One day after Cuba intercepted a vessel from Florida with ten armed men on board, Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernández de Cossío expanded on the official information this Thursday and revealed that Havana not only acted, but also communicated with Washington.
Since authorities identified the boat’s U.S. origin, Cuba has been in communication with the State Department and the Coast Guard. The Deputy Foreign Minister confirmed that, through existing bilateral mechanisms, Havana will request information about those involved, the means used, and other details of the case. The answer is that Washington showed a willingness to cooperate.
Among the items seized on the vessel were assault and sniper rifles, pistols, Molotov cocktails, night-vision equipment, bulletproof vests, bayonets, camouflage clothing, ammunition of various calibers, combat rations, communication devices, and monograms of counterrevolutionary terrorist organizations. It was not an impromptu voyage.
Of the group of ten, four did not survive: Manuel Ortega Casanova, Ledian Padrón Guevara, Héctor Dani Cruz Correa, and Pavel Alin Peña. The remaining six are Christian Ernesto Acosta Guevara, Con Ramos Galindo, Sergio José Manuel Rodríguez Castelló, Leonán Cruz Gómez, Mijail Sánchez González, and Roberto Álvarez Ávila.
Fernández de Cossío also took the opportunity to correct an error from the previous day: Rolando Roberto Azcorra, mistakenly mentioned in the initial report, was not part of the group. He does, however, have a history of involvement in violent actions against Cuba.
The information, the deputy minister cautioned, remains preliminary. More details will be released in the coming days.
President Miguel Díaz-Canel reaffirmed the right to self-defense against any terrorist or mercenary aggression and unequivocally supported the actions of the security forces on Falcones Cay, in the municipality of Corralillo, Villa Clara province.
Cuba has been denouncing acts of this kind—organized, financed, and carried out from U.S. soil, according to Havana—for more than six decades, and Fernández de Cossío was explicit: what happened is not an isolated incident. It is the most recent expression of a pattern that has intensified in recent years, fueled by an impunity that Cuban authorities have long denounced to the international community.
IMAGE CREDIT: The Cuban government announced further details for the coming days, as the investigation progresses. Photo: EFE
[ SOURCE: teleSUR ]
