National Committee to Free the Cuban Five

Cuba Demands Response from US President to Involvement of US Diplomats in Havana with Miami Terrorists and Mercenaries on the Island

May 22, 2008
Reprinted from Radio Havana Cuba

Havana, May 22 (RHC)-Cuba´s Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque gave a press conference, Thursday in Havana reiterating the island´s stance on the violation of international law by US diplomats serving as facilitators between terrorists based in Miami and mercenaries on the island.

The top Cuban diplomat said that the US government must respond to this serious accusation. "We have the right to know", said Felipe Perez Roque.

"We demand President Bush, the Secretary of State and the US government in general to respond to this serious accusation", said the Cuban Foreign Minister.

He stressed that Washington has not denied Cuba's denunciations and they have evaded the issue regarding the involvement of its US diplomats as facilitators between a notorious terrorist and small counterrevolutionary groups in Cuba.

Felipe Perez Roque that the US diplomats invovlement in the ties between terrorists in Miami and mercenaries on the island is a violation of Cuba and US laws in addition to violating international conventions and norms of international law.

The Cuban Foreign Minister said that there were three aspects that both sides agreed to on May 30th, 1977 and which is in compliance with the Vienna Convention: 1) The two Interests Sections would serve as a channel of communications between both governments; 2) The offices, located in Havana and Washington, would offer consular services; 3) Both sides would comply with international law.

"As if this was not enough", said Felipe Perez Roque, "the US diplomats in Havana once again carried out a provocative action on Wednesday by inviting a group of mercenaries to the residence of one of the diplomats in Miramar neighborhood for them to listen to President Bush's speech which was irrevelent and cynical".

The United States government must respond

"Think it over, be accountable, the evidence is extensive,"
stated Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Pérez Roque,
speaking of the serious charges which involve personnel from
the U.S. Interests Section in Havana

May 26, 2008
Reprinted from Granma International

• Carina Soto (Moderator)

Good morning.

Welcome to the press conference of the Foreign Minister of the Republic of Cuba, Felipe Pérez Roque.

Minister, present are representatives of all the national media, as well as a broad representation of the accredited press in Cuba, 83 correspondents from 59 media outlets in 22 countries. This press conference is also being broadcast live by Cubavisión International and Radio Habana Cuba.

Minister, you have the floor.

Felipe Pérez:

Good morning to all of the correspondents

We thank you for your presence here today, Thursday, during this week that’s been so busy, so entertaining and now, about to end.

I have called you here in order to call upon the President of the United States, to call upon the Secretary of State Condolezza Rice, to call upon the government of the United States to respond, to stop avoiding questions that are floating in the air and have not been answered, as to the public revelations of murky relationships between anti-Cuban terrorists in Miami, U.S. diplomats accredited in Havana and U.S. mercenary groups operating in our country.

I have called you here in order to reiterate Cuba’s demand that the president, the secretary of state and the government of the United States must respond. We have the right to know. You, as journalists, public opinion, our people, the people of the United States have the right to know about the sinister plot, not as yet completely unmasked, concerning this incredible connection, about which much information has appeared over the last few days.

We call upon the president of the United States, we call upon Secretary of State Condolezza Rice, we call upon the government of the United States to stop avoiding the question, to stop offering excuses, to end the silence and stop hiding. We call upon them to show their faces and respond to the serious charges that have been made. And we call upon them to explain the farce orchestrated yesterday by the president of the United States in the White House.

Three days ago we exposed the scandalous conduct of U.S. diplomatic officials accredited here in Havana, in particular the chief of mission of the U.S. Interest Section in Havana, as the facilitator of contact and money shuttling between the terrorist Santiago Alvarez and mercenary groups in Cuba.

As of yet, the U.S. government has not denied these charges and has avoided discussing the illegal conduct of its officials, who were caught in the act, functioning as vulgar emissaries of a terrorist who is, as well, currently serving a prison term in the United States.

Let’s see what the Department of State spokesperson, Mr. McCormack said, when asked about the issue.

