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Fidel Castro: The world cannot forget the Yugoslav war
1) Fidel Castro: A Silent Complicity
2) 1999: DIE BOTSCHAFTEN 2 UND 3 AN MILOSEVIC UND SEINE ANTWORT / MENSAJES 2 Y 3 A MILOSEVIC Y SU RESPUESTA / MESSAGES 2 ET 3 À MILOSEVIČ, ET RÉPONSE DE SA PART
Sul carteggio tra Fidel Castro e Slobodan Milosevic nel 1999 si veda anche:
la lettera di Milosevic a Castro del 30 marzo 1999
IL 2° ED IL 3° MESSAGGIO A MILOSEVIC E LA SUA RISPOSTA (1999)
Castro says Spain's Aznar sought to bomb Serb media /
Fidel Castro reveals: SECOND AND THIRD MESSAGES TO MILOSEVIC AND HIS REPLY (1999)
=== 1 ===
Source: R. Rozoff via stopnato @ yahoogroups.com
Prensa Latina
October 11, 2007
Fidel Castro: A Silent Complicity
[Edited for minor inaccuracies]
Havana - Cuban President Fidel Castro states that the
world cannot afford to let the tragedy of NATO's war
against Yugoslavia be forgotten due to the silence of
those who were actors and accomplices of that brutal
genocide.
In his Thursday's article entitled "A Silent
Complicity," the Cuban Revolution leader reveals new
details of that conflict and includes an assessment of
those happenings.
Prensa Latina issues below the text published on
reflections by the Cuban president:
A SILENT COMPLICITY
The world cannot afford to let the tragedy of NATO's
war against Yugoslavia be forgotten due to the silence
of those who were actors and accomplices of that
brutal genocide.
President Clinton, National Security Advisor Sandy
Berger, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and
other close collaborators of the President, including
the person who was ordered by Berger not to take notes
when Cuba was discussed, were at the meeting Clinton
held with [Spain's Jose] Aznar in the White House on
April 13, 1999, where the decision to intensify the
bombings was made, and Aznar suggested that Serbian
television, radio and other facilities be bombed, in
actions that would take the lives of innumerable
defenseless civilians.
Some of them, through press statements or in a book or
memoir, may have individually written about the
adventure, but none focused on the real danger and
suicidal wars that the United States is leading the
world to.
The publication of the existing secret documents could
be the legacy of a President in 200 years from now,
when, judging by the pace we're going at, there will
no longer be any publicity or readers.
Less than ten years have since gone by.
In Europe and elsewhere there are many accomplices
keeping silence.
After my third message was sent to Milosevic, Italy's
Minister of Transportation visited Cuba. I met with
him on March 30, 1999 and directly discussed the issue
of the war against Yugoslavia.
What follows is a summary of what I said to him,
according to the notes taken during our conversation,
in the presence of my Office staff and officials from
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs:
"I began by asking why they had attacked Serbia and
how they were going to reach a settlement. I told him
that, in my opinion, it had been a great mistake and
that, were the Serbs to offer resistance, they would
run into a cul-de-sac.
"Why did Europe need to dismantle Yugoslavia, which
had implemented many reforms and which, strictly
speaking - the Cold War having ended - could not be
labeled a communist state and, much less, an enemy of
Europe?
I explained that, in order to satisfy the German
government's demand, Europe had encouraged and
supported the separation of Croatia, where, during
World War II, Nazi Germany organized the fearful
ustasha groups which perpetrated countless crimes and
massacres against the Serbs and the liberation
movement headed by Tito.
"Due to this complacency and lack of political
foresight, in the prevailing euphoria of the days when
the socialist bloc and the Soviet Union were in a
crisis, Europe dismantled Yugoslavia.
"This resulted in bloody episodes and, especially, in
the long and violent war in Bosnia and, ultimately, in
NATO"s current war against Serbia. By then,
Macedonia"s separation had also taken place, which
meant the mutilation of the greater part of the
Yugoslav Federation. Only Serbia, Montenegro and [the
Serbian province] Kosovo remained.
