CUBA: United States Still Seeks Criticism for Shootdown

By Farhan Haq Reprint | | Print |

UNITED NATIONS, Jul 22 1996 (IPS) - A U.S.-led campaign to penalise Cuba in the U.N. Security Council for its Feb 24 shootdown of two U.S. civilian planes has stalled, but U.S. diplomats are adamant that the United Nations will hold Cuba responsible for the act.

U.S. Ambassador Madeleine Albright Monday announced that Washington had prepared a draft resolution for the 15-member Security Council to consider. The resolution would “make sure that Cuba takes responsibility” for the shootdown and avoids such actions in the future.

But the Council has been divided on the issue since February, and other diplomats on that body say privately that Washington is unlikely to get its way on any clear criticism of Cuba for now.

Diplomats have told IPS that many European nations and developing countries alike on the Council would block any resolution that condemns Cuba for the shootdown, in which four Cuban-American pilots were killed.

Aware of that fact, the United States has backed off from calls urging some form of sanctions against Havana for its shooting of civilian aircraft.

Albright, however, seems undaunted. “It is very clear that two unarmed civilian planes were shot down,” she said, noting that the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) agreed last month with U.S. claims that the planes were shot down over international waters — not in Cuban airspace, as Havana argued.

The ICAO also agrees in its report that Havana did not give sufficient warning before two Cuban MiG-29 jets shot down the two Cessna planes, which belonged to a Cuban exile group, ‘Brothers to the Rescue’, that opposes President Fidel Castro.

Albright said she was pleased that the Security Council shared Washington’s concern that “the shooting down of unarmed planes is contrary to international law.” She said that she expected therefore for the Council to decide on some measure to underscore Havana’s responsibility for the shootdown, although, the U.S. envoy admitted, “It’s very unclear what the ultimate language will be.”

In fact, Washington has faced an uphill task since the ICAO report. A major part of its problem is that even traditional U.S. allies, like Britain and France, object to the current U.S. campaign to isolate Cuba economically.

U.S. President Bill Clinton has won few friends for his support of the Helms-Burton Act, designed to discourage foreign investment in Cuba. Washington’s allies have been particularly concerned about Title III of the law. As of Nov. 1, this provision would have allowed some 6,000 U.S.-based businesses to sue any foreign companies trading in properties confiscated since Castro came to power.

But following threats of retaliation, Clinton announced a suspension of the Title III provisions. Now, U.S. claimants may hire lawyers and prepare cases from now until Feb. 1, 1997 at which time Clinton could issue another suspension in the right to initiate an actual lawsuit under the act.

But he declined to “waive” Title III altogether, a course of action that many had urged. The European Union and Canada, among others, have been outraged by the effort to penalise their companies for trading with Havana.

At the United Nations, frustration over the Helms-Burton Act has made diplomats less likely to take any move to isolate Cuba. Russian Ambassador Sergey Lavrov dismissed any new Council effort to weigh in on the shootdown, noting that the ICAO — which is a U.N. body — has already given its opinion.

The ICAO, Lavrov added, did not condemn Cuba specifically when its board voted last month in Montreal on the dispute. Instead, he said, the ICAO board merely “condemned the principle of shooting down civilian planes” — a stance, he added, that should also be accepted by the Security Council.

That is well short of what Washington wants. In a tight election year, Clinton has wanted to prove that he can be as tough on Cuba as his Republican opponents (the driving force behind Helms-Burton), and Albright at least wants language to ensure that no further shootdowns occur.

Still, Albright conceded, “this is an issue that faces some difficulties within the United Nations.” China, which has veto power in the Council, has threatened to block any resolution it sees as too harsh, while other nations see the matter largely as a U.S. political concern rather than a threat to international peace or security.

Moreover, added Ricardo Alarcon de Quesada, deputy speaker of the Cuban National Assembly, the ICAO did not let Washington off the hook either. The ICAO Board admonished all nations to prevent the violations of other countries’ airspace — a clear slap at the United States, Alarcon argued, noting that Brother to the Rescue had repeatedly entered Cuban airspace to show its defiance of the Castro government.

Albright, however, contended that the United States has taken responsibility to prevent further violations of airspace; most recently, the leader of Brothers to the Rescue, Cuban exile leader Jose Basulto, has had his U.S. pilot’s license revoked. Now, Albright argued, it is Cuba’s turn to show responsibility for the shootdown.