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"Cuban Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernandez de Cossio accused the United States on Wednesday of using recent charges against former leader Raul Castro as a pretext 'to act militarily against sovereign states'. "It must be clear that any attempt to use this excuse for an action against these comrades inside Cuba will meet fierce resistance from the Cuban people. That is what I can say about these accusations," he stated during the radio-television programme 'Mesa Redonda'. The statements come after US prosecutors announced charges related to the 1996 shooting down of two aircraft belonging to the organisation 'Brothers to the Rescue', an incident that occurred over the Florida Straits and left four people dead. Among those accused are Raul Castro and several former Cuban officials and military officers, alleged to have participated in the conspiracy and the air operation. Fernandez de Cossio also defended Havana's actions and said that the Cuban government acted 'in defence of its sovereignty' and of 'the peace of the Cuban people'. He argued that US authorities were repeatedly warned about the organisation’s air incursions and failed to take measures to stop them. "It exercised the right to protect its airspace and the peace of the Cuban people. That is the historical truth; that is the truth of the facts. Cuba repeatedly asked the government of the United States to take action, and it did not do so," Fernandez de Cossio stated. The deputy minister also described the accusations as 'an act of injustice' against those charged, whom he portrayed as officials fulfilling 'the duty to protect the airspace, the homeland and the peace of Cubans'. "The comrades accused here in this indictment acted fulfilling a duty, the duty to protect the airspace, the homeland and the peace of Cubans. Therefore, what was done today was not an act of justice. It was an act of injustice against a group of Cuban comrades, starting with the army general, who were fulfilling their duty, their duty," he said. Fernandez de Cossio also noted that Washington has a 'dark practice' of using legal accusations to justify actions against sovereign governments. "This indictment carries an additional threat, since the United States has a known dark practice of using accusations like these to act militarily against sovereign states. Their cover is not justice; their cover is the use of the enormous military power of the United States government," he said. The deputy minister added that any actions based on these accusations inside Cuba would be met with a strong response. "It must be clear that any attempt to use this excuse for an action against these comrades inside Cuba will meet fierce resistance from the Cuban people. That is what I can say about these accusations," he stated. The accusations resurface at a time of strong bilateral tensions, while President Donald Trump has described Cuba as a threat to US national security. Meanwhile, sanctions and restrictions imposed by Washington have worsened the Caribbean island’s energy and economic crisis."
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