Cuban Foreign Minister condemns Trump's aggressive UN speech
Telesur | Wednesday, 20 September 2017 | Click here for original article
Interview with Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Cuba, by Jorge Gestoso, Telesur journalist, at United Nations headquarters, September 19, 2017,
Jorge Gestoso.- Mr. Chancellor, thank you for being with us.
Bruno Rodríguez.- Thank you very much.
Jorge Gestoso.- Your reaction to this morning's speech by Donald Trump.
Bruno Rodríguez.- It has been an unusual, aggressive, dominating, blatantly imperialist discourse. I was surprised by the manipulation it makes of the subject of sovereignty, which means sovereignty for the United States, enslavement for all others; completely ignores the concept of sovereign equality that inspires the United Nations.
His attack on Venezuela: brutal, unjustified, arbitrary. Call for additional actions against Venezuela. What do you mean, the armed option, something worse? And I want, then, to condemn his words, to reiterate Cuba's absolute solidarity with the Bolivarian and Chavista people, with their civic-military union, with the government headed by constitutional president Nicolás Maduro Moros.
Their threat of destruction of a country on the Korean peninsula is extraordinarily serious. It threatens to ignite the Korean peninsula with a necessarily nuclear conflagration, which could endanger all humanity. A conflict that can not have, in no way, a military solution.
The government of President Trump is the government that lost the popular vote, which also has a very low popularity among those who pay taxes in this country; without the least moral authority to criticise Cuba, a small country, an island of solidarity that has extensive international cooperation, a government of recognised cleanliness and transparency, a noble and hard-working people, the seat of the peace process of Colombia, a recognised country as a stability factor. And the head of an empire, responsible for most of the wars that occur today on the planet and that is a factor of profound global instability and very serious threats to peace and international security.
I strongly reject President Trump's proposals.
Jorge Gestoso .- It was heard the possibility of breaking relations with Cuba, or that they would be significantly reduced. Your reaction?
Bruno Rodríguez.- Well, the President did not say it in his speech. These are topics that I will discuss later; I will speak in the next few days in the general debate, and I will be able to refer to the issues on the international agenda, including bilateral issues with the United States.
Jorge Gestoso.- Finally, his reaction to the horrible earthquake that has just lived Mexico of 7.0 and, so far, dozens of dead, a tragedy!
Bruno Rodríguez.- After the recent earthquake, just on the anniversary of the terrible earthquake that struck Mexico City, I expressed to the Mexican Government, the Mexican people and their delegation here our deep condolences. Also the relatives of the victims, the victims, and we are available to Mexico.
In the same way that we are mobilizing our efforts to contribute to the islands of the Eastern Caribbean, particularly Dominica, which has been devastated in a very serious way. We have 36 Cuban employees there and we are finding a way to get more help.
Jorge Gestoso.- Thank you very much, Chancellor. Thank you very much for being with us.
Bruno Rodríguez.- Thanks to Telesur.
This interview, by TeleSur, was originally published in Spanish
