Cuba responds
I refer to the Reuters article titled Factions paralyze United Nations rights body, published on page 11 of The Jakarta Post on April 1.
It is very easy to cover international news by depending on the Western media, representing the views of the United States and its European allies.
Neither Reuters nor Amnesty International mention that what they dislike is the fact that when members of the rights commission are selected by secret ballot, Cuba is always in and the United States has to depend on its allies not to present their candidacies so that it does not have to suffer the embarrassment of not being chosen, as has happened in the past.
Yes, Cuba is a power, but a moral power with increasing prestige because we are one of the few countries able and willing to stand up and denounce the United States' human rights violations.
The Commission on Human Rights has lost legitimacy. It allows the impunity of the powerful and is victim to the political manipulation of its work because the government of the United States and its allies have turned it into some sort of inquisition tribunal to condemn the countries of the South and, particularly, those who actively oppose their strategy of neo- colonial domination.
The European Union, which always objects to no-motion actions, has been willing to present such an action in order to prevent a draft resolution that proposed to investigate the violations still being committed today against over 500 prisoners at the naval base that the United States keeps, against the will of the Cuban people, in the harbor of Guantanamo.
We have built a different country to defend our right to independence, health, education and social justice for all. We have done so despite the aggressions, the blockade, the terrorist attacks and the plots to assassinate Fidel. The United States is afraid of our example. It is strong at the military level but weak on the moral front. And morality, not weapons, is the shield of the people.
In Cuba, there is not a single -- and there has not ever been one in 46 years of Revolution -- case of an extrajudicial execution or a missing person, not even one.
We will not cooperate with the Representative of the High Commissioner or with the spurious resolution behind her. Why is such a prestigious lawyer not appointed Special Representative of the High Commissioner to the Guantanamo Naval Base? Because it is about the human rights violations committed by the United States and they are untouchable. It can be done against small Cuba but not against the United States.
Most of these paragraphs have been taken from the speech of Cuba's foreign minister in Geneva, which I sent to the Post, twice, to no avail. Other news seems to sell better.
MIGUEL RAMIREZ, Ambassador, Cuban Embassy, Jakarta