Declassified Documents Debunk The Trump/Rubio Pro War Hoax About Cuba.

Declassified Documents Debunk The Trump Administration's Pretext For War With Cuba.

As I wrote about in a recent article , the Trump administration has created a bogus pretext for an invasion of Cuba by creating an Indictment of the former Cuban leader Raúl Castro.

The indictment accuses Raúl Castro of an “alleged role in the Feb. 24, 1996, shoot‑down of two unarmed U.S. civilian aircraft operated by Brothers to the Rescue (BTTR), also known as Hermanos al Rescate, over international waters”.

In reality, as I showed in my recent article, Brothers to the Rescue was founded by Jose Basulto, a self described “trained terrorist by the United States” who was trained by the CIA to take part in the failed Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba in 1961, as well as a CIA plot to fire “a 20mm cannon” from a boat at a Cuban Hotel.

He openly admitted to founding Brothers to the Rescue with the goal of “sending training material to the Island on how the people of Cuba can act on their own, oppose the government, and even overthrow it, and create a new government there”.

The Brothers to the Rescue repeatedly illegally and provocatively violated Cuban airspace, including by “raining down thousands of religious medallions and leaflets reading ‘Brothers, Not Comrades’ along the Malecón, Havana’s broad seaside avenue”.

Cuba reputedly attempted to end the violation diplomatically with then White House special advisor on Cuba acknowledging that “Previous overflights by José Basulto of the Brothers have been met with restraint by Cuban authorities”.

Jose Basulto and Brothers to the Rescue were repeatedly warned that the continued violations of Cuban airspace would result in a Cuban response, which he and the group repeatedly ignored.

This is backed up by recently released declassified documents obtained by FOIA from the Federal Aviation Administration.

The documents, published by the investigative outfit National Security Archive show that “One month before Cuban MiG aircraft shot down two unarmed Cessna planes off the island coast, a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) official cited ‘further taunting of the Cuban Government’ by the Brothers to the Rescue (BTTR) overflights and State Department concern about a ‘worst case scenario’ in which ‘one of these days the Cubans will shoot down one of these planes and the FAA better have all its ducks in a row.’”

The documents show, “concerns among high-level Clinton administration officials that repeated penetrations of Cuban airspace would eventually lead to a crisis if Cuba acted to protect its territorial integrity from provocative BTTR incursions.”

The documents also show that:

-Starting a year before the shootdown, the Cuban government filed multiple protests on repeated violations of its airspace by BTTR aircraft overflying populated zones and dropping thousands of leaflets and other materials calling for popular insurrection against the government.

-The FAA opened a protracted investigation, met with BTTR president Jose Basulto, and warned him multiple times not to continue his “taunting” provocations. The agency took steps to suspend his pilot’s license but allowed him to keep flying, even as he repeatedly filed false flight plans.

-High-level U.S. officials, including White House Cuba point man Richard Nuccio, State Department undersecretary Peter Tarnoff, and Secretary of Transportation Federico Peña repeatedly expressed their concerns to the FAA that BTTR flights should be permanently grounded and repeatedly warned that Cuba’s redlines to protect its security should be taken seriously. Their efforts to press the FAA to clip Basulto’s wings failed. Only after the shootdown did the FAA issue a concrete “cease and desist” order against Basulto for what it called “careless or reckless” operations that “endanger the lives or property of others.”

One FAA document from January 22 of 1996, one month before the plane shootdown, showed that the State Department was concerned about the reaction from “further taunting of the Cuban Government” from the Brothers to the Rescue’s “flagrant violations” on Cuban airspace.

The document stated that the U.S. State Department was “also asking from the FAA what is this agency doing to prevent/deter these actions” adding that they believed that the “worst case scenario is that one of these days the Cubans will shoot down one of these planes”.

Another FAA report from January 1st of 1996 showed that the Brothers to the Rescue were repeatedly warned to stop violating Cuban airspace, and was given explicit warnings that continued violations would result in Cuba defending it’s territorial integrity.

In one section, the report documents that:

August 9, 1995, FAA personnel from the Miami FSDO attended a meeting in Miami that was chaired by Mr. Rick Nuccio, the White House Point Man on Cuba and Co-chaired by Mr .. John Schlosser, DOS.

