Interview with Ricardo Alarcon

Interview with Ricardo Alarcon
Saul Landau
Progreso Weekly, 13 February 2003

en español

On January 25, 2003, Cuban Vice President Ricardo Alarcon granted me an
interview. I share his remarks with my Progreso Weekly readers.

Saul Landau: You’ve observed the Bush war on terrorism. Is
it working?

Ricardo Alarcon: Terrorism is a real problem that has to be
effectively answered and the American strategy since 9/11 is not
eliminating terrorism. It’s waging war and killing people. Maybe among
some of those killed from the bombs were terrorists, but it’s simply false
to pretend that by promoting more violence and disseminating violence all
over the world you are really attacking the sources of violence and
terrorism. It’s a real tragedy.

On the other hand, there’s a legal obligation for every state to cooperate
bilaterally, at the sub-regional, regional, and multilateral level in
accordance with UN Security Council resolutions that were drafted and
introduced by the US delegation. It has to be obeyed by every UN member.
Cuba is a member of the UN. So is the US The resolution adopted on
September 28, I think, after 9/11 specifically asked for concerted efforts
by agreement, bilateral, regional, and sub-regional, to fight terrorism,
drug trafficking and to fight other forms of transnational crimes. The
US-drafted resolution adopted by the UN Security Council clearly
established the connection between those phenomenon.

And we know that they are well connected. We have the Cuban Five. Five
Cubans were detained in the US, condemned and sentenced to very harsh
terms. During the judicial process it was clearly documented, first that
terrorist activities are launched from southern Florida against Cuba.
Second, that some of those active are also connected with drug
trafficking. Third, that those activities not only affect Cuba, but also,
even the US and its citizens and its property.  Some of those Cubans
arrested were also cooperating with the FBI and at their request they
tried to verify not only the terrorist activities in which some of those
groups in Miami were involved, but also their involvement in drug
trafficking.

In 1998, a group of people were caught in Puerto Rico, en route to
Margarita Island, where they were planning to assassinate President Castro
who was attending an international conference there. After they were
acquitted, the owner of the boat was taken back into custody because he
was under investigation for drug trafficking in the same boat, using the
same weapons that they intended to use kill Fidel Castro.

Landau: Didn’t some Cubans skyjack a plane and fly it to
Florida about a month ago? What happened to them...and the airplane?

Alarcon: The Cubans are free. I think that was a clear
violation of international law and of the agreement that we have with the
US But it goes beyond that. What actually happened? Somebody entered
into US airspace without authorization, without flight plans. Suppose
that guy would have been an Al Qaeda terrorist! Is it alright in
southern Florida to enter US airspace without authorization? And because
you’re a Cuban you will be not punished but gratified with admission and
freedom to move around? I think that Americans should make an issue of
that and remember that it was also in Florida that a young American boy
took a small plane and crashed it into a tall building in Tampa; somebody
crazy enough to try to imitate what happened on 9/11. A small plane may
also be used as a small weapon, to kill people and damage property. Can
you take a small plane and fly it over Washington D.C. and New York City
now?

But Miami is another country. You can do whatever you want in southern
Florida. Why? Because you have an area of US territory under the control
of a group of terrorists that have been plotting terrorism against Cuba
with official support from the US for 40 years. The plane was not
returned to Cuba. I think it was auctioned, that’s the word, and somebody
bought the plane.

Things in Dade County, Miami, would surprise, astonish, Americans living
in other parts of your country. It’s the only place where you can plot
terrorism against Cuba, of course, and get US government support. These
days security is so important an issue, the leaders of your government are
scaring people all over; yet, at the same time they permit lawlessness and
absence of security in the segregated republic of Dade County where you
can do anything apparently with US government backing if your effort is
aimed at destroying Cuba. The goal of the mafia living in Miami is to
recapture Cuba.

Terrorism and violence, crimes against Cuba, have been part and parcel of
US policy for almost half a century. Now, unfortunately, Americans have
learned for the first time what terrorism is, organized and promoted from
abroad. We condemn that. There’s no justification for 9/11. But the only
honest, effective answer would be to have a US policy that instead of
promoting war, instead of tolerating and promoting terrorism right now
against Cuba, that actually and consistently opposes all forms and
manifestations of terrorism from any where in the world, including the
US territory.

Turning back to the case of the 5 Cubans, that was a disgrace. They were
condemned for trying to fight terrorism in your country. It’s a disgrace
that nobody in the big media in the US even mentioned what happened on
12/14/01 and repeated on 12/27/01, when a court in Dade County sentenced 2
of those Cubans, US citizens by birth. The judge imposed on 3 of them
the harshest sentence possible and he added additional special conditions,
and I quote, "for their supervised release the day they serve their
sentence".

They were prohibited from visiting places in Miami where it’s known that
real terrorists frequent. Look at the contradiction, just three months
after 9/11, the Attorney General and Federal Judge recognized that there
are terrorists in your country. And it’s known where they are. No one
arrests them. On the contrary, at the request of the government federal
courts are prohibiting US citizens not to dare pretend to be around or
do anything against those terrorists.

The US does not fulfill its obligations to fight
terrorism. It’s protecting terrorists. The most quoted phrase by President
Bush or ever repeated by him refers to the same idea every time he speaks.

"Those who harbor a terrorist are as guilty as the terrorist himself".
Agreed! Is the US government innocent or guilty of protecting
terrorists? Can you at the same time be effective in fighting terrorism in
this war?

Landau: Do you think if the anti-Castro terrorists had an
"Abu" or "Bin" in their name it might have made a difference?

Alarcon: (laughs) Maybe.

