CUBA FACTS

Issue 55-March 2011

Cuba Facts is an ongoing series of succinct fact sheets on various topics, including, but not limited to, political structure, health, economy, education, nutrition, labor, business, foreign investment, and demographics, published and updated on a regular basis by the Cuba Transition Project staff.

     The Cuban Foreign Ministry issued a statement strongly condemning foreign military involvement in Libya:

• Cuba supports the “inalienable right of the Libyan people to exercise self-determination without foreign interference, condemns the killing of civilians in Libya and in any other places, and supports the territorial integrity and sovereignty over the resources of this nation.”
  
  
• Cuba accused Western powers of “creating the conditions conducive to this military aggression;” “causing death, injury, and suffering to innocent civilians.”
  
  
• Western powers "are specifically responsible for the deaths of over a million civilians in Iraq and more than 70,000 in Afghanistan, which are called collateral damage.”
  
  
• The intervention "constitutes a gross manipulation" of the United Nations (UN) Charter and of the authority of the UN Security Council.
  
  
• "UN Resolution 1973 adopted by the Security Council does not authorize in any way these attacks on Libyan territory, which constitutes a violation of international law."

Muammar Gaddafi and Fidel Castro holding hands.

Source: "Declaración del Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores de Cuba," Granma, March 21, 2011. http://www.granma.cu/espanol/cuba/21-marzo-declaracion.html.

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The CTP can be contacted at P.O. Box 248174, Coral Gables, Florida 33124-3010, Tel: 305-284-CUBA (2822), Fax: 305-284-4875, and by email at ctp.iccas@miami.edu. The CTP Website is accessible at http://ctp.iccas.miami.edu/.

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