The statement was made by Foreign Ministry spokesperson Pham Thu Hang, who reaffirmed Vietnam’s traditional solidarity and friendship with the fraternal Cuban people and called for the implementation of the United Nations General Assembly resolutions demanding the lifting of the unilateral blockade and embargo against Cuba.

Vietnam, she added, advocates for constructive dialogue based on respect for international law, the UN Charter, independence and sovereignty, and non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries.

The Cuban Revolutionary Government denounced as despicable the accusation against Army General Raul Castro and labeled it “a contemptible and infamous act of political provocation, based on the dishonest manipulation” of the incident of February 24, 1996.

On that occasion, two aircraft operated by the narco-terrorist organization Brothers to the Rescue, based in Miami, were shot down over Cuban airspace. Brothers to the Rescue’s repeated violations of Cuban airspace for hostile purposes were common knowledge.

Cuba’s response to the violation of its airspace constituted an act of legitimate self-defense, protected by the Charter of the United Nations, the 1944 Chicago Convention on International Civil Aviation, and the principles of air sovereignty and proportionality, the Cuban government statement added.

She also pointed out that Washington’s inaction in the face of the warnings issued by Cuba at the time demonstrated its complicity “in the planning and execution, from its territory, of violent, illegal, and terrorist actions against the Cuban government and people, a recurring and systematic practice from the triumph of the Revolution to the present day.”

jdt/arm/jha/mpm