The
truth about arrest of Czech citizens who encouraged subversion
• Ivan Pilip and Jan Bubenix
were working on missions assigned to them in the United States by the counterrevolutionary
organization Freedom House, with the intention of destabilizing the country •
‘If you desire a decent solution to the problem, you should admit that we are right,
appeal to our generosity, and never again commit the error of questioning our truth nor
putting our resolution to the test,’ confirms a declaration from the Cuban Ministry
for Foreign Affairs.
A detailed report from the Ministry for
Foreign Affairs (MINREX) highlights that the detention of Czech citizens Ivan Pilip and
Jan Bubenix, caught while encouraging internal subversion in the country, on the orders of
the U.S. counterrevolutionary organization Freedom House, was a legitimate act of defense
of Cuba against those who violated its laws and assaulted its security.
"The government of the Czech Republic,
as part of the campaign launched to question the Cuban charges, have continued to maintain
that our country’s accusations against the two Czech citizens are false.
"Out of lack of information, prejudice
or malice, representatives of other countries have echoed this fountain of lies and have
expressed opinions which, due to their content and nature, are damaging to the people and
government of Cuba," asserts the document which has been released to the press and
published on the Foreign Ministry’s website.
Ivan Pilip and Jan Bubenix violated their
status as tourists and—complying with directives given by Freedom House—held
meetings of a conspiratorial nature with members of small subversive groups in Ciego de
Avila province, to whom they tried to provide the resources necessary to complete their
program of subversive activities, designed by the U.S. government through the guise of
Freedom House to undermine the Revolution.
The report specifies that both agents
arrived in Cuba at José Martí International Airport on January 8, on flight CBE-7538
from Cancún, Mexico. Before their arrival in our country they had spent a few days in the
United States, where they met with Freedom House officials including Robert Pontichera,
the institution’s program director, who proposed to pay for a visit by Pilip to Cuba,
accompanied by a friend, with the aim of contacting small subversive groups there.
The investigations undertaken by the Cuban
authorities confirmed that Pilip and Bubenix arrived in New York at the beginning of
January. On January 6, during a dinner, Pontichera gave them the names of people opposed
to the Cuban government whom they were to contact in Cuba, and instructed the Czechs to
converse with them to gain information about the country’s political, economic and
social situation.
Pontichera gave them a list of names and
$1,400 USD to cover accommodations, rentals and meals, for which they would have to
provide receipts, and provided them with a laptop computer and various accessories
including floppy discs and compact discs to be handed over to the people they would meet
with in Cuba. He explained to them that on their return from the island they should
contact the Freedom House representative and brief him on the outcome of the visit and the
information gathered.
The two agents’ return itinerary would
be Havana-Cancún-Miami-Washington, and they would spend a few days at that final
destination.
Pontichera also informed them that the names
of the people with whom they met in Cuba should be registered in their electronic
organizer using a code to prevent Cuban authorities from obtaining the information in case
of arrest.
From investigations into the Czechs’
stay in Cuba, it is known that when they arrived in our country they rented a car with the
plates T-005267 which they used to travel to Matanzas, Cienfuegos and Sancti Spíritus,
like the average tourist taking a trip around western Cuba. On January 11 they moved on to
Ciego de Avila, the first point of contact, according to the list of names given to them
in the United States.
In this province they visited two known
counterrevolutionaries with whom they discussed the topics specified by Pontichera, and
tried to gain the information desired by Freedom House. The list of names and addresses
was protected by electronic security.
"The task entrusted to Pilip and
Bubenix is nothing new in our country. It represents yet another example of the Czech
Republic’s attempts to interfere with and destabilize the Cuban revolutionary
process," states the report, which recounts in detail these attempts over the last 10
years.
Information from MINREX confirms that in
reply to the arrest, Czech President Vaclav Havel has made statements against our country,
aimed at offending and slandering a people whose bravery, heroism and devotion to the
truth is impossible for him to imagine. It emphasizes that one day the world will know the
truth about these "democratic defenders of human rights"—that is, if any
memory of them is preserved in history.
"The Czech government forgets that Cuba
is a sovereign country which does not allow its laws to be violated with impunity and has
the right and the jurisdiction to try and punish those who commit crimes in our Republic,
as is the case with Mr. Pilip and Mr. Bubenix."
"They have put forward the argument
that Mr. Pilip is a deputy in the Czech Parliament, but Mr. Pilip traveled to Cuba as a
tourist, not as a politician. Therefore, according to international law and the Vienna
Conventions concerning Diplomatic Relations and Special Missions, that Czech citizen does
not qualify for immunity because he was neither acting as a diplomatic agent nor as a
member of a special mission. What is more, in these cases international law states that he
should obtain permission for the visit from the Cuban state, which he did not do,"
according to the report.
"We have irrefutable proof of the facts
published in this report about the conduct of the above-mentioned Czech diplomatic
officials and the arrested citizens Ivan Pilip and Jan Bubenix," assures MINREX.
Further on, the report adds: "At the
height of our present moral and political strength, we cannot harbor feelings of revenge
against any nation or any citizen in this world. Above all, we are following the truth and
defending our honor.
"Recognize with honesty what has
happened and apologize to our people. This will have more effect than all the lies and
insults; more than all international pressure; more than NATO and its bombings and
missiles; more than the power of all the rich countries and all their money rolled into
one.
"If you desire a decent solution to the
problem, you should admit that we are right, appeal to our generosity, and never again
commit the error of questioning our truth nor of putting our resolution to the test,"
confirms the declaration issued by the Cuban Ministry for Foreign Affairs."
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