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Odds and ends
- CBS-4 Miami has done a report on the 1996 Brothers to the Rescue (BTR) shootdown and the events that led up to it, including BTR leaflet-dropping flights over Havana in 1995. The report is based in part on U.S. government documents that CBS-4 reporters obtained. A few (too few) of the documents are linked in the article, showing how U.S. officials reacted to Cuba’s repeated complaints and worried about the possibility of a shootdown. At one point, they threatened to revoke BTR leader Jose Basulto’s pilot license.
- Herald: A statement from a group of prominent African Americans calls on the Cuban government to respect civil rights and to end “the unwarranted and brutal harassment of black citizens in Cuba.” Statement here (pdf).
5 comments:
"CBS-4 Miami has done a report on the 1996 Brothers to the Rescue (BTR) shootdown and the events that led up to it, including BTR leaflet-dropping flights over Havana in 1995."
The vicious, genocidal BTR criminals were not "shot down," they were merely brought to justice by the enraged Revolutionary Masses, just as that genocidal CIA agent "blogger" Yoani and Reinaldo Escobar deserve to be!
Lefty, its time to get over your shyness and back me up on this! And where is AC now that we need him to voice support for the Party line?
The report concludes that the "Documents Show Cuban Shoot Down Was Expected."
The reporters "discovered details that raise questions about whether the U.S. government might have prevented it had someone in Washington taken more decisive action. The I-Team's investigation raises serious questions about the White House's role in the shootdown."
(White House advisor) Nuccio says after the "wet foot/dry foot" policy was put in place, the Brothers to the Rescue actions became more provocative and more political.
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"They (Brothers to the Rescue) started to redefine their mission as one of not helping innocent people at risks for their lives but to carry out a political agenda of harassing and threatening the Cuban government by over flights, dropping leaflets (from the air into Cuba)," Richard Nuccio told the I-Team.
That created tensions which were discussed in secret talks and cables between Havana and Washington in 1994, 1995 and 1996.
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"We knew they (the Cubans) would react," said Jose Basulto.
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The I-Team has discovered in the once secret documents further proof that shows clear warnings of the shootdown and suggests it might have been prevented by the US government.
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"The bilateral situation was that the Cuban government had been protesting those intrusions, quite often in diplomatic sessions," said Dr. Latell.
"They would call in our diplomats into session over there in Havana; they would make a protest, in diplomatic language. They were polite, direct, firm, not angry or confrontational but the message was clear-these flights are interfering with Cuban air space," said Dr. Latell.
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They (the US diplomats in Havana) would hear the Brothers to the Rescue planes, they would look up and there they (the planes) were. It was visible and audible from the ground even from the American diplomatic mission," said Dr. Latell.
Lefty sez: "after the "wet foot/dry foot" policy was put in place, the Brothers to the Rescue actions became more provocative and more political."
Yeah, like saving the lives of balseros and (horror of horrors!) dropping pro-democracy leaflets on the island. Of course, they deserved to be killed by the Five Heroes for these fascist outrages!
On Planet Leftside, dropping leaflets is a capital crime deserving of summary execution.
on planet righwingnuttery, invasion of airspace by known terrorists is perfectly normal. just what would happen if planes flew over the white house, did it more than a dozen times, were warned not to? you people really need a grasp of reality, any reality
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