OFFICIAL NOTE FROM THE
REVOLUTIONARY GOVERNMENT OF CUBA
Cuba exposes attempt by President
Moscoso to pardon four anti-Cuban terrorists
ON August
14, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs exposed before
international public opinion rumors circulating in
the Miami terrorist mafia media indicating that
Mireya Moscoso, president of Panama, was to pardon
the terrorists imprisoned in Panama and that such a
decision was to be taken August 15 through 30.
Commentaries
both in Panama and Miami on the imminence of a
pardon for the four anti-Cuban terrorists have
increased in the last few hours.
Counterrevolutionary circles in Miami are convinced
that Mireya Moscoso is going to fulfill her promise
of pardoning the terrorists in the remaining days of
her mandate.
Friends in
Panama have confirmed the above-mentioned rumors and
are certain that the president has already taken the
decision to pardon Cuban-born terrorists Luis Posada
Carriles, Gaspar Jiménez Escobedo, Pedro Remón and
Guillermo Novo Sampol, detained, tried and convicted
in the Republic of Panama for the attempted
assassination of Fidel during the Ibero-American
Summit in that country, in which hundreds of people
from that sister nation would also have been
massacred.
The
Revolutionary government denounces this fresh
affront to the Cuban people and reiterates that if
the terrorists serving prison terms in Panama should
be pardoned, the historical responsibility and
consequences derived from such an unworthy decision
will fall entirely on President Mireya Moscoso and
her government.
The people
of Cuba, who have been the victim of the most
ferocious terrorism for more than 40 years, the
families of the more than 3,000 dead as a result of
acts of terrorism, the thousands of wounded, will
never be able to understand this infamous act of
betrayal by Ms. Mireya Moscoso.
The
Panamanian president will face the stigma and
immorality of having released self-confessed
killers, terrorists of the lowest kind. She will go
down in history as a benefactor of terrorism and of
those notorious criminals of Cuban origin.
The infamy
that is about to be exercised constitutes an
aberration from both the political point and legal
points of view. It is worth noting that according to
Panamanian legislation, a pardon in that country is
the prerogative of the president of the Republic,
which in order to be exercised, requires that the
legal process has been concluded and that a
definitive sentence exists. This is not the case
with the proceedings against the above-mentioned
terrorists, which are still at the appeal stage.
Thus, the granting of a pardon in this case would be
an act against Panamanian legislation itself.
It is
extremely clarifying to confirm that the pretext of
age and infirmity utilized from the outset by the
terrorists’ defense lawyers is precisely the one the
president is trying to use to justify her
“humanitarian gesture.” This element should be
sufficient to confirm the source of the pressure and
political blackmail behind this case.
The perfidy
and deceit that went into planning this pardon is an
accurate reflection of the ethical and moral
putridity accompanying this decision.
The release
of the terrorists has been consistently demanded of
Mireya Moscoso by the Miami counterrevolutionary
mafia and capos of terrorist groups operating from
there. It is known that Ms. Ruby Moscoso, the sister
of the Panamanian president, is in constant contact
with the Miami counterrevolution and has been a key
piece in moves for their release.
It is widely
known that during the visit by the U.S. secretary of
state to Panama for the centenary anniversary of the
Republic, he asked for the release of the four
terrorists after the ending of their trial in a
meeting with President Mireya Moscoso.
In the
framework of the current U.S. electoral context the
Bush administration is feverishly seeking the votes
and funds of the most recalcitrant sectors of the
population of Cuban origin in Florida. This
administration has increasingly demonstrated that it
will not be deterred from achieving its political
objectives by any ethical, moral principles, or
those of international law.
Unfortunately, openly ignoring the worthy battle
against terrorism being undertaken by many
governments and peoples in the world, this
Panamanian president is turning her back on justice,
on the victims of the criminal acts of these
terrorists, on the Cuban people, on the Panamanian
people and on all those who are fighting with
honesty against this world scourge.
We affirm
our eternal gratitude to the Panamanian people for
having accompanied us all these long years with
their solidarity and support. The Cuban people and
government will always be able to distinguish
between the actions of the heroic Cuban Panamanian
people and the perfidy of their rulers.
On behalf of
the family members of the victims of acts committed
by these killers and the entire Cuban people, the
Revolutionary government of Cuba is calling on
international public opinion and all governments in
the world to condemn and prevent this irrational
decision by Ms. Mireya Moscoso.
Finally, we
wish to give notice in all seriousness that if the
decision made is not rectified, and the pardon of
the monstrous criminals mentioned above goes ahead,
diplomatic relations between the Republic of Cuba
and the Republic of Panama will be automatically
broken off at the moment of news to that effect.
Havana,
August 22, 2004.
Editor’s
note: At the close of this edition, it has been
announced that Mireya Moscoso, the president of
Panama, has ordered the withdrawal of her ambassador
to Havana, who has immediately returned to his
country.
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