[R-G] The Empire’s Illegal Wars-- Fidel

[Macdonald Stainsby]

[En Español : 
http://www.granma.cu/espanol/2007/octubre/mar2/reflexiones.html]

The Empire’s Illegal Wars

When the United States and its NATO allies started the war on Kosovo, 
Cuba immediately defined her position on the front page of the newspaper 
Granma, on March 26, 1999.  This was done in a Declaration of her 
Ministry of Foreign Affairs under the title of “Cuba's appeal to end 
NATO’s unjustified aggression against Yugoslavia.”

I take essential paragraphs from that Declaration:

“After a number of painful and highly manipulated political occurrences, 
extended armed confrontations and complex, hardly transparent 
negotiations around the issue of Kosovo, the North Atlantic Treaty 
Organization finally launched its announced and brutal air attack 
against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, whose peoples fought most 
heroically in Europe against the Nazi hordes during World War II.

“This action, conceived of as a 'punishment of the Yugoslavian 
government’, is conducted on the margin of the UN Security Council.

[…]

“The war launched by NATO rekindles humanity's justified fears about the 
establishment of an offensive unipolar system, governed by a 
warmongering empire acting as a world gendarme and capable of dragging 
its political and military allies along to the most insane actions. 
Something similar happened at the beginning and in the first half of 
this century with the creation of militaristic blocs that brought 
destruction, death and misery to Europe, dividing and weakening it, 
while the United States strengthened their economic, political and 
military power.

“It is worthwhile wondering whether the use and abuse of force could 
solve the world problems and defend the human rights of the innocent 
persons who today are dying under the missiles and bombs falling on a 
small country which is part of that cultured and civilized Europe.

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Cuba strongly 
condemns this aggression on Yugoslavia by NATO forces led by the United 
States.

[…]

“At this moment of suffering and pain for the Yugoslavian peoples, Cuba 
calls on the international community to mobilize its efforts to bring an 
immediate end to this unjustified aggression, to avoid new and even more 
deplorable losses of innocent lives and to allow this nation to again 
take up the peaceful path of negotiations to solve its internal 
problems, a matter which depends solely and exclusively on the sovereign 
will and free determination of the Yugoslavian peoples.

[…]

“The ridiculous attempt at imposing solutions by force is incompatible 
with any civilized rationale and with the essential principles of 
international law.  [...]  To continue along this path, the consequences 
may be unpredictable for Europe and for all of humanity.”

Because of these occurrences, I had sent a message to President 
Milosevic the day before, through the Yugoslavian ambassador in Havana 
and our ambassador in Belgrade.

“I beg you to communicate the following to President Milosevic:

“After carefully analyzing everything that is happening and the origins 
of the present dangerous conflict, we are of the view that an enormous 
crime is being committed against the Serbian people. At the same time, 
the aggressors are committing a huge error, which they won’t be able to 
sustain if the Serbian people are capable of resisting, as they did in 
their heroic struggle against the Nazi hordes.

“Unless the terribly brutal and unjustifiable attacks in the very heart 
of Europe cease, world reaction will be even greater and swifter than 
that triggered by the war in Vietnam.

“This time as never before in recent history, powerful forces and world 
interests are aware that such behavior in international relations is not 
acceptable.

“Even though I have no personal relationship with him, I have meditated 
extensively on the problems of today’s world. I think that I have a 
sense of history, a concept of tactics and strategy in the struggle of a 
small country against a great superpower and I feel a deep hatred 
towards injustice, and so I take it upon myself to transmit to him an 
idea in just three words:

“Resist, resist, resist.

“March 25, 1999.

Fidel Castro Ruz

October 1, 2007
-- 
Macdonald Stainsby
Coordinator, http://oilsandstruth.org
--
moderated radical news & discussion list:
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In the contradiction lies the hope.
    --Bertholt Brecht.