“A nombre de las mayorías del pueblo colombiano, quiero ofrecer sentidas disculpas por el indebido comportamiento del gobierno del Presidente Iván Duque Márquez y de su partido Centro Democrático”, comienza la misiva de la senadora al gobierno cubano.
Bogotá, 20 de enero de 2021
Excelentísimos
MIGUEL DÍAZ-CANEL BERMÚDEZ
Presidente República de Cuba
BRUNO RODRÍGUEZ PARRILLA
Ministro de Relaciones Exteriores República de Cuba
Afectuoso saludo.
A nombre de las mayorías del pueblo colombiano, quiero ofrecer sentidas disculpas por el indebido comportamiento del gobierno del Presidente Iván Duque Márquez y de su partido Centro Democrático. No se entiende la sistemática agresión al pueblo cubano y al Estado revolucionario que Ustedes representan, cuando es gratitud la que debemos en mi patria a la tierra de Martí. De igual manera, expreso mi plena solidaridad en medio de la enésima arremetida de persecución política desatada desde el por fortuna saliente gobierno de EEUU en cabeza de Donald Trump que incluyó a Cuba en su amañada lista de países afines al terrorismo.
Lamentablemente de forma temprana la política exterior del Estado colombiano cayó en lo que el académico Renán Vega Cantor denomina la “subordinación estratégica” a los intereses de Washington. Desde el “RespicePolum” de hace un siglo que nos obligó a aceptar el cercenamiento de Panamá propiciado por EEUU, hasta el patético papel del gobierno de Duque con la artera acusación a Cuba de proteger el terrorismo, pasando por vergonzosos episodios como la promoción del Tratado Interamericano de Asistencia Recíproca, TIAR (1947), ser el anfitrión para el engendramiento de la OEA (1948), la ruptura de relaciones bilaterales post-revolución cubana o el prestar nuestro territorio para bases y tropas norteamericanas, han sido la impronta de hipotecar nuestra soberanía para ser un peón geopolítico. La política exterior del actual gobierno es monstruosa e incoherente y nuestra cancillería sigue de espaldas a Nuestra América, para vergüenza de quienes nos sentimos patriotas.
De Colombia hacia Cuba solo puede haber agradecimiento. No solo fue artífice del Acuerdo de Paz de 2016, que el presente gobierno ha terminado de hacer trizas permitiendo el genocidio cotidiano de líderes sociales y excombatientes, si no que sirvió en repetidas oportunidades como mediador y garante de procesos de diálogos con los grupos rebeldes. Que corta memoria tienen los uribistas enceguecidos entre sus ambiciones electorales y su zalamería con el trumpismo decadente, que no quieren recordar que durante el gobierno de Uribe Vélez, Cuba prestó su territorio para un largo proceso de conversaciones con el ELN que no llegó a feliz término. Que desaguisado diplomático el del Estado colombiano que busca desconocer por un cambio de gobierno los protocolos firmados para urdir un montaje que intenta sustentar la insostenible calificación de Cuba como enemiga de la paz de Nuestra América.
Ante la disparatada acusación del gobierno de Duque contra Cuba, el debate no es el apoyo a un grupo insurgente, sino la violación de los protocolos propios del DIH pretendida por Colombia que bien podría implicar una transgresión del derecho internacional con sus respectivas consecuencias ante el Tribunal Internacional de La Haya. Se le está haciendo costumbre al estado colombiano desconocer sus compromisos legales internacionales como viene ocurriendo con el Acuerdo de Paz, -del que el Estado que Uds representan también es suscriptor- en cuanto éste fue firmado bajo la categoría de Acuerdo Especial debidamente depositado en Berna y como Declaración Unilateral de Estado ante el Consejo de Seguridad de Naciones Unidas. Pero pese a ello lo que se vive en Colombia es perfidia ante su incumplimiento sistemático.
EEUU y Colombia no tienen autoridad moral para acusar a Cuba de nada. Hoy cuando en medio de la crisis global agudizada por la pandemia Cuba sirve de esperanza para la humanidad exportando vida con sus brigadas médicas y construyendo soluciones propias que envidiarían las grandes potencias, los pueblos norteamericano y colombiano sufrimos los estragos catastróficos no solo del virus sino de la devastación económica del neoliberalismo. La gran potencia deja morir de Covid a 1172 ciudadanos por cada millón de habitantes, mientras en su país solo mueren 14 por millón pese a las limitaciones impuestas por el criminal bloqueo. Y mientras Uds preparan sus cuatro candidatosvacunales y proyectan la inmunización del total de la población en el primer semestre de este año, en Colombia de forma irresponsable el gobierno de Duque da versiones encontradas sobre la vacunación y prolonga la crisis sanitaria en medio de opacos contratos privados, en medio de la depresión económica más grande del presente siglo.
