The arrest of several dozens of mercenaries who betrayed their homeland in exchange for the privileges and money they receive from the government of the United States, and the death penalty for common criminals who hijacked a passengers ferry in Havana Bay with a gun and five knives, were the result of a conspiracy concocted by the government of that country and the Miami terrorist mob. This should be obvious to anyone.

            The Cuban authorities cannot be held accountable in any way for these events. This is something I intend to explain, as well as the reasons and objectives behind every measure, why and what for they were adopted.

            The current president of the United States, with a minority of the total number of votes, acceded to power through a scandalous fraud for which the Miami mob applied in the United States the methods they had learned from their Batista-henchmen fathers and other corrupt politicians from the U.S. neocolony of Cuba, ousted from power by the Revolution.

            On November 4, 2000, tens of thousands of African Americans were prevented from voting, many thousands of voters made mistakes on their ballots because of a change in the order of the candidates’ names, and there was further fraud perpetrated during vote counting. This was how, by a margin of a few hundred votes, Bush obtained a majority in the state of Florida that determined his election.

            He is a considerate man who does not hide his obligation to the Miami mob and the compromises he reached with these people during a meeting in Texas.

            Even before the election, at a rally held on August 5 commemorating the 26t^h of July in Pinar del Río, I literally said to Mr. Bush, and I quote:

            “I am very much aware of what you have recklessly told your close and indiscreet friends in the Cuban American mob: that you can solve the problem of Cuba very easily, in clear reference to the methods used in the sinister period when the Central Intelligence Agency was directly involved in assassination plots against our country’s leaders.”

            Bush’s pledge was that he would solve the problem by literally removing me, something that, quite honestly, after 40 years of aggression and crimes against Cuba, could neither surprise me nor worry me much.

            His administration has been just as hostile and reactionary as everyone expected. The mob has achieved more power and influence than ever before within the administration. Genuine criminals of Cuban origins, responsible for the deaths of thousands of Central Americans, like the notorious Otto Reich, have been called on to hold senior posts in key positions for the application of Bush’s preconceived policies, ideas and pledges against Cuba. The fate and the destiny of over 11 million Cubans mean nothing to him.

             I will not elaborate further on what Mr. Bush thinks, or about his obsessions and fixed ideas. Our people and the world know more than enough about these things.

            Otto Reich would be the Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs. The Senate, both Republicans and Democrats, fervently opposed the choice. A recess of the Senate was used as the opportunity to have him appointed temporarily. Then, from this post, he was able to set the guidelines for State Department policy towards Cuba. Outrageous claims rained down. One day they would say that Cuba was planning electronic warfare against communications in the United States; and the next, that a Chinese ship loaded with weapons was headed for Cuba. Neither the ship nor the weapons ever existed. Amidst ludicrous claims like these, the most heinous accusation of all: that Cuba was developing a research program to produce biological weapons. All of the accusations were refuted and ridiculed.

            During this same period, in September 2002, Otto Reich named James Cason, a stalwart ally, as the chief of the USIS (United States Interests Section in Cuba).

            Once Otto Reich’s temporary mandate had expired, his ability to remain in the post would be subject to the risky challenge of Senate approval, and his chances there  were very slim. Thus, he quietly disappeared from view. His place would then be taken by Roger Noriega, former legislative assistant to evil Helms.

            A short time later, in December 2002, Otto Reich was appointed Special Presidential Envoy for Latin America in the National Security Council, where the fundamental decisions of the President are drawn up and adopted. A terrorist bandit with his finger on the trigger of the superpower’s weapon aimed at Cuba!

            What better proof could there be of the Machiavellian plans of Otto Reich, his mob and his boss, than the actions of the chief of the Interests Section in Havana?

            What did Cason do before taking over the position formerly held by Mrs. Vicky Huddleston, who was not assigned to some European or Latin American country, as she had wished, but rather to Mali, in Africa?

            Cason’s appointment was no coincidence. Reich knew all about his work during Reich’s own tenure as Director of Public Diplomacy with the Reagan administration. Specifically, they had worked very closely when Cason worked in Central American Affairs in the State Department, which was the supporting base for the so-called ‘Contras’ in the dirty war against the Sandinista Revolution, in which Mr. Reich played a significant role, as demonstrated during the congressional hearings on the Iran-Contra scandal. Cason also had work experience in other Latin American countries like Honduras, where he was the second chief of the U.S. Mission, in El Salvador, Bolivia, Panama, Guatemala, Venezuela and others.

