Havana, March 18 (RHC)-- On Monday, March 18th, U.S. Chargé d'Affaires Benjamin Ziff was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs by Deputy Minister Carlos Fernández de Cossío, who formally conveyed to him the firm rejection of the interference behavior and slanderous messages of the U.S. Government and its embassy in Cuba regarding internal affairs of the Cuban reality.

With the delivery of a formal note of protest, the U.S. diplomat was reminded of the minimum standards of decency and honesty expected of a diplomatic mission in any country and which the U.S. embassy in Cuba shows itself incapable of observing, while emphasizing that this diplomatic office and its personnel are obliged to behave in accordance with the norms of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.

At the meeting, attention was also drawn to the direct responsibility of the U.S. government for the difficult economic situation Cuba is going through at this time and, specifically, for the shortages and difficulties faced by the population on a daily basis, with the depression and insufficiency of supplies and essential services, under the weight and impact of the economic blockade designed to destroy the economic capacity of the country.

The ostensible determination of the Government of the United States to limit and hinder every effort of the Cuban State to find solutions and provide answers to the economic and social needs of the country was repudiated.

The destabilizing plan and its execution are evident for all to see. It rests on the reinforcement of a ruthless economic war to provoke and exploit the natural irritation of the population. It is financed every year with tens of millions of dollars from the U.S. federal budget. 

It has a powerful technological infrastructure to exploit digital networks from U.S. territory and for aggressive purposes.  It enjoys the complicity of important media outlets of the major U.S. and international press, and the mercenary support of people based mainly in the southern part of the State of Florida in the United States, whose only way of life is the industry of aggression against Cuba.

If the U.S. Government had a minimal and honest concern about the welfare of the Cuban population, it would remove Cuba from the arbitrary list of States that allegedly sponsor terrorism; it would put an end to the persecution of fuel supplies that the country needs to import; it would stop pursuing every financial transaction of Cuba in the world; it would put an end to the rude persecution against Cuba's medical cooperation programs in the world; it would stop intimidating businessmen, visitors, artists and any person who feels the interest and the right to interact with the Cuban people.   (Taken from Cubaminrex)