Para Duque cumplir los protocolos propios del derecho internacional es favorecer al terrorismo, pero no la actitud cómplice de un Estado que permitió 60 masacres el año pasado en su territorio. Tampoco le parece a la impresentable cancillería colombiana favorecimiento al terrorismo el patrocinio a grupos paramilitares y de mercenarios para la desestabilización de la hermana República Bolivariana de Venezuela que utilizan el territorio colombiano apadrinados por agentes norteamericanos.
En un país con etnocidio y genocidio político en curso los problemas de seguridad nacional no son la solidaridad ni la amistad con Cuba. Causa indignación que mientras la impunidad campea en los asesinatos diarios de líderes sociales y “asesores” israelíes o norteamericanos manejen información estratégica y confidencial, la inteligencia colombiana fabrique para expulsión “espías” rusos y se dedique a perseguir las actividades de la diplomacia cubana en franca violación a su inmunidad, como denota el informe revelado por la Revista Semana. Quienes hemos hecho oposición política en Colombia sabemos de la sevicia con la que el estado colombiano ha confeccionado montajes judiciales y los recientes episodios contra Cuba solo denotan la persistencia de esta práctica. Como lo presentaré en la Comisión de Esclarecimiento de la Verdad, altos funcionarios del estado colombiano en contubernio con agentes norteamericanos buscaron involucrar a Cuba y a Venezuela en el marco de sus planes de sabotaje jurídico al proceso de paz. La llamada Law-fare o guerra jurídica no solo ha sido utilizada en el país contra negociadores y amigos de la paz, sino contra las naciones de la Patria Grande que propiciaron el Acuerdo Final.
Pido a Ustedes que los vejámenes recibidos por el gobierno Duque y la insidiosa presión del partido Centro Democrático no den al traste con las relaciones de dos naciones hermanas, hijas de Bolívar y Martí. Los millones de colombianos y colombianas que gozamos del favor de Cuba, de su aporte a la paz, a la salud, a la cultura y a la economía de nuestro país se los agradecemos de antemano y haremos lo propio para evitar que triunfe la insania en nuestras relaciones internacionales en nuestro país.
Finalmente, respecto a la bellaquería de despedida del gobierno Trump con el auspicio del Estado colombiano, el mundo entero tiene claro que el único refugio del terrorismo existente en Cuba es la base norteamericana de Guantánamo y que por esta afrenta a la humanidad no deben responder Uds, sino la Casa Blanca.
PIEDAD CÓRDOBA RUIZ
Bogotá, Colombia
January 20, 2021
Your excellencies
MIGUEL DÍAZ-CANEL BERMÚDEZ
President of the Republic of Cuba
BRUNO RODRÍGUEZ PARRILLA
Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Cuba
Warm regards from Bogotá. In the name of the majority of the Colombian people, I’d like to apologize for the improper behavior of the government of President Iván Duque Márquez and his ruling party, the Centro Democrático. There is no justification for the systematic aggression on their behalf towards the people of Cuba and the revolutionary government that you represent. On the contrary, Colombians owe a debt of gratitude to the land of Martí. Furthermore, I offer my full solidarity in the face of the political persecution unleashed by the outgoing US administration; what Donald Trump did by unjustly including Cuba in a list of countries sponsors of terrorism is anoutrage.
Sadly, Colombian foreign policy in the last decades can only be described as strategic subordination towards Washington, a term coined by Colombian thinker Renán Vega Cantor. This century-old pivot towards the North, or RespicePolum in Latin, forced Colombia to accept the loss of Panama to the Americans, culminating in the calumny of President Duque of accusing Cuba of sponsoring terrorism. And in between these two events, the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance was signed in 1947, whereby much of Latin America pledged to defend US interests in the hemisphere, leading up to the creation of the Organization of American States a year later. After the Cuban revolution in 1958, most of the continent was forced to break ties with La Habana and offer its territory and military bases in support of Washington. Our sovereignty was mortgaged and our governments became pawns of the Americans. Colombian foreign policy has consistently acted against the interests of everyday Colombians, and our State Department has turned its back to Latin America: an embarrassment for those who call themselves Colombian patriots.
Colombia should be thanking Cuba, as it was the host nation for the historic Peace Accords of 2016. Instead, the Colombian government ripped it to shreds and did not implement the deal, and as a result, selective killings of human rights defenders in the country continues unabated to this day. Cuba on the other hand did everything in its power to mediate between armed rebels and the Colombian government before the talks began, and once they did, Cuba became a guarantor nation for the peace talks. And even before that, during the Uribe presidency, Cuba was the host of a series of talks between the Colombian government and ELN rebels, talks which sadly did not lead to any sort of formal agreement. Colombia under president Santos signed a series of protocols to ensure the continuation of peace talks and the safety of rebel negotiators, all of which was ignored by the following administration who called Cuba, who did so much to promote peace, an enemy of peace.
