RHC - TARGET YUGOSLAVIA, Fri June 11, 1999
Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit
SPECIAL REPORT FROM RADIO HAVANA CUBA
E-mail: rhc@radiohc.org
http://www.radiohc.org
TARGET YUGOSLAVIA: NATO's WAR OF AGGRESSION
Friday, 11 June 1999
Radio Havana Cuba presents its coverage of the U.S.-led NATO aggression
against Yugoslavia.
-----------------------------------------------------------
RUSSIA UNEXPECTEDLY DEPLOYS PEACE-KEEPING TROOPS IN
YUGOSLAVIA
Amid irritation in Washington and NATO, Russia has unexpectedly deployed
peace-keeping troops in Yugoslavia, on the border with Kosovo. Annoyed at
NATO and the US's refusal to grant Russia a relevant role in the
peace-keeping operation, Moscow dispatched Russian troops from Bosnia,
wearing the KFOR peace-keeping insignia and cheered on by Yugoslavia's Serb
population. Though the Kremlin has assured the military alliance that, for
the moment, Russian troops won't enter Kosovo, many observers believe the
move could occur at any moment. The head of the Russian military
delegation, General Leonid Ivashov, stated that his troops don't plan to be
the first to enter Kosovo, but neither will they be the last. Russian
Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said his country must begin preparations, as
have the forces of NATO member countries. The deployment of Russian troops
led US Undersecretary of State, Strobe Talbott, to abruptly abandon Moscow,
where he was negotiating Russia's participation in the peace force. But
Talbott refuses to grant Russian troops an independent sector in Kosovo,
stating that NATO must be present in every sector.
RADIO HAVANA CUBA'S VIEWPOINT / Thursday, 10 June 1999
On Wednesday, the Kosovo peace talks that are being pursued in Macedonia
were put off for another 24 hours after the negotiators failed to reach
agreements under which Yugoslavia will withdraw its forces from the
province of Kosovo and an international peace force be installed in their
place.
And so another 24 hours of bombing took place and lives were lost because
some detail could not be ironed out in time. As this report is being
prepared NATO has announced a cessation of bombing and Yugoslavia has begun
to withdraw its troops. The US press was quick to lay the blame for the
previous impasse at the feet of the Serbian negotiators.
USA Today reported they had balked at NATO's conditions to end the bombing.
NBC News used the same terminology as well as frequently accusing
Yugoslavia for, quote, "stalling". The sticking point was Belgrade's demand
that the peace force be under the auspices of the United Nations which is
internationally recognized as the body that should carrying out such a
mandate.
However, it has emerged that the breakdown in talks was the result of
US-led NATO manipulation in which, contrary to previous agreements, NATO
attempted to sideline the United Nations from any agreement. In fact, NATO
generals actually unsuccessfully tried to get Yugoslavia to sign a document
in which the UN was not mentioned at all. It was a blatant and dishonest
effort to reduce or eliminate the role of the UN from control of the peace
force.
It seems that the peace accords brokered by Russia are bearing fruit in
spite of US and NATO bad faith and subterfuge compounding their brutality
and hypocrisy.
RADIO HAVANA CUBA'S VIEWPOINT / Friday, 11 June 1999
The adoption of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244 by 14
votes and 1 abstention has finally paved the way to a United Nations
presence in Kosovo - something that many nations feel should have occurred
in the first place.
In the discussion and debate over the Resolution, Russia, China, the
Ukraine, Mexico and Costa Rica among others backed Cuba's position
criticizing the role that the United States and NATO took in militarily
enforcing their will over the Yugoslav Federation without referring the
matter to the United Nations. As such they departed from the recognized
mandate of the UN and violated the charter of the UN and all norms of
international law, severely undermining the authority of the Security
Council to the enormous detriment of the UN and its future role on the
world stage.
The Resolution accepts the proposals of the seven industrialized nations
and the Russian Federation - the Group of Eight - which were agreed to by
the government of the Yugoslav Federation on the 3rd June. The Security
Council has thus, somewhat late in the day, taken control of the situation
and begun the process of setting up an international military force to
maintain peace in Kosovo.
Having spent billions of dollars in armaments in its brutal and wanton
destruction of Serbia, the US is now demanding that Europe pay its share of
the undeclared war by footing the bill for the reconstruction of the
country that just got through bombing into oblivion. Both President Clinton
and Secretary of State Madeleine Albright have insisted on this speaking as
if the money came from their own pockets and not those of the people of
their nation who will have to foot the bill whilst their leaders rake in
the profits from their shares in defence corporations that have made a
fortune from the killing and maiming.
The Cuban Ambassador to the UN, Bruno Rodriguez, said that the resolution
would not change reality. That the conflict had been and would continue to
be a US and NATO invasion. It had been seven days since the Federal
Republic of Yugoslavia had accepted the proposals. The deliberate
destruction of the country had nevertheless continued. Rodriguez reminded
the Security Council that some of those claiming to protect human rights
had, in the past, supported apartheid in South Africa, cohabited with
military dictatorships in Latin America and abetted the oppression of Arabs
in the Middle East. They continued to segregate their indigenous peoples.
What was being witnessed now was the manipulation of the Security Council .
After 79 days of being ignored, the Council was now being used to provide a
stamp of approval. The United States was the only nation that benefitted
from the weakening of the United Nations.
When the US and the Netherlands criticized Cuba for such remarks, the
ambassador retorted that it was not for old colonists to teach Cuba lessons
in humanity. Words that will no doubt ring in the history books of the
future. To paraphrase Fidel Castro:
History will absolve us.
[c] 1999, Radio Habana Cuba
All rights reserved
Articles cannot be reproduced, reprinted or published in any system
without the consent of RHC. This prohibition includes the distribution of
this material via Usenet News, "bulletin board" services, e-mail lists,
print media, radio and television.
For the complete RADIO HAVANA CUBA NEWSCAST and other features, please
write for our daily broadcast schedule. We welcome your comments and
suggestions.
For further information, contact us at:
Postal Address: Radio Havana Cuba
P.O.Box 6240
Havana, Cuba
Telephone: (53) (7) 791053
Fax: (53) (7) 795007
E-mail: rhc@radiohc.org
WWW: http://www.radiohc.org
===============================================================NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems
Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us
339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012
http://www.blythe.org e-mail: nyt@blythe.org
===============================================================
nytcari-06.11.99-18:14:59-29713
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Make the News Come to you! FREE email newsletters sent directly to
your in-box USAToday, Forbes, Wired, and more. Sign-up NOW!
http://clickhere.egroups.com/click/316
Cuba SI
http://www.egroups.com/group/cubasi/
Add links: http://www.egroups.com/folders/cubasi
Upload doc.: http://www.egroups.com/docvault/cubasi/doc
Modify Subscription: http://www.egroups.com/group/cubasi/info.htm