from: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
subject: Cuba: Fidel resolution in Panama. Zedillo, Salvador against.
November 23, 2000
10th IBERO-AMERICAN SUMMIT
Panamanian solidarity: the pinnacle of Fidel's visit
* Cuba does not support the declaration on
terrorism in Spain because it views it as 'a partial, selective and
incomplete text' * 'Terrorists financed and organized in Miami by the
CANF have planned my assassination at every single summit, like now
in Panama,' reveals Cuban president
THE University of Panama's auditorium,
echoing with applause and cheers for Cuba, was far too small for the
students and professors who crowded into it to welcome President
Fidel Castro to his final activity on Panamanian soil, after
participating in the 10th Ibero-American Summit of Heads of State and
Government.
During the solidarity event, marked by cries
of "Cuba yes, blockade no" and "Fidel, our friend, Panama is with
you," the Cuban president was decorated with the university medal
and diploma by its rector, Julio Vallarino Rangel.
In his welcoming speech, Vallarino Rangel
highlighted the fact that the institution had served to forge the
Latin American and pro-independence conscience of Panamanians which
led to the devolution of the inter-oceanic Canal on December 31 of
last year, an event which restored Panamanian self-confidence.
Fidel referred to the Panama Canal as a
source of great national wealth, which is developing services and
being operated by Panamanians more efficiently than that shown during
the U.S. occupation. He observed that when the extension of the Canal
is completed, it will generate many more jobs for the country.
Speaking until late in the night, Fidel
reflected on various current issues, recounting to students and
professors the initiatives undertaken in recent years by Cuba in
order to sustain its social project, in spite of the socialist
countries' disappearance, neoliberal globalization, U.S. steps to
intensify the blockade and planned acts of terrorism against the
Revolution.
He also referred to the official note
delivered to the Panamanian government, requesting the extradition of
four terrorists, headed by Luis Posada Carriles (the author of other
acts of terrorism and sabotage in Cuba), arrested on November 17 by
the Panamanian authorities while involved in an attempt on his life,
and argued for the creation of an international court to judge those
crimes and try those responsible for them.
The leader of the Revolution introduced the
audience to Hassan P�rez, president of the Cuban Federation of
University Students, and spoke of his significant role in recent
battles unleashed by the Cuban people. The student leader explained
to the Panamanians that the hearts of the island's students have
always beat as one with the Americas, and its movement was fully
incorporated into the liberation struggle, the defense of the
Revolution, internationalist missions and international cooperation.
The Cuban president arrived at Tocum�n
Airport on November 17, where he was received by his Panamanian
counterpart Mireya Moscoso, in the midst of persistent drizzle. To
mark the occasion, he was presented with the keys to the city by its
mayor, Juan Carlos Navarro.
In his words of greeting, Fidel recalled his visit to that nation
52 years earlier to promote the creation of a Latin American
students' federation. At that time he met some young people who had
been seriously injured in the struggle for the return of the Canal.
"Today, everything is different. Now there are no foreign troops
shooting at students and the people," he added. "Panama is master of
its Canal and is administering it excellently."
TRIBUTE TO OMAR TORRIJOS, 'A TRUE BROTHER'
President Fidel Castro's activities during
his two-day stay in the Panamanian capital included a visit to San
Pablo Ap�stol parish in La Locer�a district, the final resting place
of former Panamanian President General Omar Torrijos, whom the leader
of the Revolution described as a "true friend, a true brother."
After greeting members of Torrijos' family
and laying a wreath of flowers in his honor, Fidel entered the
religious enclosure where he was acclaimed by hundreds of people.
There he recalled the general as "the great architect, the great
standard-bearer, the great liberator of that occupied portion of his
dearly beloved homeland [the Canal]" and, on leaving, commented: "I
am going to say, like Ernesto Che Guevara, another great Latin
American, likewise an admirer of Panama and a defender of its rights:
'Hasta la victoria siempre.'"
THE ISLAND DOES NOT SUPPORT AND WILL NEVER SUPPORT TERRORIST
METHODS
During a press conference at the end of the
summit opening ceremony, Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe P�rez Roque
explained the government's position in relation to terrorism and why
his country was not supporting the Salvadoran resolution on the
issue-debated in the National Coordinators' and Foreign Ministers'
Meeting-which in Cuba's opinion "is a partial, selective and
incomplete text."
The issue became a center of discussion due
to the repercussions and statements resulting from the disagreement
previously expressed by Pedro N��ez Mosquera, Cuba's national
coordinator and deputy foreign minister, over a resolution referring
only to the activities of the ETA group in Spain.
P�rez Roque noted that although the island
abstains from commenting on the Basque issue, given that it is an
internal matter for Spain, "Cuba does not support and will never
support terrorist methods."
The foreign minister noted that "Cuba is not
an ally of ETA, nor does it approve of or support the methods
employed by that organization."
He went on to add: "Cuba has always been opposed to any type of
terrorism, including the state terrorism which is employed against
the island," and observed: "We defeated an army of 80,000 men, armed
and trained by the United States, and never used terrorist methods."
In the above-mentioned pre-summit foreign
ministers' meeting, Mosquera, who represented P�rez Roque in that
forum, had commented that in Cuba's view, the fairest way for the
10th Summit to approach this issue was to examine it in a more
general context.
As the Cuban representative said, other Ibero-American countries
"have suffered the brunt of totally unchecked terrorism for years.