            Cason had declared in November 2001, at a conference on national security after the fateful terrorist attack on the Twin Towers, that our country was “the only one that had not joined in the regional chorus of sincere condolences, military support and diplomatic cooperation with the United States.”

            The truth is that Cuba had strongly condemned those terrorist attacks before the national and international media, and expressed our people’s condolences to the people of the United States and our willingness to immediately offer medical and humanitarian assistance. Our country was perhaps one of the first to do so, if not the first. Cuba immediately offered to open its airspace and airports, to receive the passengers planes in the air at the time since landing in any airport in the United States had been temporarily banned. Cuba did not have to provide any military support to the U.S. war adventures.

            Upon learning of James Cason’s designation as the chief of the USIS in Cuba, the executive director of the Cuban American National Foundation declared: “We hope this gentleman is qualified to carry out a strong policy, as President Bush has ordered.”

            James Cason appeared as the best choice to implement the predetermined policy of an increase and escalation in hostility towards Cuba from his State Department post.

            Before he had even arrived in Cuba, on August 6, 2002, five individuals hijacked a boat called the Plástico 16, based in La Coloma, Pinar del Río. The Cuban authorities, through Note 1428 of August 27, 2002, officially submitted a request for the hijackers to be returned to Cuba. Months later, the five hijackers were released in the United States.

            What follows is a chronological account of Mr. Cason’s activities in Cuba.

September 10, 2002

            Cason arrived in our country accompanied by his wife, and was received at the José Martí International Airport by Louis Nigro, deputy chief of the USIS.

            From the very outset, at a welcoming reception held at the USIS, he demonstrated the interventionist nature of his plans, when he stated, during a brief speech to the Cuban and American staff there, that “his goal in our country was to speed up the process towards a democratic Cuba, urging support for all those who were contributing to this transition.”

September 11, 2002

            At a memorial ceremony for the victims of the terrorist attacks in the United States held at the USIS, Cason referred to President George W. Bush’s plans for the war against terrorism, and expressed “his hopes that the Cuban people would play a crucial role in the changes that should take place in Cuba, mentioning the freedom of expression as an element to take into account for future changes in our country.”

September 16, 2002

            Four days after his arrival, a reception was held at Cason’s residence, with 17 counterrevolutionary group ringleaders in attendance. The reason for the reception was to introduce the new chief of the USIS to them and to determine their needs and interests.

            Cason said that he would work to implement the policy announced by President George W. Bush. He asked how he could help the “opposition” and to what extent the cooperation provided by the USIS had been effective so far.

            He declared that he was willing to offer both his residence and the Interests Section headquarters for the counterrevolutionaries to meet with diplomatic personnel from different countries.

            He said that he would travel around the country to learn about the situation of the various groups. He added that his plans included participating in political events, such as rallies, and posting the pictures and names of “political prisoners” in the consulate offices so that visitors would learn about them.

September 17, 2002

            A reception was held at the Cason residence for the same purposes as the previous day, but with different counterrevolutionary ringleaders. The topics addressed were subversive radio stations, “the press and independent libraries.”

September 26 to 30, 2002

            The new USIS chief took advantage of the U.S. Food and Agribusiness Exhibition being held in Havana in those days to show another line of his hostile intentions.

            At the end of a function hosted by the American organizers for the exhibitors, at the Melia Cohiba Hotel, Cason read a statement to the foreign press indicating that while he appreciated the fair as a space for making sales, “There's going to be a lot of beef being shown, but I expect to hear and see a lot more bull than I do beef from the Cuban authorities."

            He added that Cuba is not a significant market for the United States, and that it has debts with the whole world. Businesspeople from other countries are waiting for Cuba to pay them, he said, and “we don’t want to be part of that queue.”

            Then he claimed: “The Cubans want credits, and nobody wants to give them any, because they don’t pay. It’s a small market where the average citizen earns only 20 dollars a month. Cuba has a foreign debt of 11 billion dollars, he said, and if it has money some day, it won’t pay”.

            His intentions were quite obvious. He did not, on the other hand, say a single word about the blockade, the economic war, the hostility and aggression aimed at Cuba by the United States government for 44 years.

October 3 and 4, 2002

            Cason and the head of the refugee program made a monitoring trip to the province of Villa Clara, where they visited individuals who had tried to emigrate illegally but were sent back to Cuba in compliance with the Migratory Agreements.

