case recently in
Bolivia, with U.S. officials even participating; the slanders and
demonization of our health staff, also encourage violent
actions.
At the moment of the attack, as I told the U.S.
diplomat,
there were ten Cuban officials and diplomats inside the building,
who were in grave danger.
It is likewise impossible to dissociate this type
of action
from the effect of hate-filled policies and speeches that promote
division and social violence.
There have been serious historical antecedents of
violent and
hostile actions, including terrorist acts, against Cuban
diplomatic officials assigned to the United States, both at the
Washington mission and at the Cuban Permanent Mission to the
United Nations in New York.
I also recalled that several groups and
individuals who have
in the past committed terrorist acts against Cuba have operated
for many years and are still operating inside U.S. territory with
impunity, something well known by the law enforcement agencies of
the government of the United States.
I am surprised to see that more than 15 hours have
elapsed
since the attack against our embassy and neither the official
U.S. government authorities nor the State Department have
contacted our authorities; there has been no official statement,
not even tweets that are so frequent when any officials of the
United States or its Embassy refer to Cuba.
I urge the State Department to adopt, with the
utmost urgency,
the measures necessary to ensure full compliance with its
responsibilities under the Vienna Convention and to guarantee the
security and safety of the Cuban embassy, the Cuban Permanent
Mission to the United Nations, and the staff that works at both
missions and their accompanying family members.
Finally, I offer the cooperation of the Cuban
authorities to
carry out the appropriate investigation.
Thank you, very
much.
This article was published in
Volume 50 Number 16 - May 9, 2020
Article Link:
End the Attacks on Cuba: Statement by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Cuba Regarding the Terrorist Attack Against the Cuban Embassy in the U.S. - Bruno Rodríguez
Parrilla
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
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