Cuba has suffered it for more than 40 years, unlike any other country
in this meeting; acts of terrorism of the most diverse nature against
the country are organized, financed and supported from abroad, even
from the territory of certain countries that are present in this
room."
However, the text read out at that meeting
by N��ez Mosquera stated: "In the specific case of the situation
before us now, Cuba believes that this is a matter which is the
exclusive concern of Spain's internal jurisdiction, and has always
advocated a negotiated solution. We regret that, to date, this
objective has not been attained and that the situation has reached a
virtually irrational level, with the exercise of violence on both
sides, in the past and at present."
Finally, the deputy foreign minister
expressed the Cuban delegation's disposition to embark on a serious
and responsible consultative negotiation process with the other
delegations, to arrive at a "declaration of consensus which reflects
everyone's interests." Otherwise, the delegation would be left with
no alternative than to disassociate itself from the proposed
resolution.
Instead of that text, Cuba presented a
resolution whose proposals include the most energetic rejection of
terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, from any source and
against anyone, including the funding of terrorist activities and the
use of third countries for the commission of acts of this nature.
The resolution proposed by the island-which
in the end was not approved-also called on the Ibero-American nations
to take the necessary measures to prevent their territories from
being used for the enactment, organization or funding of terrorist
activities against other states, by committing themselves to bringing
the full weight of law to bear on those guilty of such crimes.
Subsequently, in the closing session of the
summit, President Fidel Castro gave his seat to the foreign minister,
so that he could explain the island's position on terrorism and why
it did not support the Salvadoran resolution.
Immediately afterwards Ernesto Zedillo, the
outgoing president of Mexico, expressed his incomprehension at the
Cuban position and his support for the Salvadoran resolution,
requesting that the meeting move to a vote.
NO MENTION OF CUBA BEING THE GREATEST VICTIM OF TERRORISM
The Cuban president then gave further
reasons as to why the island felt unable to support the proposal.
Alluding to the planned attempt on his life which he exposed on his
arrival in Panama, he stated that this fact coincides with others of
an extremely grave nature. He noted that terrorists financed and
organized in Miami by the Cuban-American National Foundation(CANF)-
with which certain governments in the region have excellent
relations-have plotted his assassination at every single Ibero-
American summit, as now in Panama, even though this could easily
endanger the lives of other leaders or persons who happened to be
nearby.
Fidel stated that the resolution submitted
to a vote failed to mention that Cuba was the greatest victim of
terrorism from abroad, originating in the United States or by
utilizing Central American countries.
After recounting to those present details of
Luis Posada Carriles' history, Fidel stated that he found it strange
that the Salvadoran government should be promoting the aforementioned
resolution when that infamous terrorist, "against whom no action has
been taken," resides precisely in that Central American country, and
that that information was given to the Salvadoran authorities in
October 1999.
Fidel proposed the creation of a Latin
American regional court to try the detained terrorists with absolute
and complete impartiality.
Adopting a position that some of the press
described as "insolent," Salvadoran President Francisco Flores
accused Russia, Cuba and Nicaragua of having been involved in his
country's war and charged the Cuban leader with responsibility for
deaths in his country.
In relation to the Cuban charge concerning
Posada Carriles' freedom of movement throughout Central America, and
particularly in El Salvador-where he went after escaping from a
Venezuelan prison, with the aid of the CANF, which paid $50,000 USD
for that-Flores denied that his government or himself had put
themselves "on the side of terrorism." But he promptly went on to
contradict himself, saying: "We know that they are occupying our
territory," and "we have always been prepared to help Cuba to put an
end to such activities."
Fidel responded that at no moment had he
personally accused Flores of anything, recalling that a Communist
Party and revolutionary movement had existed in Panama in the 1930s,
before the Cuban Revolution came into being. He mentioned the
horrifying massacres in that Central American country committed by
the forces of repression, such as the mass murder of women and
children.
He also recalled the moment when the Latin
American countries, with the exception of Mexico, cooperated with the
U.S. blockade and broke off relations with the island, some of them
even lending themselves to the aggression.
"I accept," Fidel stated, "that we trained
many guerrillas, but it should not be forgotten who took billions of
dollars' worth of weapons to El Salvador. It has not been mentioned
who was responsible for that," he stated in a clear allusion to the
United States.
"We supported the revolutionary movement and
do not regret that," he affirmed, "because that is nothing new, all
revolutionaries help each other." He added that Cuba had also
supported the Chileans in the Pinochet era, and the liberation
movements in Angola, Mozambique, Cape Verde and Guinea-Bissau.
He also stressed that when the Sandinistas
were fighting against Somoza, Cuba supported them, and was not the
only country to do so. "One would have to accuse several other
honorable countries," he noted, adding immediately: "That history
will have to be written one day."
However, he explained that even within that
tradition of support, Cuba has fulfilled its commitments and its
word,since that Latin American countries ceased being the accomplices
of the blockade and the island applied a policy in line with those
changes.
He affirmed that nobody could say that those
commitments have not been fulfilled, nor that Cuba has interfered in
the internal affairs of other nations. He recalled Cuban support for
peace in Guatemala and El Salvador, its support for this process in
Colombia, "and even in Spain we have been tried to help, in our
modest way, to achieve peace."
After the close of the Ibero-American
Summit, at the traditional troika press conference which he shared
with the foreign ministers of Panama and Peru, Fidel described the
event as excellent. Peru is scheduled to host the 11th Ibero-American
Summit. " JC
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