He was asked directly: "Is there a policy that specifically prohibits U.S. diplomatic personnel from serving as channels for the delivery of cash to would-be dissidents in Cuba?" That is the question. "Is there a policy prohibiting this? He answered, "I am not informed as to the regulations that govern this."

He was asked again: "The Cuban accusation is that the chief of the Interests Section has been delivering funds in cash from private groups." A terrorist, violent group, a man in prison in the United States, is being called a private group. The political opposition is what they are calling what we have seen here over the last few days, mercenaries fighting among themselves, greedy for money. The spokesman’s response: "Well, the Cubans are saying that it’s the Interests Section chief who is into this. I don’t know specifics," he said, "I am not aware of the mechanics."

He was asked again: "But the chief of the Interests Section, can he send money?" McCormack’s response: "Look, I can’t, you know, I am not here to discuss the specifics of this. I’m sure we can find some expert."

Then one of the journalists said to him: "Well, you are here to answer questions that we have about the issue.

They asked him: "If you have not come to respond, what did you come for?"

With these evasions, and stammering, is how the official, the authorized spokesman for the State Department has responded to the issue.

We, as you will understand, were thoroughly entertained viewing that footage.

Mr. Thomas Shannon, assistant secretary of state for Western Hemispheric issues, has said with respect to the issue: "The United States has a well-known policy of offering humanitarian aid to the Cuban people and we will continue this policy and this practice."

We are left in the same situation. Once and for all, is this authorized or prohibited? Does the U.S. government support or condemn this behavior?

In response to the issue, the assistant secretary for Latin America only has evasions and stock phrases which say nothing on the subject, but beyond not providing any answers, his response reflects the assistant secretary’s brutal cynicism in saying that they have "a well-known policy of humanitarian aid to the people of Cuba." He was speaking in the name of the U.S. government, which has intensified its blockade and persecution of the Cuban people to a schizophrenic level, which has tried to strangle us, kill us with hunger and disease and his statement that they have a well-known policy of humanitarian aid demonstrates a total lack of scruples. But he does not answer.

Then comes the U.S. Interests Section, which doesn’t show its face publicly, but distributes a communiqué which Washington clearly directed it to do. It put out a communiqué. What does it say, the communiqué from the U.S. Interests Section that hasn’t shown its face?

"We allow private U.S. organizations to do it as well."

I understand "to do it as well" to mean like our Section chief has done.

"This assistance has no political ends, but is rather meant to satisfy the daily needs of families struggling to survive in the current system."

This is what the Interests Section communiqué said.

It appears to us that the charges – very serious charges -- have not been fully addressed and we have therefore come to reiterate the seriousness of the issue and the need to consider it and offer the public a response.

Moreover, it is cynical that the same government that has instituted the laws and all the blockade regulations, is denying Cubans resident in the United States the right to send remittances to their relatives in Cuba. This same government, through its diplomatic personnel, is acting as an intermediary for terrorist elements like Santiago Alvarez and his accomplices, who are sending money to Cuba, not to their relatives, but to mercenary elements in order to promote subversion in Cuba, support their policy of blockade and aggression against our country. That has nothing to do with humanitarian aid; it is money to pay for the services of these paid agents and mercenaries.

It is so totally cynical that the same diplomatic agents in charge of supervising the policy that prevents Cubans living in the U.S. from sending money – economic help – to their relatives here, that these same people are acting as the couriers, emissaries and money-carriers for mercenary groups in Cuba, in an act, unprecedented really, in the annals of the history of Cuba’s diplomatic relations.

It has become evident that the United States government has been incapable to date of seriously responding to these accusations and we, therefore, wish to clearly reiterate the events that have been revealed this week and which are very serious.

There are three key elements within everything that has been published. First, the participation of diplomatic personnel from the U.S. Interests Section in Havana in the delivery of money from the well-known terrorist Santiago Alvarez – resident in the United States, imprisoned there – to mercenaries in Cuba, to mercenaries of the U.S. policy in Cuba; not only as couriers, but also as emergency money advancers. That is to say, the mission chief of the Interests Section has put up money to cover the expenses of these mercenaries until Santiago Alvarez could pay him back. That is a fact.

