00:00But we invite now U.S.-based immigration attorney José Pertierra, Cuban lawyer linked to key
00:06milestones in bilateral relations between Cuba and the United States. Hello, José, and welcome
00:11once more to From the South. Hello, Alejandra. It's great to be with you and with the people
00:17of Venezuela on Telesur. José, how is this event connected within the long history of
00:24hostile actions against Cuba? You know, Alejandra, this is not an isolated event at all. Since the
00:32onset of the Cuban Revolution, there have been myriad of attacks, terrorist attacks, against Cuba
00:40and its population. Cuba estimates that approximately 3,000 Cubans have lost their lives, and there's
00:47been a decimated economy because of not only the blockade, but the terrorist acts. They
00:54go all the way back to the beginning. After the failed Bay of Pigs invasion, for example, the
01:01CIA founded the largest CIA station in the world in Miami called JM Wave. They functioned from
01:101961 to 1968. They trained hundreds of Cuban exiles who became terrorists. They trained them. They
01:21showed them how to operate and directed their operations. And then when they closed JM Wave,
01:29these folks, with all their training, went on their own with the visto bueno of the U.S. government,
01:37with impunity. In 1962, there was an attack in a similar boat as you saw the other day. There was
01:51an
01:51attack on a hotel in Havana called the Hotel Rosita de Ornedo in a theater called Blanquita. And they, you
02:02know, they shot it up from the water. So this has been going on for years and years and years.
02:08Luis Posada Carriles is the most famous terrorist of all of them from Cuba. He was famous for,
02:21among other things, blowing up an airlines with 73 people on board, including the entire
02:28youth fencing team of Cuba that had just won all of the medals available in the Pan American Games in
02:34Caracas. Two bombs were placed on that plane. He also directed a series of bombs in the most
02:43emblematic of hotels and restaurants in Cuba, all with the purpose of provoking Cuba into action to
02:51either scuttle a possible normalization or to encourage armed intervention by the United States.
03:01So it's not, this is not new and it's not surprising.
03:04Also, Western media narratives are trying to link these attackers with also illegal immigration
03:10activities. Some are even portraying them as liberators. Are either of these explanations
03:16credible or does this reflect a longer pattern of U.S.-based terrorists engaging in violence against
03:22Cuba, as those you just mentioned, without consequences?
03:26Well, you know, as Cuba said in that note that you read, the items seized on the boat, including
03:34automatic weapons such as assault rifles, sniper rifles, Molotov cocktails, pieces of assault
03:41equipment, night vision equipment, bulletproof vests. You don't go on an immigration trip carrying
03:50that kind of stuff on your boat. Now, liberators, no, but people that are trying to infiltrate into Cuba
04:01cause acts of terrorism to try to get the United States involved. That, yes. One of these guys,
04:10Michel Ortega Casanova, who was killed, we know that he was a member of the Republican Party of Cuba,
04:17the so-called Republican Party of Cuba, headquartered in Florida, because they posted already three
04:26years, three days of duelo for Michel Ortega Casanova. And, you know, they accept the fact that he was a
04:37member of the organization. So these guys were doing the same thing that terrorists against Cuba
04:47have been doing since the early 1960s to try to cause problems between Cuba and the United States.
04:55They're trying to use the timing of what's going on now with the naval blockade or oil shipments to
05:02Cuba to try to get the United States to intervene. And we already see the social media in Miami
05:13using this as a pretext for intervention. They're even calling it a massacre by Cuba,
05:22which is patently ridiculous. Since these guys came armed to Cuba, they shot at the Coast Guard,
05:28they wounded the commander of the Coast Guard boat. So it makes no sense.
05:34And to go deep into something that you just mentioned, can this event be understood as an
05:39isolated act by a small group, or is it a part of a broader escalation of hostilities towards Cuba,
05:45especially in a context where Cuba already is facing a tight and sanctions and intensified
05:50fuel and economic blockade?
05:54You know, what happens, Alejandra, in the United States, particularly in Miami, and in New Jersey as well,
06:04the social media hypes these folks up. And they talk about the need to go in and intervene militarily,
06:12and the revolution will fall of its own accord if punched in the right place. And what you need is
06:20people
06:20with the courage to go in and fight against the Cuban government, to even call some of the congressmen
06:28cowards. I think I saw a video earlier, one of the folks who went to Cuba on this little boat,
06:38calling certain congresspeople cowards for just talking and not doing enough, not going to Cuba to fight.
06:45So, what happens in that toxic atmosphere, you get people all riled up to do crazy things.
06:54They're not crazy people, but they do crazy things because they're riled up by social media.
06:59We see that more and more and more lately.
07:03Also, the U.S., Jose, is trying to portray Cuba as a failed state. Some are even using these ideas
07:10as
07:11justification for attacks, such as the one recently foiled by Cuban authorities. How accurate is this
07:16affirmation?
07:19You're exactly right, Alejandro. What the U.S. government has always tried to do is try to
07:27destroy a country as much as they can through economic means or through a blockade, then say
07:34it's a failed state, to justify intervention with troops. But Cuba is far from being a failed state.
07:43It has suffered more than 60 years of a blockade and more than 60 years of terrorist attacks,
07:50but it continues to provide for its people. It has institutions. It has embassies abroad.
07:58It has embassies in Cuba. It has hospitals that are functioning. It has schools that are functioning.
08:06By all definitions of a state, it is not a failed state. But the United States is always looking for
08:16an excuse to intervene. That goes all the way back to 1898 when they blew up, somebody blew up an
08:25American
08:26ship by the name of Maine, the USS Maine. And the United States used that as a pretext to intervene
08:33in Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines. They swallowed Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines in
08:39one fell swoop because of that ship that sank. So it's an old recipe, nothing new. We just have to
08:51see
08:51through it. And one last question, just to sum it up the analysis. In the wake of the U.S.
08:57intervention
08:57and action, military action in Venezuela earlier this year, some observers worry that Cuba might be
09:03a next target. From your perspective, is such a scenario possible? And also, how committed is Cuba
09:09to defending its sovereignty after this recent demonstration of the determination of Cuba in this
09:16aspect? Any armed intervention against Cuba would be a violation of international law and a violation
09:25of U.S. law as well, because the president cannot sui spante order a military intervention in Cuba. But we
09:34have seen that with this president, anything is possible. He does not respect the law. He does not respect
09:42the courts. If he thinks he can gain an electoral advantage in the upcoming congressional elections,
09:51he may intervene militarily. Cuba is prepared. It's very difficult to go up against the mightiest army
10:00in the world. But, you know, battles are not simply won on the battlefield. They're also won
10:08at home. And if he continues to lose support, as he has been losing in the last year. Trump may
10:20see
10:20that it is not in his political interest to intervene in Cuba. And hopefully, countries such as Mexico will
10:29realize that the tariffs that he tried to impose are illegal. And therefore, he should, these
10:37countries should continue to send oil to Cuba. And the world itself, Alejandra, cannot allow the Cuban
10:45people to be asphyxiated by a government such as the United States. Cuba deserves to have the right
10:54to breathe. Thank you, Jose, very much for your time hearing from the South, also for your analysis
11:00on this highly and very concerning event for Cuba, not just for Cuba, but also for Latin America and even
11:06U.S. citizens as well. Thank you, Alejandra.
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