This is not only an act of ingratitude and an affront to decency, but a violation of international law and procedures to accuse Cuba in this fashion. But successive Colombian governments have shown a systemic disregard to its international commitments, not only with the Peace Deal it signed in 2016 in La Habana, but to many human rights treaties it has signed. What happened after the peace deal was signed however was an act of complete diplomatic shamelessness: the deal was deposited in the Swiss city of Bern as a Special International Accord and signed as a Unilateral Declaration of a Member State in the UN Security Council. The implementation of the deal was not only completely ignored: it was sabotaged. Demobilized fighters continue to be assassinated, rebel commanders critical of the government were incarcerated and attempts were made to have them extradited to the US.
None of the contents of the deal that had to do with the government’s commitments were upheld, except perhaps granting most of the negotiators a congressperson’s pension. The Colombian government ensured that the FARC political party would implode, and it is currently in the process of doing just that, thwarting political participation. No rural development whatsoever is taking place, and illicit drug crops have increased exponentially. The Special Jurisdiction for Peace and other means to shed light on the crimes committed during the conflict receive little attention and limited funds. Victims are exactly in the same position as they were before the deal was signed: no one from the millions who were forcefully displaced from their land are going back home in their lifetimes. The media and right wing politicians have done an excellent job in denigrating the deal, and an important sector of the urban middle and upper class vehemently oppose it.
Both the US and the Colombian ruling elite have conspired against ordinary Colombians to make their lives extremely difficult, and Cuba has done everything it could give its situation to ease their suffering. Ronald Reagan once said that America is a shining light upon a hill, but for us in Latin America, Cuba is that shining light. A striking example of that light is the medical brigades that Cuba has exported for decades, reaching places in Latin America and other continents where the state doesn’t reach. In the context of COVID-19, the lives saved by Cuban medics cannot be underestimated. Cuba, despite all its economic limitations, has no opioid epidemic, no hundreds of thousands of deaths due to the virus, no gang violence, no right-wing militias, no homelessness crisis, no hunger in the streets, none of the American nightmare. Americans like to call those who earn less than them “trash,” and those who think differently to them “terrorists.” These concepts simply don’t exist in Cuba: there is humanity and respect even for the enemy.
Let X-Ray Camp in Guantanamo Bay, where human beings have been tortured with the latest technology in the science of pain, not for years, for decades, be the witness of who is really a state sponsor of terrorism in the Western Hemisphere. The ultimate American hobby is to drone poor people in other countries, and we in Colombia suffer the ravages of having obeyed Washington for over a century: it has brought us war, drugs, hunger, poverty, inequality, and hatred, which is perhaps the most tragic curse we have inherited from the US. The rich hate the poor, the right hate the left, the white hate the black, and so on, permeating so many aspects of social existence. Cuba may not be a utopia, but its record of 14 deaths per million due to COVID-19 — contrasted to 1172 per million in the US (almost 100 times higher) — with a fraction of the cost to the state, says something about Cuban values. Cuba has four vaccines currently under trial, with the goal of vaccinating its entire population before July. In Colombia people starve in the streets because food banks are looted by corrupt officials. Who should be criticizing who? The government of president Duque enjoys equating upholding human rights with terrorism internationally, as proven by its treatment of Cuba, while crime syndicates assassinate with impunity almost on a daily basis. The AUC, the chainsaw-wielding genocidal drug lords of the late 90s, has spawned into a dozen smaller yet brutal organizations, and there is no end in sight. Yes, they may be criminal gangs, but they are ideological criminal gangs who follow a neo-fascist á-la-Latin American political creed, dressing in black, claiming to uphold the Colombian motherland, and fashioning themselves after Italian neo-fascists. The government means to equate them to street gangs, when in reality they are private armies in their own right, well-trained, well-armed, and well-indoctrinated: veritable terrorist organizations.
In a country ruled by the marriage of political elites and drug cartels, diplomacy and national interest are not a priority for the government. Successive scandals have surfaced of the illegal monitoring on the part of the Colombian government of the activities of Cuban diplomats in the country, in violation of their immunity. The Colombian government has historically opted to use its alliances with crime syndicates to silence its enemies with bullets, but more recently it has chosen to use its corrupt legal system to bring its more high profile opponents to court to intimidate them with lawsuits. This tactic was used in the case of several of those who campaigned for the implementation peace deal, and who previously pressured both sides to the negotiating table. It pains not only myself but millions of Colombians how the Colombian elite — as calling them diplomats is a stretch too far — adds time and time again insult on injury against not only the Cuban government, but Cuba as a people. Colombia and Cuba share so much, its music, its Caribbean Sea, its language, its literature. We should be brothers, we were meant to be brothers, and no corrupt politician can take that away from us. The contributions of Cuba to the lessening of our war, the medical assistance to our rural underprivileged, the Colombian teachers and doctors who graduated from Cuban universities free of charge, and so many other ways in which Cuba as a people have helped Colombia as a people, makes us brothers. We will do everything in our power to mend the rift between us, especially when it comes to our bilateral relations.
Thank you, brother.
PIEDAD CÓRDOBA RUIZ
Puzzle Bobble
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