Secondly, very seriously. For their part, these mercenary elements in Cuba, in exchange for the money received from Santiago Alvarez through the U.S. diplomats in repayment, let’s say, for moneys received, helped Santiago Alvarez – currently in prison in the United States – at the time when he was being prosecuted, to obtain a reduced sentence for possession of a weapons arsenal with which to perpetrate attacks on Cuba, because they gave him documents sent from Havana, that have permitted this terrorists to present himself as a benefactor of the human rights cause, as someone who "supports groups in Cuba who are struggling for human rights," and not as a terrorist. This facilitated the reduction of his sentence.

We have before us, therefore, a case in which Cuban mercenaries, based in Cuba, provide documentation via the U.S. Interests Section, to play a role in the trial of a terrorist accused of possessing an arsenal of weapons to be used against Cuba, in order to support a reduction of his sentence. An act of the utmost seriousness.

It would seem to me necessary to focus on the content of these two documents, which were released this week. The first is the message from Mrs. Marta Beatriz Roque, in which Carmen Machado, close collaborator of the terrorist Santiago Alvarez, said the following to Marta Beatriz: "I want to ask for a big favor… If it can’t be, don’t feel bad or worry, because the Friend (Santiago Alvarez) will understand. I need a letter from you – signed by you – about the relationship we’ve had with the Fundacion Jurídica and of which…" that support and that relation – "you know the main collaborator is Santiago Alvarez. We need a letter from you saying that."

"The letter should be addressed to Judge James Cohn" — the judge who is looking at the case of this man here. "This judge is the one who will have the last word on how many years they are going to give our Friend, and the one who can reduce it to what he’s been promised." It has been promised to Santiago Alvarez that his sentenced will be reduced, and that is why a letter has to be given to the judge saying that Santiago helped the mercenary groups here in Cuba who are fighting – according to the U.S. government – for human rights. "This letter would only be seen by the lawyers" – of the terrorist, "ours," she says, "and by Judge Cohn." The U.S. Attorney, who represents the state, would not have access to, would not see the letter.

In other words, Cuban mercenaries write a letter to help a defendant to get his sentence reduced, and the U.S. Interests Section in Havana helps them to do so, and there is a conspiracy against the U.S. Attorney, who, in his turn, represents the state, so that he won’t know about the letter, which would only be seen by the judge and defense lawyers. "…the help that we have given you and other relatives of political prisoners (Biscet) and those we have yet to help... This would give legitimacy to his the proceedings" — Santiago’s.

"Please, if you can, I would be infinitely grateful to you."

They make this request of her. And Mrs. Roque and other mercenaries in Cuba draw up the letter and send it.

Later on this other document appears, where Martha says to this lady (Machado):

"I have to tell you that there is a serious problem with the document I did for them and that I sent you about the money received" – from whom?, from Santiago Alvarez – "because the young woman from the Roosevelt Center lost the original with my signature" – there in the U.S. Interests Section – "who, as you can imagine, must work for State Security because she works in the Interests Section" – I don’t know why she is making that association and that accusation against the young woman who works in the Roosevelt Center. "I reported this – the mercenary says – to Michael Parmly and they said that they would see what they could do" – to find to find the original letter that was lost --. A copy has been used over there, but now the original isn’t turning up – "It’s a serious problem, because it’s a sure thing that Security will pull out the original paper on the roundtable [TV/radio news program], or in a book." She continues, "I wanted you to know that and to tell my friend, whom I’m proud of, too." Because he has sent her the message that he is proud to see how she is fighting to have his sentence reduced.

I’ve wanted to emphasize the seriousness of this subject: U.S. diplomats in Havana have conspired with mercenaries in the service of the United States here in Cuba, together with a judge in Florida and defense lawyers, to reduce the sentence for terrorist Santiago Alvarez, with a document made and transferred via the U.S. Interests Section and its correspondence mechanisms.