            On October 3 they visited a home in Caibarién, where they met with a group of these illegal emigrants, along with another ten people invited by counterrevolutionary Margarito Broche, head of a grouplet known as the “Independent Rafters Association, North Central Cuba, Peace, Democracy and Freedom”.

            This is a group of illegal emigrants sent back to Cuba that has been transformed into a group of “dissidents”, pampered and guided by Mr. Cason.

            On October 4, a similar meeting was held in the city of Santa Clara, with another group of illegal emigrants who had also been sent back in keeping with the Migratory Agreements.

            As a result, a number of these people repeat their attempts to illegally travel to the United States, knowing that as soon as they set foot on U.S. soil, they will be welcomed with special privileges. In the meantime, Mr. Cason recruits “dissidents” among them.

            Both the chief of the USIS and the government official accompanying him used aggressive language during these meetings, with frequent criticisms and a derogatory tone against the person of the President of the Council of State of Cuba.

            This is how the chief of the Interests Section monitors and indoctrinates individuals who cannot obtain visas to the United States because of their criminal and social records, and therefore must attempt to travel there illegally and are sent back to Cuba.

October 7, 2002

            The chief of the USIS hosted a breakfast at his residence, attended by counterrevolutionary ringleaders Martha Beatriz Roque Cabello, René Gómez Manzano and Félix Bonne Carcassés, as well as officials from the diplomatic mission.

            Cason reported that he had traveled to Villa Clara and seen “the poverty” that prevails in that province, in addition to making other comments about his stay there.

October 10, 2002

            Cason hosted a breakfast at this residence, attended by counterrevolutionary ringleaders Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas, Osvaldo Alfonso and Vladimiro Roca Antúnez, along with, on the U.S. side, the political and economic affairs secretaries at the USIS, Francisco Sainz and Ricardo Zúñiga.

            The subjects of conversation were the “Varela Project”, the elections in Brazil, the situation in Venezuela, and counterrevolutionary grouplets in general.

October 30, 2002

            In the afternoon, and with the participation of six officials from the USIS, a working meeting was held at James Cason’s residence in connection with the “Assembly for the Promotion of Civil Society in Cuba” project, organized and promoted by ringleader Martha Beatriz Roque Cabello. Twenty-four counterrevolutionaries attended.

            Mr. Cason observed that he knew about the difficulties involved in meeting, which was why he was offering them his residence. He ratified his material and moral support, demonstrating his government’s position on “democratizing” the island. He then asked to be excused for not participating in the meeting, as he had other things to do at the Interests Section offices.

            He left them in his residence, protected by diplomatic immunity, and the corresponding food and beverage services.

November 5, 2002

            At 3:15 p.m., Cason and his second secretary, Zúñiga, arrived at the home of a counterrevolutionary ex-convict who exchanges letters with and receives prizes directly from President Bush, Oscar Elías Biscet González. Sentenced for actions he had carried out following instructions from the Cuban American terrorist foundation, he had been released five days earlier.

            The two men asked him countless questions on areas of interest to them for their counterrevolutionary political objectives. Mr. Cason told the counterrevolutionary about his plans to urge representatives of other diplomatic missions to make contact with them.

November 11, 2002

            A meeting was held in Cason’s residence with ringleaders Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas, Osvaldo Alfonso Valdés, Vladimiro Roca Antúnez, Oscar Elías Biscet González and a U.S. delegation visiting Cuba.

            This had become a customary demand made by Interests Section chiefs from every U.S. delegation visiting Cuba. Their goal was to boycott Cuba’s political and economic relations with other nations, through the use of any slander and lies that might occur to these mercenaries on the payroll of a warmonger and aggressive government threatening our heroic people.

            That same day, November 11, 2002, an AN-2 fumigation plane was hijacked and taken to the United States. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, through Notes 1778 of 2002 and 180 of 2003, called on the U.S. government to return the hijackers and the plane. The U.S. authorities did not even press charges against the hijackers, who were released four days later. The plane was seized, auctioned off, and in fact stolen, in an open and obvious anti-Cuban maneuver.

November 21, 2002

            Cason attended a meeting at the home of counterrevolutionary ringleader Martha Beatriz Roque, with 13 more of his hired agents. Cason spoke to them about filmed material with personal attacks on the Cuban head of state. He also inquired about the sale of short-wave and medium-wave radios in hard currency stores in Cuba, and mentioned the possibility of bringing them into the country through the Interests Section’s diplomatic mail pouches, etc., etc. He then supplied those present with nothing less than four boxes full of copies of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

            This, as a gift from the government of a country that has subjected ours to a blockade for more than 40 years and threatened to destroy our country, as it has done in other parts of the world.

