Radio Havana Cuba - Viewpoint - 24 September 2000 23:45 Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 24 September 2000 23:45 Viewpoint: LIES AND COMPLICITY OF US AUTHORITIES: NEW EVIDENCE Granma Editorial published Sept 24, 2000 Havana, September 24(RHC)-- Cuba has urged the US government to put an end to the criminal Cuban Adjustment Act. In an editorial published in today's edition of the daily Granma entitled "New Evidence of the Lies and Complicity of the U.S. authorities," the island's authorities asked the White House to end its complicity with all criminal actions perpetrated by the anti-Cuba Mafia elements in Miami. Cuba's authorities denounce that the recent acts of piracy against the island are simply the result of Washington's criminal policy towards Cuba, particularly the so-called Cuban Adjustment Act, which has been in place for the past 34 years. The Granma editorial makes reference to an incident that occurred on August 2nd, in which a Cuban fishing vessel was hijacked in Boca de Calafre, Cuba's westernmost province of Pinar del Rio. Four crew members were drugged by the captain of the ship, who later picked up accomplices and headed towards Florida. However, recalls the editorial, U.S. authorities declined to bring charges against the hijackers, arguing that no conclusive evidence was found, indicating any violations of the U.S. and Cuban laws. Only 6 days after the hijacking of the Cuban fishing vessel, news of a new human tragedy involving undocumented Cuban immigrants began to come in from Miami, regarding the discovery of the bodies of two young Cubans devoured by sharks off the coasts of Florida. News agencies reported that the U.S. authorities had rescued the decaying body of a Hispanic on the Atlantic Ocean and that another body, according to witnesses, was dragged into deep water by a shark in an area commonly used by Cubans trying to reach the U.S. territory illegally. Following Washington's continued refusal to provide any information on the death of the two brothers, claiming that they had no information at all indicating that the two young Cubans, Juan Carlos and Alexander Rodriguez Bueno, were the victims of any acts of human trafficking, the Cuban authorities then decided to provide their U.S. counterpart with irrefutable evidence, proving that it was actually another case of human trafficking. A speedboat from Florida, was spotted in the coastal town of Cojimar August 8th, when it took illegally from 14 to 18 undocumented Cuban immigrants to the United States. All undocumented immigrants on board arrived safe in Florida, except for the Rodriguez Bueno brothers. Why has not the FBI questioned Josue Soto Hernandez, one of the two traffickers who picked up the Human cargo and took it to the U.S.? Why has not the U.S. government ordered an investigation into the death of the two Cuban brothers?, asks Granma. The Cuban news daily also denounces the latest act of air piracy against the island, the hijacking past Tuesday of a small Cuban crop duster aircraft, which later crashed into the Gulf of Mexico on route to Florida with ten people aboard, including three women and three children. As a result of the plane crash, a young man died and others were seriously wounded. Despite the irrefutable facts that a Cuban plane was stolen, that the irresponsible attitude of those involved brought about the loss of a human life and that the lives of innocent children were place in danger, adds the Granma editorial, the U.S. authorities continue to insist that no crime was committed, nor any violation of the U.S. or Cuban laws. The editorial then concludes by affirming that Cuba will never abandon its struggle to demonstrate to the world the criminal nature of Washington's policy towards Cuba, which is based on lies, intolerance, weakness and the complicity of the U.S. authorities in each and every criminal actions committed by Washington's mercenaries, terrorist allies against our country. Finally, Granma urges the well-intended U.S. media to investigate these cases and reveal the truth to the U.S. public. An honest, objective report, concludes Granma, could save many lives. In the face of Washington's continued violations of the bilateral U.S.-Cuba Migratory Accords, Cuban grassroots organizations have convened a protest demonstration tomorrow, Monday, in front of the U.S. Interests Section in Havana. (c) 2000 Radio Habana Cuba, NY Transfer News. All rights reserved. ================================================================= NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org e-mail: nyt@blythe.org ================================================================= rhc-eng-24412 2000-Sep-25 00:12:32