Therefore, I believe that the U.S. government must answer for this new axis that has been created: the axis of Cuban-born terrorists in Miami/U.S. diplomats/U.S. mercenary groups in Cuba. This is the second element; therefore, Cuba expects an exhaustive investigation by the U.S. government into this serious event, and Cuba expects the outcome of that investigation to be made public. We have the right to know.

There is a third element that has been exposed this week. I already stated the first one: the participation of U.S. diplomats in the movement of money between terrorist groups and mercenaries in Cuba; the second, the participation of these same actors in conspiring and helping to reduce the sentence of an imprisoned terrorist; and third, the illegal conduct of the U.S. Interests Section in Havana, which is encouraging, financing, organizing, directing and monitoring in detail, in detail. Let’s recall that "CNN, Wow!" In other words, staying on top of the detail of the [media] coverage, of who’s there, of what’s done. They are monitoring, directing, financing, and organizing the realization of provocative activities by mercenary elements in Cuba to destabilize the order in our country. There are three very serious elements involving U.S. diplomatic personnel in Havana.

The mercenary character of these so-called dissident groups, I think, has also been irrefutably shown; their servile nature, the way they receive instructions and money, not only from the U.S. government, but even from terrorist groups – from whoever is willing to put up the money.

I want to emphasize that these actions violate Cuban law; they violate the laws of the United States and they violate conventions and norms of international law.

What would happen if Mrs. Martha Beatriz Roque and the mercenaries that have been mentioned during these days were living in the United States, and they were accused of receiving money from a terrorist group acting against the United States via Cuban diplomats or from another country? What would happen if this was discovered and they were tried in the United States for receiving money from terrorist groups that want to take action against the United States? What does U.S. law stipulate? What did President Bush say? "Whoever encourages a terrorist, or harbors a terrorist, also becomes a terrorist." Weren’t those his words?

So, we are here today to ask, what does the U.S. government know about this whole plot? What does the secretary of state know? What does she have to say? Was she informed that her diplomats were conducting themselves in this way in Havana? Now that she does know, what does she think? Does she clearly see that her diplomats are acting as couriers? Does she support Mr. Parmly in his activities as courier and emissary of money from terrorist groups to mercenary groups in Cuba? What do they have to say? What does the U.S. government say? It should say something.

Does it oppose or condemn these acts, or is it covering them up; does it condemn them or support them? What does the U.S. government say? What has it investigated? What does it have to say about this new axis of connections between terrorist groups, U.S. diplomats and mercenary groups? We call on them to set aside their evasive, stammering language and seriously face up to facts whose serious nature cannot be diminished or concealed.

That is the main reason for this summons. The U.S. government must speak, it must say whether or not it agrees, or whether or not it will investigate these actions, where crimes are being committed that violate U.S. and Cuban laws and where international law is being violated.

The illegal conduct of the U.S. Interests Section in Havana is a violation, in the first place, of the bilateral agreement between the Cuban and U.S. governments that led to the creation of the Interests Section, which goes back to May 30, 1977. In that agreement, it was established that interests sections were being created "to facilitate communication between the two governments," and to "carry out routine diplomatic and consular functions," for which, both parties – the U.S. government and the Cuban one – "reaffirmed their commitment to that which is established in international treaties that govern diplomatic and consular treaties." It was a reaffirmation of the content of those treaties.

What does the Vienna Convention for Diplomatic Relations – which is the key document here – what does the 1961 Vienna Convention say? It says, "The functions of a diplomatic mission consist of: representing the sending State in the receiving State; protecting in the receiving State, the interests of the sending State and of its nationals, within the limits permitted by international law; negotiating with the government of the receiving State." In other words, regular diplomatic functions, as everybody knows. "Promoting friendly relations" – it says it is the duty and function of diplomatic representations – "and developing their economic, cultural and scientific relations."

