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Current U.S. Attempts to Sow Chaos in Cuba Oppose Imperialist Interference in Cuba and Violation of Diplomatic Norms
A campaign of interference in Cuba's internal affairs is being undertaken by U.S. diplomats, politicians and anti-Cuba terrorists in the U.S. This is being done by inciting Cuban youth to take up counterrevolutionary activities, in flagrant violation of the rules governing diplomatic relations. On November 30, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez, through his official Twitter account, denounced the direct participation of the U.S. Chargé d'Affaires in Havana, Timothy Zúñiga-Brown, in inciting and assisting in illegal acts against public order and health standards in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. Similarly, Carlos Fernández de Cossío, the Director General in charge of the U.S. at the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Minrex), pointed out "the serious violations of the functions as diplomat and head of mission" committed by Zúñiga-Brown.
Minrex is fully aware of U.S. involvement in financing, guiding and inciting groups and individuals in Cuba to challenge the authority of the government, both through peaceful and violent means, Fernández added. Cuba is also aware of U.S. manipulation of social networks to spread false information, incite hatred, divide the population, foment resentment and call for illegal activities, he stated. In a statement on Twitter, President of the Republic Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez made clear the nation's position regarding the latest political provocation financed by the United States government, saying, "Those who designed the San Isidro farce were in the wrong country; they got the history wrong; and the armed forces wrong. We do not tolerate interference, provocation or manipulation. Our people have all the courage and the moral authority needed to sustain a fight for the heart of Cuba." He reiterated the statement issued by Carlos Fernández de Cossío, saying, "This will always be our response to any perverse plan against the Island." The so-called San Isidro Movement has been demanding that the government release rapper Denis Solís, sentenced to eight months imprisonment for contempt of the authorities when he acknowledged he maintains ties with people in Miami who finance violent acts against Cuba. Enrique Ubieta Gómez, in an article published in Granma on December 2, gave further background on Denis Solís and other pro-imperialist "dissidents" that call themselves the "San Isidro Movement:" "A uniformed police officer delivered a citation to Cuban citizen Denis Solís. Solís insulted him, using words I cannot repeat here, and threatened him. The police did not handcuff nor hit him, nor place his knee on Solís's neck. There is a video, taken by the supposed victim, which proves this. Solís was detained for contempt. He had already previously received several administrative fines for disturbing the peace and two official warnings for harassing tourists. The crime of contempt is provided by law in Article 144.1 of the Penal Code. Solís accepted the charges and did not appeal. But before this, he yelled that Trump is his president and he became a 'dissident.' The San Isidro strikers demand his release. They then declared a hunger and water strike, but on the seventh day Otero Alcantara, the leader of the provocation, who has dishonoured the national flag in other episodes of this strange theatrical play, appeared in a video taken by his colleagues (to use the same term as the imperialist diplomat) impetuously blocking the functioning of the health authorities, rather than prostrate in his bed, as medical logic would indicate should be the case after a lack of food."
Ubieta Gómez explained that the "movement" is "not about freedom of speech, much less freedom of artistic expression, but rather of the creation of a political opposition clearly already sponsored by imperialism, about the restoration of a bourgeois democracy and the death of any trace of people's democracy. Although perhaps many of those making these demands do not know it, the true purpose of all this is the restoration of a neo-colonial Cuba. So that no doubt remains, high officials of the Trump government have immediately rushed to defend their supporting actors. They (the Trump forces) know they are on the way out and they have to inflict as many knife wounds [as they can] as they go." Notably, Jake Sullivan, U.S. President-Elect Joe Biden's national security adviser wrote on Twitter regarding the Cuban government's opposition to U.S. interference through the "San Isidro Movement:" "We support the Cuban people in their struggle for liberty. The Cuban people must be allowed to exercise the universal right to freedom of expression." This indicates that the overall policy of the U.S. to confound freedom of expression and violent acts against the public order will continue. For its part, the Canadian government, which claims to uphold a rules-based international order, has been silent on the U.S. gross and flagrant violations of diplomatic relations with Cuba. This silence underscores its subservience to the U.S. which is unacceptable to Canadians. The Canadian Network on Cuba and the Table de concertation de solidarité Québec-Cuba have called on Canadians and Quebeckers to denounce U.S. imperialist interference in Cuba and the attempts to target Cuban youth to foment counterrevolution. They especially denounce the genocidal U.S. blockade against Cuba and call on all peace- and justice-loving people to go all out and take part in the monthly pickets and other actions in Canada demanding that the U.S. end its interference in Cuba. (With files from Prensa Latina, Granma and the CNC.)
This article was published in   Website: www.cpcml.ca Email: editor@cpcml.ca |
Fernández
explained that the U.S. diplomat went several times to the San Isidro
neighbourhood in Old Havana, where his embassy knew about the
development of a political and social provocation event, the so-called
San Isidro Movement. Zúñiga-Brown also undertook
"to personally transport and support those who were violating health
standards for protection against the pandemic" which Minrex called
"flagrant and defiant interference in the internal political affairs of
Cuba and indisputable violations of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic
Relations." Cuba does not accept such behaviour, said
Fernández, and it will not tolerate contempt of the law and
regulations in violation of their obligations by the U.S. diplomat or
his embassy.
Cuban media have
shown that the "hunger strike" was for show, as the "dissidents" were
seen having food and water brought to them. The so-called strike was
broken up by Cuban authorities on November 30 as it violated health
protocols in place to block transmission of COVID-19.