A new political and media escalation by the United States against Cuba is now seeking justification in the 1996 downing of two planes belonging to the terrorist organization Brothers to the Rescue for violating the airspace of the Caribbean nation.
However, days after the events that resulted in the deaths of the four crew members of the pirate aircraft, media outlets in that country indicated that the White House was well aware of the intentions of José Basulto, the leader of the organization.
The Miami Herald reported at the time that U.S. authorities were aware on February 23rd that year that Brothers to the Rescue would be flying toward Havana the following day.
The publication noted that then-presidential advisor Richard Nuccio made the comment to a group of attendees at a performance by the Cuban National Folkloric Ensemble, which was visiting Washington.
The National Security Archive (NSA) yesterday declassified Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) documents related to the events leading up to the downing of the Brothers to the Rescue planes in 1996.
Internal reports and emails from the FAA anticipated “the worst-case scenario.” “One day the Cubans will shoot down one of these planes,” high-ranking U.S. officials warned, according to the publication.
The documents revealed internal communications, warnings, and assessments from the U.S. government regarding one of the most tense episodes in U.S.-Cuba relations during the 1990s.
According to one of the declassified emails, a month before Cuban MiG fighter jets shot down two Cessna airplanes off the coast of Cuba, an FAA official mentioned the “new provocations to the Cuban government” by Brothers to the Rescue overflights.
The text highlights the State Department’s concern about a “catastrophic scenario” in which “the Cubans will one day shoot down one of these planes, and the FAA had better have everything under control.”
High-ranking U.S. officials, including Assistant Secretary of State Peter Tarnoff and Transportation Secretary Federico Peña, repeatedly expressed their concern to the FAA about the potential permanent suspension of Brothers to the Rescue flights, according to files declassified on May 19.
The documents repeatedly warned that Cuba’s red lines for protecting its security had to be taken seriously.
They further state that their efforts to pressure the FAA to limit Basulto’s activities failed.
Only after the downing did the FAA issue a specific “cease and desist” order against Basulto for what it described as “negligent or reckless” operations that “endanger the life or property of others.”
Among the most relevant elements, the documents highlight that several U.S. officials warned, months before the incident, that the repeated incursions and aerial provocations over Cuban territory could lead to a serious outcome.
The book *Back Channel to Cuba: The Hidden History of Negotiations Between Washington and Havana*, by William LeoGrande, a Cuba specialist at American University, and Peter Kornbluh, a senior analyst at the Archives, provides further information.
Its pages reveal that on the night of February 23, Richard Nuccio emailed National Security Advisor Sandy Berger, alerting him to Basulto’s intentions to fly the following day.
“Previous overflights by José Basulto of the Hermanos Raíces have been met with restraint by Cuban authorities,” he reported that day. “However, tensions in Cuba are high enough to raise concerns that this could ultimately lead the Cubans to attempt to shoot down or force the plane to land,” he warned.
The book explains that Nuccio called FAA officials in Miami and ordered them to block the flights, and to his surprise, they refused.
The United States also ignored repeated requests from Cuba to prevent these incursions into its sovereign airspace.
The book details multiple unofficial attempts by Cuban leaders, including Fidel Castro, to contact President William Clinton’s administration to halt the Brothers to the Rescue flights.
Far from taking action to prevent the incursions, as requested by Havana and as required under the Chicago Convention, the White House remained silent and allowed Brothers to carry out its actions with complete impunity.
The United States’ culpability in these tragic events was evident then and remains so now.
[ SOURCE: PRENSA LATINA ]