Landau: I remember, more than 30 years ago when planes were
being hijacked to Cuba from the US and the Cuban government said we
won’t accept anymore of this and that stopped the hijackings. I can’t
recall any planes that have been hijacked to Cuba recently, but there are
regularly Cubans who hijack planes to the US Do you think that the US
doesn’t understand that this sets a precedent?

Alarcon:30 years ago we kept telling Americans that you’re
playing with fire. The hijackings began, from Cuba to US The first
hijacking was on January 1, 1959. The Batista people that escaped and
landed in your country by plane or boat without visas, passports and
authorization, yet all of them were warmly received by US authorities.
That was the beginning of this whole story. Then commercial planes were
hijacked from Cuba to the US, using violence. We always said this was
creating a new form of international crime and that was the case.

So, Americans started doing the same thing the other way. We stopped that.
We said this is wrong and we won’t admit anyone and we will punish you. On
one occasion, a plane was hijacked by 2 Cuban Americans and we returned
the plane to the US as we always did.

Since that moment, no more planes came from the United States to Cuba.
Lately, we have a series of hijackings of small planes and boats from Cuba
and the US fails to return them, the perpetrators or planes. They are
repeating history. That was the way the hijackings began in the 60s.
Probably, there aren’t many people in the administration who read books
and who would find the facts of how that terrorism was developed in the
60s and 70s. They are again playing with fire, using double standards and
displaying irresponsibility, a lack of maturity and rational approach to
the way an official should behave.

We have a different ideology, different political perceptions, but people
in government must have a sense of responsibility. If not, go into private
life. Nobody has the obligation to be president, the secretary of
something or attorney general. You must pledge allegiance to respect
certain principles of the constitution and law. If you can’t, go manage
your own business. But you should not be a person with responsibilities.
And that’s a big problem with the US government.

Landau: Are you suggesting that Washington officials have
memorized only the first three words of the old Christian adage: do unto
others?

Alarcon: (laughs) It’s important not to rewrite history.
9/11 was when Allende was overthrown and killed. Airplanes also
attacked buildings in Santiago, including La Moneda palace. And from that
moment, thousands of Chileans were killed, tortured, disappeared and so
on. And it was well known that the US was not innocent in that. The US
was very committed and guilty of that big crime.

It’s an insult to Latin Americans to talk about 9/11 like it never
happened before. 9/11 was a terrible crime against a people. Neither 9/11
1973 or 2001 could be justified. 9/11/80 was also the day when a friend of
mine, Felix Garcia, was assassinated in Queens, New York by a Cuban
American terrorist. The assassin is living in Miami today, probably
walking around having some Cuban coffee. I can give you his address.

It’s simply shocking that in your country right now in its big war against
terrorism, you have convicted terrorists who have killed Americans in
downtown D.C. [referring to Virgilio Paz and Jose Dionisio Suarez who pled
guilty to conspiring to assassinate by a car bomb Orlando Letelier.
Letelier’s American colleague, Ronni Moffitt, also died in the blast,
organized by the Chilean secret police] or NYC or Miami that are free.
Those people were freed by Attorney General Ashcroft in July and August
2001. They watched TV on 9/11 as free men and didn’t have any concern that
they could be taken into custody for questioning because they know that
they belong to terrorist activities that will continue to have support
from the same government.

Landau: I believe even the FBI opposed the release of
Dionioso Suarez and Virgilio Paz.

Alarcon: Weren’t they invited to the Bush speech on May 20
in Miami? I don’t know. I read a story that Orlando Bosch was among the
guests of honor that appeared very close to President Bush on the front
row. Apparently, some White House advisor realized that it would be a
little too much if he smiled and shook hands with the most notorious
terrorist according to the FBI. Mr. Bosch was not in the front row, but
was transferred to the front row of the gallery and could be seen in the
media coverage. And I understand that Mr. Aquit [refers to Reynaldo Sixto
Aquit Manrique, aka El Chino Aquit, arrested while pouring gasoline on a
Miami warehouse in 1994] was on then platform with Bush, a man with a
terrible history of terrorist actions, just two rows behind the President.
Some of those people had not only committed crimes against Cuba but also
against Americans on US soil.

These perpetrators have special connections. Not everybody can attend the
special gathering or drink with the President. Those who harbor the
terrorists are as guilty as the terrorist himself? What about those who
harbor and embrace and get together and have dinner together and have
drinks with the terrorists?

Landau: Aren’t these also the people who continue to support
the embargo?

ALARCON: The embargo has consequences for Cubans and also affects
Americans who are denied their right to travel to Cuba. They can travel to
North Korea, not to Havana, because there’s a travel ban against Cuba.
Americans are denied their right to trade with Cuba. It’s in the interest
of American farmers and others to have normal commercial relations with
Cuba, as is the right of American students to go to Cuba, those who love
movies, to come to the Latin Film Festival, or those who love jazz to
attend one of best jazz festivals or book fairs in Latin America. Why
should Americans be deprived of certain rights because the government
wants to serve the interests of a small, aggressive mafia that wants to
recover Cuba and their property?

Landau: The justification for the embargo and travel ban is
to punish Fidel. Has he missed a meal?

Alarcon: (laughs) No. Those who suffer are the elderly,
children, and women about to deliver babies. But many Cuban Americans know
that, that’s why tens of thousands of them travel to Cuba and send
remittances to help their families. The only group that is narrow and
small minded and that don’t care are the rich Cuban Americans who don’t
care if an old lady dies for lack of a particular medicine or if a little
boy suffers from malnutrition in Havana or in Miami, where by the way,
people also suffer for other reasons. They want to go back to the good old
days for them when they lived well in Cuba while our population were
starving and suffering at that time.

Copyright 2003 Progreso Weekly