            He also announced his intention to arrange a meeting in January of 2003 between a delegation of U.S. doctors and the counterrevolutionaries present there.

            Those doctors could very well travel to Central America, or to countries in Latin America or Africa where thousands of heroic Cuban doctors provide care and save hundrreds of thousands of lives every year in remote areas where Mr. Cason’s American doctors are seldom seen.

November 22, 2002

            The counterrevolutionary ringleaders Orlando Fundora Álvarez, Yolanda Triana Estupiñan and José Barrero Vargas met at Cason’s residence. The meeting was arranged by the first of these. Their main objective: to gather information on people adversely affected by the Revolution –meaning hustlers, or individuals involved with drugs or other crimes and illegal activities– in order to claim compensation from the Cuban government.

            This was the first time that the grouplets used USIS premises for meetings not attended by U.S. diplomats.

November 27, 2002

            James Cason and a number of other officials visited the province of Ciego de Ávila on a “fact-finding” mission.

            Upon their arrival in the capital, they headed for the home of a counterrevolutionary, where they met with another four members of grouplets.

            Cason inquired about the situation of the counterrevolutionaries and the investigation carried out on them. In response, they regaled him with lies, as was to be expected, about purported beatings, physical abuse and harassment of their families.

            The “dissident” being visited, along with other individuals of his kind, had staged a public disturbance at the Ciego de Avila Provincial Hospital, interfering with the emergency room services for approximately two hours. The provocation orchestrated by these individuals adversely affected several patients.

What was Mr. Cason doing there?

December 19, 2002

            A “social function” was held in the evening headed by James Cason with another 12 officials from the USIS, ten members of the diplomatic corps, including representatives from the United Kingdom, the Czech Republic, Poland, Greece and Chile, and 52 counterrevolutionaries from different groups.

            Unlike other activities organized by the USIS with these elements, this time there were no welcoming or farewell speeches. They dispensed with formalities and the guests arriving at the mission simply sat where they wished, ate and drank freely, and happily conversed about their common interests. There was, however, a 30-minute meeting between the 52 “dissidents” invited and some of the main ringleaders: Elizardo Sánchez Santacruz Pacheco, Vladimiro Roca Antúnez, René Gómez Manzano and Félix Bonne Carcassés. Photographs were taken to record the event for history.

They all felt completely at home. It was such a pleasant experience to be at the diplomatic mission of the superpower conspiring against the Cuban people that are defending their small and blockaded island from the monster!

December 21, 2002

            Cason granted an interview to Channel 51 in Miami.

            Here is an excerpt from that interview. Although it has already been published, I think it would be worthwhile to include it here.

            Journalist.- …as chief of the United States Interests Section in Havana, you are now traveling around, you have met with average Cubans, with dissidents in Cuba. Have you also met with leaders of anti-Castro organizations in exile?

            James Cason.- Yes, two or three times. Whenever I go to Miami, I want to meet and I do meet with all of the groups, the Cuban-American National Foundation, the Cuban Freedom Council, independent groups, all of the groups here, because I want to explain what I have seen in Cuba, what is happening, and to hear their points of view on what we are doing, to see if there is something that we want to do that we are not doing now. Our conversations are very pleasant, and one of my messages is that the important thing in Cuba is that there is in fact an opposition. They are isolated, harassed, but they persist and have a lot of courage, and the important thing is that they meet, unite and concentrate on the essential things, on the rights they don’t have and the freedoms they should have.

            So they shouldn’t be focusing on personal concerns, on differences in ideology. The important thing is that the opposition has to gain a space, because the day will come when there will be a transition. There is a transition now, but there is going to be a new Cuba some day, and they have to play their part in shaping and deciding the future of Cuba. So they have to gain a space for themselves, and begin to discuss what needs to be done differently to change Cuba. It is important that they focus on what is important, not on what is non-essential.

            Journalist.- In the meetings you have had with dissidents –I don’t know if you want to go into these kinds of details– but where do you see that perhaps the dissidents are not on the right track? What message do you have for the dissidents? Before I ask you, if you will allow me, for a message to the anti-Castro groups in Miami. What message do you have for the dissidents in Cuba? What would you like to say to them, based on what you have seen?