"As everyone knows, for decades Kosovo's population of
Albanian descent grew uninterruptedly until it became
the broad majority. In Tito"s lifetime, long before
his death, many Serbian families left Kosovo seeking
safety faced with the numerous acts of violence that
extremist groups from Kosovo committed against them.
At that time, in Kosovo, the Serbs were subjected to
what today is called ethnic cleansing.
"Yugoslavia's unnecessary and bloody disintegration
encouraged and unleashed the underlying conflicts
between the majority, of Albanian descent, and
Kosovo"s Serbian minority, conflicts which are at the
root of the current problem.
"The Serbian people are the essential core of what
remains of the former Yugoslavia. They are a combative
and courageous people who have been profoundly
humiliated. I was convinced that, offered ample
autonomy, Serbia would have accepted an honorable and
peaceful settlement of the conflicts in Kosovo.
"Kosovo's moderate groups, acting in an intelligent
and constructive fashion, supported this settlement,
as the presence of a broad majority of Albanian
descent would, sooner or later, make the peaceful
emergence of an independent state possible. Europe
knows perfectly well that Kosovo's extremist groups
did not want this settlement; they demanded immediate
independence and, because of this, wanted the
intervention of NATO forces.
"It is unfair to lay all of the responsibility on
Serbia. Serbia has not invaded any sovereign country.
What it has done, in essence, is oppose the military
presence of foreign troops in its territory.
"For months, in recent weeks particularly, it has
known nothing but constant threats. Its unconditional
surrender was urged. No country can be treated like
that, let alone the people who, in the days of
Europe's occupation, fought most heroically against
the Nazis and have ample experience in irregular
warfare.
"If the Serbs resist - and I am convinced that they
will resist - NATO will have no other option but to
commit genocide, but such an action would fail, for
two reasons: Firstly: they would be unable to defeat
the Serbian people if the latter applied all of its
experience and irregular warfare doctrine.
"Secondly: Public opinion in NATO member countries
themselves would not allow such an action.
"Armored divisions, stealth bombers, Tomahawk cruise
missiles or any other so-called intelligent weapon
would not suffice. A missile or bomb would have to be
launched for every person capable of carrying a rifle,
a bazooka or a portable anti-aircraft weapon. All of
NATO"s power would, in this case, be useless. There
are star wars and there are ground wars. All high-tech
equipment notwithstanding, individual combatants would
be the most important element in this type of war.
"Beyond Kosovo, a much more serious problem is
emerging, to the detriment of Europe's and the world's
interests.
"Russia has been humiliated terribly. NATO has already
advanced to the borders of what was once the Soviet
Union and it is promising to include other states of
the former socialist bloc, and even Baltic countries
that were part of the Soviet Union.
"Russians have every reason to think they will not
stop until they reach the walls of the Kremlin.
"Like the Serbs, the Russians are a Slavic people and
this sense of identity is very strong among these
peoples. The attacks on Serbia are profoundly
humiliating for them and, more than any other action,
they have produced deep and justified feelings of
insecurity, not only among the Russians but in India
and China as well, and these countries will
undoubtedly attempt to ally themselves to Russia to
guarantee their security. I doubt the Russians would
cease to do whatever is necessary to retain a response
capability which would be their sole guarantee in this
situation.
"Neither Europe nor the world, with their current and
overwhelming economic problems, would gain anything
through such a course of action.
"A few days ago, in the early morning of March 26,
while returning from Colombia to Russia before
schedule, the President of the Russian Federation"s
State DUMA, Gennady Seleznev, made a stopover at
Havanas airport. I took up these issues with him of my
own initiative. I told him no military solution was
possible, that, without a doubt, any effort to offer
Serbia military aid would inevitably lead to a general
war, as the only means available to wage such a war
today are not conventional. I said also that the
battle was of a political, not military, nature.
"Seleznev publicly expressed this point of view I
shared with him.
"Both Europe and the world are duty-bound to find such
a settlement, which, though difficult and complex, is
perfectly possible.
"If, rather than devoting all their efforts to
threatening Serbia with terrible bombings, they had
brought pressures to bear on extremists in Kosovo,
(Message over 64 KB, truncated)