Opinion - Letters to the Editor   

Cuba defends arrests

Sir, — Recently, there has been a campaign over certain arrests in our country.

The arrested persons were not dissidents, but mercenaries who betrayed their homeland in exchange of privileges and money they received from the U.S. Government.

Some of these men received the death penalty from our tribunals and were common criminals who hijacked a passenger ferry in the Havana Bay. They had criminal records and previous convictions.

In all cases and throughout the trial, there was total respect for the safeguards relating to all the defendants under Cuban legislation and in line with the relevant principles recognised and accepted worldwide. All trials were public and attended by an average of 100 people, including relatives of the accused. These groups of mercenaries are encouraged by the U.S. in flagrant violation of the 1961 Vienna convention on diplomatic relations.

No foreign government can dictate our destiny. We are an injured party and it is our duty to respond to such acts of aggression as would any other nation. We act and will always act accordingly— in the name of peace, in the name of the security of our people, in the name of our independence.

Abelardo Cueto Sosa,

Cuban Charge d'Affaires,
New Delhi

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