The U.S. Interests Section in Havana functions attached to the Swiss Embassy in Cuba, and all of this is also a violation of and an offense to Swiss diplomacy, which agreed to represent those interests in Cuba and ours in the United States, putting them in an extremely awkward position as well.

These are its functions. Nowhere is it accepted that the functions of a diplomatic representation should be to finance, lend money, serve as a courier, direct or organize political groups opposing the government before which they are accredited; all of those are violations.

Moreover, in Article 41 of that Vienna Convention, in Paragraph 1, it says, "Without prejudice to their privileges and immunities, it is the duty of all persons enjoying such privileges and immunities to respect the laws and regulations of the receiving state. They also have the duty not to interfere in the internal affairs of that state… The premises of the mission must not be used in any manner incompatible with the functions of the mission…"

Well, converting the USIS into a general staff and its facilities into a convention center for mercenary groups to carry out their activities and conspire is in complete violation of the Vienna Convention, and the United States government knows it; therefore, we are calling on them, because they do not permit diplomatic representations accredited in the United States to act in this manner. So we call on them to respond, to stop hiding, to show their faces and explain to the public what they have to say about these serious and extensively proven acts.

But moreover yesterday, in the midst of this situation, the U.S. Interests Section mounts and orchestrates another provocation against Cuba and organizes a meeting in the residence of one of its officials on 7th and 24th streets in Miramar. This house has become — as I said — a sort of convention center for the counterrevolution in Cuba and for mercenary groups of the United States. It organizes a show there with all of these people – some of whom have been completely exposed in the last few days – for nothing less than to listen to President Bush’s speech. All of that, in the middle of this situation, as if what has been said and discussed were nothing. They went there to hear, to applaud like crazy… Some of them have stated that they were really moved to see the president on television, that it was really enriching for them. There are their statements, which give an idea of the slavish nature of some of these people.

So, they went there, they applauded, they thought everything was great and they heard Bush’s speech.

Regarding Bush’s speech and that whole spectacle at the White House, I have to say that it was a decadent show, an irrelevant and cynical speech, an act of ridiculous propaganda in bad taste. That is what I have to say about yesterday’s events, because really it should be said that President Bush is a used-up ruler, a president on the way out, packing his bags to head for his ranch in Texas, discredited; a politician who is overwhelmingly rejected in his own country.

President Bush is less popular today than President Nixon was in the midst of the Watergate scandal, when he was on the verge of having to leave the presidency, a real record – as has been stated – a man who shames the U.S. people; a man with whom the Republican Party candidates and his own fellow party members won’t be seen in public, nor do they want his support, because it would affect their electoral aspirations; a pestilent man, a man that people flee from. That is the reality. That is today the president of the United States, who is withdrawing and leaving the presidency after having been the president who ordered illegal invasions, the murder of hundreds of thousands of civilians, torture, illegal flights, kidnappings of people; who appeared in public defending torture. In other words, a man who developed a policy solely in the service of his little friends, of powerful oil interests and part of the U.S. circles of power.

That is the man who is leaving. What is his legacy? What is he leaving behind? Well, yesterday, the show in front of that same audience, one of the few groups that still applaud him in the United States, the Cuban mafia groups from Miami, which are a minority in the Cuban community in the United States. He has nothing else to do; this is a show there, nobody is paying any attention to it. The election campaign is happening without him participating in it; they are fleeing from him. If he goes here, the Republican candidates go there; they don’t want to have anything to do with him; he is affecting them, he’s giving them a bad vibe. That’s the man we’re dealing with, irrelevant, the one that everybody looks at with a mixture of ridicule and repugnance. That is the truth. That is the man we are dealing with. He stands up there and threatens Cuba, says a few incoherent sentences, three sentences that he tries to say in Spanish. That is the decadent, mediocre show that we have seen.

That is what we think about his words.

