Havana, June 14 (EFE).- The Government of Cuba declared this Friday that it dislikes the presence of a United States war submarine in Guantánamo Bay (southeast of Cuba) because the visits by naval means result “from a invitation and this is not the case.
The island’s vice minister of Foreign Affairs, Carlos Fernández de Cossío, said: “evidently we do not like the presence in our territory and transiting through our waters of an environment of that nature, belonging to a power that maintains an official and practical policy that is hostile against Cuba.”
“We knew of their presence, because in accordance with procedures that we have followed for years, the US informed us in advance,” he said in statements to the official Cubadebate media.
But he considered that these visits “are usually the result of an invitation and this is not the case.”
He also pointed out that “the important thing to remember is the illegal and unacceptable nature of the occupation of a part of our territory by a foreign power against the will of the Cuban people. It is an illegitimate military occupation and that is what makes the difference.” .
The US Southern Command reported that its war submarine is in the Cuban bay of Guantánamo, where the US has maintained a military base since 1903 and the Government of Havana demands the return of that territory that it considers illegally occupied.
According to its report, the fast attack submarine USS Helena is in Guantanamo “as part of a routine port visit.”
The stay of the American submarine coincides with the visit that a Russian Navy flotilla has been making to the island since last Wednesday.
The Russian flotilla, which includes a nuclear-powered submarine, a modern frigate, an oil tanker and a tugboat, has generated great expectations in the Cuban capital where it will remain until next Monday on a visit classified as “protocolary” by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Cuban Armed Forces.
The US Department of Defense said it was tracking the movements of the Russian flotilla for days, but has said the Russian flotilla does not pose a threat to US national security.
“We will always and constantly monitor any foreign vessel operating near US territorial waters. Obviously we take this seriously, but these exercises do not pose a threat to the United States,” said Pentagon deputy spokesperson Sabrina Singh. EFE
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