            James Cason.- Well, first of all, that the future of Cuba… we Americans are not going to determine the future of Cuba, it is going to be the Cubans, outside Cuba and inside Cuba. They should, from my point of view, my advice is to focus on the essential. What are the important factors? To not be divided, to meet together and try to reach a consensus or an agreement on 10 points, for example, where they all agree, and not to talk about where they don’t agree. Because in a democracy, everyone has their differences, there are actions, but the important thing is that they are in a military dictatorship, and if the people don’t meet together, they won’t have much chance of prospering. So they should concentrate on the essential and look for points of agreement, not disagreement.

            Journalist.- One of your priorities is also to help dissidents in Cuba. How do you intend to help the anti-Castro opposition?

            James Cason.- Well, as I said before, by offering information, moral and spiritual support, letting them know that they are not alone, that the world knows what is happening in Cuba. One demonstration of this is the fact that many of the leaders have received human rights awards from Europe and other parts of the world. So the world knows what is happening in Cuba, and we are there to tell them about this fact and to help them in any way possible.

            We do not give them, it isn’t true that we are financing the opposition, as Castro says. The opposition is insisting on the fact that the system has failed, and we are there to offer them the support of the American people and the rest of the democratic world in what they are doing, which is demanding the basic human rights that Cuba signed in the Declaration of Human Rights, in the universal declarations, and has not fulfilled in all these years.

            After reading these public statements by Mr. Cason, how unfair it would be to say that the government of the United States and the chief of its Interests Section are interfering in any way whatsoever in the internal affairs of Cuba, or that the “noble patriots” gathered there were counterrevolutionaries on the payroll of the United States!

January 9, 2003

            James Cason had informed the Foreign Ministry that he would be traveling to Pinar del Río with four other USIS officials. He was informed in turn that this trip would not be authorized.

            It was known that Cason was planning to meet with several individuals. That same day, a USIS employee transported nine boxes containing radios and literature sent to counterrevolutionaries in that very province.

January 16, 2003

            Cason participated in a function held in the home of ringleader Héctor Palacios Ruiz for the launching of a markedly counterrevolutionary book, associated to the so-called “independent libraries” project. The book had been presented at book fairs in Guadalajara and Miami.

January 19 to 25, 2003

            Over the course of six days, James Cason and Ricardo Zúñiga went on a tour through the provinces of Las Tunas, Holguín, Granma, Santiago de Cuba and Guantánamo. They had filed their request to make private visits, however, what they actually did was to take material supplies to the counterrevolutionary grouplets, in order to strengthen and unify the so-called “opposition” and establish contacts with the religious sector.

            Particularly significant were Cason’s statements about the existence of something called the “6000 miles” plan, consisting of systematic tours throughout all of the country’s provinces, aimed at encouraging and supporting the counterrevolutionary grouplets with resources to ensure their development.

            As if we were back in the days of the U.S. intervention after our last war of independence against Spain, there was the proconsul of the empire organizing a political party.

January 29, 2003

            The Ferro cement boat Cabo Corrientes, from the Isle of Youth, was hijacked and taken to the United States. The Cuban authorities presented a diplomatic note requesting the return of the four hijackers. The United States has still not responded to the Cuban note requesting the return of the hijackers, who were immediately released.

February 6, 2003

            A Cuban border patrol boat was hijacked and taken to the United States. At this time, it is still not known whether the U.S. authorities have pressed charges against any of the four hijackers. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs presented a note to the USIS demanding the return of the hijackers and protesting over this new anti-Cuban action. The State Department has yet to respond to that note.

February 7, 2003

            In the evening, there was a function at Cason’s residence in honor of a visiting U.S. cultural delegation. Among those in attendance were 21 members of grouplets and five diplomats from the USIS. There, Cason consolidated a practice he had begun in late 2002: including counterrevolutionaries in official USIS social functions, to which he also invited Cuban professionals.

February 22, 2003

            Cason gave a press conference to a group of foreign journalists accredited in Cuba where he criticized our country and claimed that the Cuban authorities were afraid of letting books and other materials into the country. He noted that works by Martin Luther King Jr., John Steinbeck and Groucho Marx were among a shipment of books seized by Cuban authorities after being shipped in by the U.S. government. Of course, he failed to mention the openly counterrevolutionary and subversive works that came in the same shipment.

            An AP wire story under the headline: “James Cason denounces the seizure of books sent by the United States” reported in some paragraphs, and I quote:

“American diplomats were told it was a ‘firm decision by the government’ not to allow the books into the communist-run country for distribution to dissident groups, including independent libraries, U.S. Interests Section Chief James Cason said.