But if there is one matter that should be emphasized, because President Bush did something yesterday, in the middle of that whole mediocre farce; to put – which he did in his speech yesterday – a singer from Miami at the same level as José Martí, to pay tribute to a singer from Miami, to say that he was at the same level as Cuba’s national hero, José Martí; to do that in Washington, two days after the anniversary of José Martí’s glorious fall in combat, is a serious insult to the dignity of the Cuban people, which we condemn and reject in the name of our people. The Cuban people will never forget an insult of that magnitude.

That is what we have to say, that is our reaction to these events and the public appearance yesterday by the U.S. president.

Moderator .— Well, for questions, I would ask you that as you are called on, please identify yourselves with your name and the media you represent.

Morgan Neil (CNN) .—Mr. Minister, Morgan Neil, of CNN...

Felipe Pérez .—Wow!!! (Laughter.) Go ahead, go ahead, Morgan.

Morgan Neil.— I would like to ask, given the seriousness of the accusations that we’ve heard this week, is Cuba considering breaking off relations with the United States?

Felipe Pérez.—Well, relations between Cuba and the United States were broken…

Morgan Neil.—Well, existing relations.

Felipe Pérez.—They were already broken off by them; so, what is it you want to know?

Morgan Neil.—If you are considering closing down the U.S. Interests Section, which is involved in the things that you have explained to us today. I mean, given the seriousness of these accusations, if you are considering something like that.

Felipe Pérez.—What I can say, Morgan, at this time, is that we are waiting for the U.S. government to account for itself and take the appropriate measures for rectifying the conduct of its diplomats in Cuba. This is a countdown. They know what needs to be done. The seriousness of the events reported should not be underestimated.

Fernando García (La Vanguardia).—The principle is the same. Given the seriousness of the accusations, I would like to know if any type of criminal proceeding has been started, or will be started, against the individuals accused, all things considered, of serious crimes, as I understand it.

Thank you.

Felipe Pérez.—Well, this is an investigation about terrorism and its connection with subversion in Cuba; this is an anti-terrorist investigation, and this investigation is ongoing; it has not concluded, and it is going to continue. Therefore, we are still in the process of investigation; the pertinent authorities have informed us that the investigation is underway into all of these actions, and we have to wait until the investigation goes forward and ends.

Moderator.—Apparently there are no more questions. Carlos Iglesias.

Carlos Iglesias (Yomiuri Shimbun).—Well, I am here along with the chief correspondent for Latin America, Isaku Kotera. So, he still has some questions, because, well, perhaps we’ve missed something in the analysis of all the documents we’ve seen.

Felipe Pérez.—I understand, moreover, that in Japan, understanding this plot…

Carlos Iglesias.—Yes, it would be difficult.

Felipe Pérez.—It is complex, because they are events that I would imagine they have never seen before.

Carlos Iglesias.—One of the questions he has is whether or not Rescate Jurídico sent money to Martha Beatriz Roque. If any of the evidence speaks to her having received the money.

Felipe Pérez.—Ample evidence: acknowledgements of receipts, signed vouchers, thank-you letters. There is abundant and conclusive proof on the matter.

Carlos Iglesias.—In the case of the chief of the U.S. Interests Section: what was the quantity that he moved and when did these events happen? I think it was in 2006, right? According to what I understand from the documents.

Felipe Pérez.—Well, public information has been provided on at least three of the operations for the personal supplying of money by the chief of the Interests Section, and they are not the only ones.

Carlos Iglesias.—Even if Santiago Alvarez is personally connected with Luis Posada Carriles, is there any evidence, within what has been demonstrated, that the Fundación Rescate Jurídico is connected with Posada Carriles?

Felipe Pérez.—Well, that is a subject that is under investigation, it is still an open question, because there is constant reference to other benefactors of the foundation, there is talk of other donors. They are issues that remain open questions and that need to be answered.

The U.S. government should investigate and publicly report the result of its inquiries.

Carlos Iglesias.—Thank you very much.

Felipe Pérez.—Thank you.

Moderator.—Will Weissert, for the last question.

Felipe Pérez.—No, look, give it to the one who was starting to object there in the back.

Moderator.—We’ll give it to him too, afterward.

