In recent days, we have been surprised and hurt to see, at the foot of slanderous declarations against Cuba, the signatures of well-known members of the anti-Cuban propaganda machine mixed with the names of some beloved friends. At the same time, there have been statements issued by others, no less beloved to Cuba and the Cuban people, that we believe to be the consequence of distance, disinformation, and the trauma of failed socialist experiments.

Unfortunately, and although this was not the intention of these friends, these texts are being used in the campaign aimed at isolating us and paving the way for United States military aggression against Cuba.

Our small country is more threatened today than ever by the superpower now seeking to impose a fascist dictatorship on a global scale. To defend itself, Cuba has been forced to adopt forceful measures that it naturally did not want to adopt. Cuba cannot be judged on the basis of these measures if they are taken out of context.

It is highly significant that the only demonstration held anywhere in the world to support the recent genocide took place in Miami, under the slogan, "Iraq now, Cuba later". Added to this are the explicit threats made by members of the fascist government leadership in the United States.

These are times of new trials for the Cuban Revolution and for all of humanity, and it is not enough to fight aggression when it is imminent or already underway.

Today, April 19, 2003, 42 years after the defeat of the mercenary invasion at the Bay of Pigs, we are not addressing those who have turned the issue of Cuba into a business or an obsession, but rather to friends who may have been led astray in good faith, and who have offered us their solidarity on so many occasions.

Alicia Alonso

Miguel Barnet

Leo Brouwer

Octavio Cortázar

Abelardo Estorino

Roberto Fabelo

Pablo Armando Fernández

Roberto Fernández Retamar

Julio García Espinosa

Fina García Marruz

Harold Gramatges

Alfredo Guevara

Eusebio Leal

José Loyola

Carlos Martí

Nancy Morejón

Senel Paz

Amaury Pérez

Graziella Pogolotti

César Portillo de la Luz

Omara Portuondo

Raquel Revuelta

Silvio Rodríguez

Humberto Solás

Marta Valdés

Chucho Valdés