TARGET YUGOSLAVIA: NATO's WAR OF AGGRESSION/Friday, June 11, 1999 Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit CUBANEWS FROM RADIO HAVANA CUBA E-mail: rhc@radiohc.org http://www.radiohc.org TARGET YUGOSLAVIA: NATO's WAR OF AGGRESSION Friday, 11 June 1999 Radio Havana Cuba presents its coverage of the U.S.-led NATO aggression against Yugoslavia. ----------------------------------------------------------- RUSSIA UNEXPECTEDLY DEPLOYS PEACE-KEEPING TROOPS IN YUGOSLAVIA Amid irritation in Washington and NATO, Russia has unexpectedly deployed peace-keeping troops in Yugoslavia, on the border with Kosovo. Annoyed at NATO and the US's refusal to grant Russia a relevant role in the peace-keeping operation, Moscow dispatched Russian troops from Bosnia, wearing the KFOR peace-keeping insignia and cheered on by Yugoslavia's Serb population. Though the Kremlin has assured the military alliance that, for the moment, Russian troops won't enter Kosovo, many observers believe the move could occur at any moment. The head of the Russian military delegation, General Leonid Ivashov, stated that his troops don't plan to be the first to enter Kosovo, but neither will they be the last. Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said his country must begin preparations, as have the forces of NATO member countries. The deployment of Russian troops led US Undersecretary of State, Strobe Talbott, to abruptly abandon Moscow, where he was negotiating Russia's participation in the peace force. But Talbott refuses to grant Russian troops an independent sector in Kosovo, stating that NATO must be present in every sector. RADIO HAVANA CUBA'S VIEWPOINT / Thursday, 10 June 1999 On Wednesday, the Kosovo peace talks that are being pursued in Macedonia were put off for another 24 hours after the negotiators failed to reach agreements under which Yugoslavia will withdraw its forces from the province of Kosovo and an international peace force be installed in their place. And so another 24 hours of bombing took place and lives were lost because some detail could not be ironed out in time. As this report is being prepared NATO has announced a cessation of bombing and Yugoslavia has begun to withdraw its troops. The US press was quick to lay the blame for the previous impasse at the feet of the Serbian negotiators. USA Today reported they had balked at NATO's conditions to end the bombing. NBC News used the same terminology as well as frequently accusing Yugoslavia for, quote, "stalling". The sticking point was Belgrade's demand that the peace force be under the auspices of the United Nations which is internationally recognized as the body that should carrying out such a mandate. However, it has emerged that the breakdown in talks was the result of US-led NATO manipulation in which, contrary to previous agreements, NATO attempted to sideline the United Nations from any agreement. In fact, NATO generals actually unsuccessfully tried to get Yugoslavia to sign a document in which the UN was not mentioned at all. It was a blatant and dishonest effort to reduce or eliminate the role of the UN from control of the peace force. It seems that the peace accords brokered by Russia are bearing fruit in spite of US and NATO bad faith and subterfuge compounding their brutality and hypocrisy. RADIO HAVANA CUBA'S VIEWPOINT / Friday, 11 June 1999 The adoption of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244 by 14 votes and 1 abstention has finally paved the way to a United Nations presence in Kosovo - something that many nations feel should have occurred in the first place. In the discussion and debate over the Resolution, Russia, China, the Ukraine, Mexico and Costa Rica among others backed Cuba's position criticizing the role that the United States and NATO took in militarily enforcing their will over the Yugoslav Federation without referring the matter to the United Nations. As such they departed from the recognized mandate of the UN and violated the charter of the UN and all norms of international law, severely undermining the authority of the Security Council to the enormous detriment of the UN and its future role on the world stage. The Resolution accepts the proposals of the seven industrialized nations and the Russian Federation - the Group of Eight - which were agreed to by the government of the Yugoslav Federation on the 3rd June. The Security Council has thus, somewhat late in the day, taken control of the situation and begun the process of setting up an international military force to maintain peace in Kosovo. Having spent billions of dollars in armaments in its brutal and wanton destruction of Serbia, the US is now demanding that Europe pay its share of the undeclared war by footing the bill for the reconstruction of the country that just got through bombing into oblivion. Both President Clinton and Secretary of State Madeleine Albright have insisted on this speaking as if the money came from their own pockets and not those of the people of their nation who will have to foot the bill whilst their leaders rake in the profits from their shares in defence corporations that have made a fortune from the killing and maiming. The Cuban Ambassador to the UN, Bruno Rodriguez, said that the resolution would not change reality. That the conflict had been and would continue to be a US and NATO invasion. It had been seven days since the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia had accepted the proposals. The deliberate destruction of the country had nevertheless continued. Rodriguez reminded the Security Council that some of those claiming to protect human rights had, in the past, supported apartheid in South Africa, cohabited with military dictatorships in Latin America and abetted the oppression of Arabs in the Middle East. They continued to segregate their indigenous peoples. What was being witnessed now was the manipulation of the Security Council . After 79 days of being ignored, the Council was now being used to provide a stamp of approval. The United States was the only nation that benefitted from the weakening of the United Nations. When the US and the Netherlands criticized Cuba for such remarks, the ambassador retorted that it was not for old colonists to teach Cuba lessons in humanity. Words that will no doubt ring in the history books of the future. To paraphrase Fidel Castro: History will absolve us. [c] 1999, Radio Habana Cuba All rights reserved Articles cannot be reproduced, reprinted or published in any system without the consent of RHC. This prohibition includes the distribution of this material via Usenet News, "bulletin board" services, e-mail lists, print media, radio and television. For the complete RADIO HAVANA CUBA NEWSCAST and other features, please write for our daily broadcast schedule. We welcome your comments and suggestions. For further information, contact us at: Postal Address: Radio Havana Cuba P.O.Box 6240 Havana, Cuba Telephone: (53) (7) 791053 Fax: (53) (7) 795007 E-mail: rhc@radiohc.org WWW: http://www.radiohc.org rhc-eng-32563 1999-Jun-11 18:16:06