“’They said it wasn’t the books, but who we were going to give them to,’ he told a small group of international reporters. He said the American mission has imported similar books in the past.

“’It’s fear of losing political control,’ said Cason, who arrived in Havana five months ago.’”

February 24, 2003

            James Cason and two other officials from the Interests Section participated in a press conference held in the home of ringleader Martha Beatriz Roque, organized to commemorate no less than the anniversaries of the beginning of the war of independence and the shooting down of the airplanes from the Miami terrorist mob organization known as Brothers to the Rescue.

            Foreign press correspondents interviewed Cason. In addition to answering questions, he read a document and made public declarations that were openly interventionist, offensive and defiant towards the Cuban authorities. He called on the other diplomatic missions based in Havana to follow the example of the USIS.

            That same day, the above-mentioned terrorist organization, Brothers to the Rescue, beamed an illegal television broadcast at our country from international airspace. Despite the fact that the Cuban authorities had warned the government of the United States before February 24 of the plans for this broadcast, and had clearly established that this would constitute a violation of the regulations of the International Telecommunications Union, the U.S. authorities did nothing whatsoever to prevent the broadcast.

February 28, 2003

            It was known that U.S. prison authorities, following instructions from the United States Department of Justice, had imposed a regime that violated the human rights of our five heroes, confining them to what inmates call ‘the hole’.

            They had gone too far.

March 6, 2003

            In my speech at the closing session of the National Assembly of People’s Power latest meeting, I made statements responding to the offensive interview given by the Interests Section chief during his get-together with counterrevolutionaries on February 24.

            I should note that I did not make these statements earlier, because in the midst of the colossal effort we are carrying out to overcome obstacles and advance our revolutionary programs, I did not know in detail the extent of the insolence, temerity and audacity of Otto Reich’s envoy.

            I said, among other things:

“This past February 24, on none other than the day we commemorate the beginning of the last war of independence called upon by Martí, a gentleman named James Cason, head of the United States Interests Section in Cuba, met in an apartment in Havana with a group of counterrevolutionaries paid by the U.S. government. They were gathered, no less than to commemorate the Cry of Baire, a date of patriotic symbolism that is sacred to our people. Other diplomats received invitations, but only this illustrious character attended the event.

“However, he would not limit himself to discreetly attending. Asked by a journalist if his presence there did not in fact confirm accusations made by the Cuban government, Cason replied, ‘No, because I believe they have invited the whole diplomatic corps, and we as a country always support democracy and people who fight for a better life. I am here as a guest.’

“‘I am not afraid,’ he answered simply in response to a question from another reporter, as to whether his presence at the oppositionist activity could not be taken as an unfriendly gesture towards the Cuban government, which denounces dissidents as subversive groups.

“Then, rudely and offensively, he added in perfect Spanish, ‘Sadly, the Cuban government is afraid, afraid of freedom of conscience, afraid of freedom of expression, afraid of human rights. This group is demonstrating that there are Cubans who are not afraid. They know that the transition to democracy is already underway. We want them to know that they are not alone, that the whole world supports them. We as a country support democracy, and people who fight for a better life and for justice."

“The news story reporting his statements said, ‘Although foreign diplomats often meet with dissidents, it is not usual for them to appear at public events or express opinions on the government to the press.’”

Mr. Cason concluded his statements by saying, “I am here as a guest, and I am going to go around the whole country visiting all the people who do want freedom and justice.”

At that time, I added, “Anyone can see that this is a shameless and defiant provocation. It would appear that both he and those who ordered the offensive performance by this bully with diplomatic immunity were revealing that they are in fact afraid. Otherwise, his behavior was so odd that anyone could rightly be wondering how much alcohol was served at that ‘patriotic’ event.

“Actually, Cuba is so much afraid that it will calmly take all the time needed to decide on its course of action regarding this bizarre official. Perhaps the numerous U.S. intelligence agents working at the Interests Section could explain to him that Cuba can easily do without this office, a breeding ground for counterrevolutionaries and a command post for the most offensive subversive actions against our country. (Applause) The Swiss officials who represented the US interests for many years did an excellent job, and did not engage in espionage or organize subversion. If this is really what they want to provoke with such insolent declarations, they could show some honesty and courage and say so. Someday, no matter when, the American people will send a true ambassador of their country, ‘fearless and untarnished,’ as they used to say about Spanish knights.”

March 7, 2003