Cuba refutes charge that its ambassador in Colombia is a spy

Campaign News | Wednesday, 22 March 2006

Statement from Ministry of Foreign Affairs

THE Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs is aware of an article published in the March 18 edition of the Colombian Cambio magazine, which attempts to defame the Cuban ambassador in Colombia, compañero José A. Pérez Novoa, by accusing him of being involved in espionage activities against the Colombian government.

According to the magazine, these charges are contained in a "detailed document" from the U.S. State Department, based on reports from the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) that the ambassador of that country in Bogotá had presented to the Colombian government.

A mere reading of the abovementioned document makes it totally evident that its sole and unwholesome intention is to try and put obstacles in the way of the excellent diplomatic, economic, cultural and mutually respectful relations maintained by Cuba and Colombia.

As it is widely known by international public opinion, lies and war are the basic instruments of the imperial foreign policy of the United States, and that the fabrication of lies, such as the famous weapons of mass destruction that served as a pretext for the war of aggression launched on Iraq, is a CIA specialty.

Thus, despite its repeated failures, for more than 45 years, the United States has maintained the use of lies and infamy as a cardinal and essential element of its aggressive and cruel policy toward our country.

In its obsession to isolate and destroy the Cuban Revolution, the current U.S. administration has spared no resources, however dirty and ignoble they might be. The charges brought against the Cuban ambassador in Colombia are one example of them.

According to the article, the CIA and the State Department are convinced that the Cuban ambassador "has come to Bogotá with destabilizing intentions." "But, what does the Bush administration understand by ‘destabilizing intentions’?" asks the Colombian magazine. And it answers in the same article: "the CIA assures that it has reliable reports that Pérez Novoa is attempting to establish a strong support network in Colombia for the axis comprising Hugo Chávez in Venezuela and the recently inaugurated Bolivian president, Evo Morales." This is a revealing affirmation of the central concern of the U.S. government.

It comes as no surprise to us that the U.S. government is annoyed by the friendship, cooperation and solidarity among the sovereign peoples of Latin America. The history of U.S. relations with the region has precisely been a history of interventions and attempts to divide us, a history of scorn and aggression.

But that history is changing and it is logical that the neo-fascist sectors presently dominant in the White House are attempting the impossible of reversing its inexorable course.

The Cuban government is convinced that this new episode in the already long chain of fabrications and campaigns against the Cuban Revolution on the part of the United States will not prevent the fluid and transparent development of relations between Cuba and Columbia that are advancing within a framework of respect and non-interference in internal affairs.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Cuba rejects each and every one of the lies contained in the cited article in Cambio magazine and ratifies that all the actions of the Cuban ambassador, compañero José A. Pérez Novoa in Colombia are not only being undertaken in a climate of total transparency with the Colombian government but also in accordance with the strictest regulations of international law.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs ratifies its total confidence in Ambassador Pérez Novoa, who during his long diplomatic career has always served the country with loyalty, dignity and professionalism.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs reiterates that it considers the quoted article in Cambio magazine a crude and repugnant lie and calls on the U.S. government and its agents to present the most minimal evidence to demonstrate their fallacious accusations.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Havana, March 20, 2006



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