Felipe Pérez.—But it’s not your turn yet, first…

Moderator.—It’s that they raised their hands afterward.

Felipe Pérez.—Go ahead, go ahead. What media are you from?

José Luis Paniagua.—From EFE.

Felipe Pérez.—From EFE, you’re Paniagua (Laughter).

Moderator.—Well-known.

Felipe Pérez.—Hold on. Paniagua got mad and was going to leave (laughter). Hold on, hold on.

Will Weissert (AP).— I ask everyone to please be patient with my Spanish, which sometimes fails me; but I have two small questions.

Felipe Pérez.—It’s better than Bush’s, that’s for sure (Laughter).

Will Weissert.—But that’s not saying much. (Laughter).

Felipe Pérez.—That’s true, it’s not much.

Will Weissert.—I have two small questions. First, internationally speaking, the amount of money that we have seen in this case does not seem like much to me. In other words, we’re talking about $200 a month for food or Internet questions; in the world, outside of Cuba, this amount is not seen as something that can change someone’s life. So, I would like to know if you have any comment about that.

My second question is whether or not there will be any official response from Cuba against Mr. Parmly in the future; if he is going to be expelled from the country, or if there will be a diplomatic letter from Cuba to Washington referring personally to him. And if there is no formal response, it may be seen that Cuba is tolerating this in a certain way; if there is no concrete response from Havana, people will think that this type of thing is tolerated in this country.

Thank you.

Felipe Pérez.—Thank you, Will.

Well, on the first question, in the first place, there has been talk of part of the money that can be seen running from the United States to Cuba. This has only been a small sample.

In the second place, the U.S. government itself has said that it has approved more than $45 million in funds for this purpose for this fiscal year; just for this year, $45 million, just what has been approved by Congress for using through USAID and other agencies. That’s not counting the money handled by its special services, which is outside of this control; what they give to other front organizations. But well, $45 million for one year is a figure.

On the other hand, $200 monthly in Cuba, where these mercenaries do not even have to pay for their children’s education, or health care – they are probably the owners of the homes that the Revolution gave them title to through the Urban Reform Act – they don’t have to pay rent either, $200… Part of their food needs is subsidized, broadly and heavily subsidized, even more so now; and $200 at 20 to 1 is 4,000 Cuban pesos. That is more than 10 times the average wage in Cuba, more than 10 times.

You all saw the budgets that these mercenary groups use for their operations. The Foreign Ministry is envious of those levels of budget and money, for carrying out subversion and working against their country and their people in the service of a foreign power, and to live off of that and steal part of it for themselves.

So, yes, it is money. In Cuba’s conditions, $1,500 monthly, which is the fixed base salary of lady who is receiving part of the money, $1,500 monthly is a higher salary than that certain correspondents here receive from their agencies and their media. It is money in Cuba; in Miami, no, it’s not enough, because living costs are very high there, medications; if you they have an elderly person in the house, it is very expensive. But $1,500 in Cuba is a lot of money.

But the most serious thing is not the amount of money, but the source: receiving money from the government that is blockading your country, that wants to kill your people through hunger and sickness, to help them apply the Helms-Burton Act, to go and "snitch on" investors in Cuba, to give them information on how to do it better, to improve and tighten the screws of the blockade more, to lend yourselves to campaigns that serve to discredit your country and justify aggression against it. The most serious thing is the source.

There is one of them out there who has come out today saying: "I couldn’t care less where the money comes from;" what’s important is the money. Those are the freedom fighters who Bush supports, for overthrowing a revolution whose founders did so without the help of any foreign power whatsoever.

There is the testimony in History Will Absolve Me, and the way the money was obtained: the martyr who sold his job as a driver in a beer distribution company; he sold his job to contribute that small amount of money to the fund for buying weapons and preparing the assault on the Moncada. The Revolution that was made by the martyr photographer selling his tools, the ones he earned a living with, to contribute; the Revolution that was made with the centavos and bonds sold by the 26th of July Movement, which came from the tradition of José Martí, who had collected money from the tobacco workers in Tampa, the working-class sectors of Cuban emigrants.

