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The Cuban revolutionary process
is irreversible
• Emphasizes well-known researcher
Salim Lamrani • He criticizes U.S. double standards
on terrorism and the complicity of certain
international media, who describe notorious
terrorists like Posada Carriles as “anti-Castro
militants”
BY FIDEL VASCOS —Special for Granma
International—
PROFESSOR Salim Lamrani works as a researcher at the
Paris VII University, and is a well-known expert on
relations between Cuba and the United States. He
publishes articles internationally, and gives
lectures on these and other issues, including
Venezuela, at many institutions throughout the
world.
Currently, he is investigating U.S. foreign policy
on Cuba from 1952 to 1963, the period extending from
Fulgencio Batista’s coup d’état to the assassination
of U.S. President John F. Kennedy. Lamrani
contributed two papers to the 9th International
Conference of Economists on Globalization and
Problems of Development recently held in Havana.
What
relationship does current U.S. policy on Cuba have
with the so-called war on terrorism?
“The
U.S. government has a doctrine of good and bad
terrorists; it is a double standard on the question
of terrorism. According to them, there is a certain
type of terrorism that can be justified,
particularly terrorism against Cuba. In its turn,
the international media accept this doctrine of good
and bad terrorists by shamelessly and blatantly
censoring the entire history of anti-Cuba terrorism.
In the name of what ideological amnesia do they
refuse to talk about the attack on the Cubana
Aviation airliner in October 1976 that killed 73
people? The media does not talk about that issue, it
censors it. Also, why don’t the international media
address the case of the five Cubans imprisoned in
the United States? These Cubans who, risking their
lives, justly infiltrated terrorist factions
operating in U.S. territory with the goal of
preventing them from carrying out terrorist actions
against Cuba.
“There is another very revealing case: that of
Posada Carriles. Luis Posada Carriles is a notorious
criminal, a notorious terrorist. That is affirmed by
CIA and FBI documents. He was the mastermind behind
the attack on the Cubana Aviation plane.
Nevertheless, the United States does not want to try
him as a terrorist. Now it is accusing him of having
lied to U.S. authorities. Instead of bringing him to
trial for killing 73 innocent people, it is doing so
for his illegal entry into the United States and for
lying to U.S. authorities. This is a form of
protection for him, because it is not charging him
with what he is: a terrorist.”
You
mentioned the role of the international media on
this issue.
“The
international media accept this doctrine of double
standards. According to the international media,
Luis Posada Carriles is not a criminal, but an
‘anti-Castro militant.’ Luis Posada Carriles is,
according to the media, a former terrorist. This is
a way of absolving him through the media. The
international media are active accomplices in
terrorism against Cuba, because they not only censor
history, but also transform notorious terrorists
into simple anti-Castro militants. In order to be
persuaded of Posada Carriles’ guilt, we have only to
read his autobiography, in which he brags about his
long terrorist career. We have only to read the
interview he gave The New York Times, in
which he affirms that he was the mastermind behind
the wave of attacks on the Cuban tourism industry in
1997. There are all types of evidence on Posada
Carriles’ guilt. The international media cannot be
uninformed of this reality, and by not publishing
it, they are accomplices to anti-Cuba terrorism.”
What
is the European Union’s position on this U.S.
government policy?
“Unfortunately, the EU is participating in the U.S.
government policy of intervention in Cuban internal
affairs. It actively participates in this
intervention, does not respect the concepts of
sovereignty and independence, and submits to the
U.S. government’s policy of aggression. The European
Union is undeniably an economic power, but it is a
diplomatic dwarf. The EU is playing a shameful role
of lackey, which is why it has very little power.
That is why Washington does not respect Europe’s
sovereignty. We saw that in early January in Norway,
when a Cuban delegation was thrown out of a hotel
that belongs to the Hilton chain, implementing an
extraterritorial law. Norway’s sovereignty was
violated. Washington ridiculed the dignity of the
Norwegian people, and the European Union has not
said a single word.
The
EU is using the issue of human rights to justify its
aggressive position against Cuba. It says it is
willing to discuss this issue on a
non-discriminatory and reciprocal basis. A
non-discriminatory basis is, in fact, impossible,
because the European Union only imposes political
and diplomatic sanctions on Cuba. It does not impose
this policy on any other country in the world.
What
should the EU position on Cuba be?
“The
European Union should take an independent,
constructive and rational position and should
respect the values of sovereignty and independence.
Cubans don’t tell the EU what kind of political,
economic or social system it should adopt, and the
EU does not have the right to tell the Cuban people
what they should be doing in their own country. The
Cuban revolutionary process is irreversible. There
is no going back. It does not depend on a single
person; it is deeply rooted in the heart of Cuban
society. And that is something the European Union
has to understand, and it needs to hold a dialogue
based reciprocally on a mutual respect, and not
impose anything.
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