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
6:14
p.m.
