Cuba Offers Olive Branch, Assistance to US in Time of Crisis
Granma Intl
September 12, 2001

The Cuban government has totally rejected the acts of terrorism reported today, Tuesday, in the United States and has offered its condolences to the people and authorities of that country for loss of life.

Foreign Minister Felipe Pérez Roque informed the press that Cuba’s historical position is to "totally condemn and reject terrorism wherever it comes from and against whoever it is perpetrated."

The Cuban minister made his statement in Havana’s José Martí International Airport a few hours after the attacks on the World Trade Center twin towers in New York, plus the Pentagon and State Department in Washington, which all occurred within minutes of one another.

"Our people have had to suffer 40 years of acts of terrorism, so we know the consequences of this type of action," emphasized Pérez Roque.

The Cuban minister of foreign affairs stated that the island has notified regional air traffic control authorities that the island is willing to offer facilities in Cuban airports for aircraft in mid-flight, due to the present situation in U.S. airspace.

"Our reaction really is one of a feeling of total rejection of this action," reiterated Pérez Roque.

Asked about those acts of terrorism being attributed to Palestinian terrorists, the foreign minister indicated that Yasser Arafat, president of the Palestinian National Authority, was one of the first to expressly condemn what occurred today.

Regarding a notion that Cuba was involved, he confirmed: "I do not believe it is necessary to refer to this, and I trust that such a barbaric idea would not occur to anybody."

After the news became known on the island normal television transmissions were interrupted and full and detailed information was offered on the incident, described here as "a national tragedy for the United States." (PL)