So, to come here to try to present themselves as freedom fighters for this country, taking money from the government that is blockading their country. The Cuban people is a people that cannot be underestimated; their political culture, their dignity, their sense of dignity, which has led them to resist in an upright manner, without surrender, the blockade and the pressures.

The subject is not money, which is a lot in Cuba’s conditions, but the source: money stained with dishonor. But moreover, now, money stained with blood, with terrorists. They have taken money from one of the men who attacked the town of Boca de Samá, where they killed several patriots, where they left that young woman legless, the one who once said here in a public event: "I could never again be happy in my life. I could not wear shoes when I was 15." A man who participated in that, who participated in the attack, in yet another of all of the attempts to assassinate Fidel; the man whose voice was heard here saying: "Throw the little cans," and blow up the Tropicana nightclub. Blood-stained money, not just stained with the dishonor of the government that is attacking their country. Everywhere in the world, that is called -- and always has been throughout history – a mercenary: someone who works for a foreign power.

In the War of 1868, in the War of 1895, in the Revolutionary War and in the U.S. war for independence from England, and in the world wars and in all wars, that is severely punished. And Cuba is a country at war, subjected to an undeclared, economic, media, psychological and political war, and the crime they are committing, Will, is a serious one.

And the money is, in Cuba, money that allows them to squander, waste and conspire against their country and against their people, who have had to resist the hard years of the Special Period, and who see them showing off their money, and who now know much more about this subject, logically.

About the other subject, we have, in a systematic and ongoing way, had our continuing protests, our denunciation of these actions, sent to the authorities, to the U.S. government, the State Department. The Cuban government’s admonishments are extensively documented. Yesterday on television, Josefina Vidal, director of the North America Department of the Foreign Ministry, spoke at length and presented the proof, the evidence on this matter, and really, we are going to do it again, and we will continue to admonish; but we have a message for the U.S. government: "Reflect, account for yourselves; investigate; show your face and give explanations, because the issue is a very serious one and the evidence is very extensive and very solid."

Go ahead, Paniagua.

José L. Paniagua (EFE).—I would like to ask about an aspect that has been commented on in European circles. Some countries believe that what has been happening in recent days isn’t doing much to help those countries that are trying to advocate the definitive end to sanctions on Cuba. I don’t know whether or not you have any comment on that.

And, perhaps related to this, I understand that in Lima you met with diplomats from the European Union, from the Commission. I was wondering if you could give us any details on those meetings.

Felipe Pérez.—Well, I haven’t read those articles, nor have I read any official statements from any European Union representative, or from any member state, questioning Cuba’s right to publicly denounce the outcome of an investigation on terrorism, and I don’t think, moreover, that they would have any reason to do so. That is, I have not seen them do so, as you have seen; I have not read that, and I don’t think they would have reason to do so. Cuba is acting in the legitimate exercise of its sovereignty and its prerogatives, and I think that what must be done is to demand that the United States government explain these extremely serious actions, and this murky relationship between its diplomats and terrorists, mercenaries, and all of this illegal activity that violates U.S. and Cuban law.

I did have contact with European representatives in Lima. I met with Benita Ferrero, the European Union Commissioner for External Relations; I had contact with other European foreign ministers and authorities, and we discussed the state of relations between Cuba and the European Union, and reiterated our position of Cuba’s right to defend itself against foreign aggression and the blockade, and Cuba’s hope that the European Union will maintain an independent policy on Cuba, and that the 2003 sanctions, which are presently suspended, will be finally lifted. That would create an appropriate environment for moving forward.

We are interested in relations with the European Union as we are in those with any other country, but they have to be relations based on respect for sovereignty, sovereign equality, and non-intervention in the internal affairs of countries.

Cuba is respectful of everyone else, but demands for itself the same respect that it lavishes on others.

Thank you.

Moderator.—Thank you very much, minister. Thank you very much for your presence.