We strongly condemn the acts of outright provocation by the United States, which has announced the indictment of Raúl Castro, army general and among the leaders of the Cuban Revolution, while deploying the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz in the Caribbean Sea. It is entirely clear that this is a provocative and pretextual action by US imperialism, aimed at “legitimising” a military operation against Cuba, along the same lines as what has taken place in Caracas.
Just weeks before his 95th birthday, the United States is falsely accusing the former Cuban president of “murder”. The accusation refers to events of February 1996, when the Cuban air force shot down two aircraft departing from Miami and linked to the terrorist organisation “Hermanos al Rescate”, which had violated Cuban airspace.
At the time, the Cuban government had already submitted numerous formal complaints to the United States and to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), denouncing more than 25 violations of Cuban airspace between 1994 and 1996 by aircraft taking off from Miami, which dropped propaganda leaflets over Cuban cities and cooperated with other counter-revolutionary activities.
It is entirely evident that the defence of its airspace is an inalienable prerogative of state sovereignty, and that the pretextual “indictment” issued by US courts against General Raúl Castro takes place outside any jurisdiction or legitimate authority.
It appears even more pretextual when one considers that the United States itself, in its recent history, has been the victim of the use of civilian aircraft for terrorist purposes, and that the United States is responsible for hundreds of extrajudicial killings through arbitrary military actions in the Caribbean Sea.
We reaffirm our solidarity with the Cuban Revolution, the Communist Party of Cuba, and the heroic Cuban people. The Italian authorities must condemn the US threats against socialist Cuba and the criminal blockade imposed on the island.
We call for the highest level of mobilisation, starting in the coming days, in defence of the Cuban people’s right to live free from the threats and pressures of imperialism.
Political Bureau of the CC — Communist Front of Italy
National Secretariat — Communist Youth Front