In attendance were members of the Miami Police, Customs, FBI, Coast Guard and special Bomb/Terrorist Agents. The point of discussion as the announced flotilla planned for September 2, 1995. · A major fear is the possible downing of a BTTR aircraft: by land based gunfire. Toward this end, the U.S. Department of State, Office of the Spokesman prepared a Public Announcement for immediate release on August 8, 1995. This announcement warns “ALL”, persons that the Cuban government asserted its ‘FIRM DETERMINATION” to take actions necessary to defend Cuban territorial sovereignty and to prevent unauthorized incursions into Cuban territorial waters and airspace. The Cuban government stated, “Any boats from abroad can be sunk and any aircraft downed”. The Department of State takes this statement very seriously.

Another FAA report from Mar 1st of 1996 on the shootdown of the plane showed that the Cuban air traffic controller explicitly warned that “that the zone north of Havana is active. You run danger by penetrating that side of North 24” but Basulto explicitly stated his intention to violate the airspace anyways, saying, “We are aware that we are in danger each time we cross the area to the south of the 24th. But we are willing to do it as free Cubans”.

Above: Section of the report that reads, “Three BTTR aircraft inform the Havana Air Traffic Control Centre that they intend to operate south of the 24th parallel. Control Centre warns aircraft not to fly south of the 24th parallel because the area was ‘active and dangerous’. BTTR aircraft responded they are aware of danger but will be flying south of the 24th parallel anyway.”

After the shootdown of the plane, the FAA officially issued a directive against the BTTR stating that “now and in the future ordered to cease and desist from the operation of any civil aircraft within the territorial airspace of the Republic of Cuba” and documenting that it was repeatedly warned that further violations of Cuban airspace would result in a Cuban response and that the violation prior to the shootdown was “careless or reckless so as to endanger the lives or property of others”.

The report documented:

-On or about July 11, 1995, representatives of the Miami Flight Standards District Office (FSDO), met with Jose Basulto and advised him of the consequences of any unauthorized penetration of Cuban territorial airspace.

-The U.S. Department of State, Office of the Spokesman issued a public announcement for immediate release on August 8, 1995. The announcement warned “ALL” persons that the Cuban Government asserted its “FIRM DETERMINATION” to take actions necessary to defend Cuban Territorial sovereignty and to prevent unauthorized incursions into Cuban territorial waters· and airspace. The announcement further warned that the Cuban Government stated: “Any boats from abroad can be sunk and any aircraft downed”.

-On or about August 23, 1995, the Department of State issued a statement warning that “entering Cuban territory, territorial waters or airspace without prior authorization from the Cuban Government may cause one to be subject to arrest or other enforcement action by Cuban authorities .... “ The statement also cited an earlier statement, on July 14, 1995, in which the Cuban Government warned that “any boat from abroad can be sunk and any airplane downed.”

-On or about October 18, 1995, the Department of state issued a statement in which it advised the BTTR, that if persons enter Cuban territory, Territorial seas or airspace without authorization from the Cuban Government they may be subject to arrest or other enforcement action by Cuban authorities for violations of Cuban law. The Cuban Government has repeatedly asserted its determination to take actions it deems necessary including the sinking of vessels and the downing of aircraft to defend Cuban territorial sovereignty and to prevent unauthorized incursions into Cuban territorial waters and airspace.

Despite the warnings, the report noted that BTTR and Jose Basulto continued to violate Cuban airspace repeatedly, including “On or about January 13, 1996, Jose Basulto acted as pilot-in-command of civil aircraft N2506, the property of another, on a flight departing from Opa Locka Airport.”

The report added that, “On or about January 13, 1996, the Reuters News Agency reported that the Cuban Government condemned the above described January 13. flight that resulted in the violation of its airspace, and warned that it would stop further incursions.”

Despite the final warning from Cuba, “On or about February 24, 1996, Jose Basulto acted as pilot-in-command of civil aircraft N2506, the property of another, on a passenger-carrying departing from Opa Locka Airport”, the report noted, adding that “During the course of the flight, Mr. Basulto operated civil aircraft N2506 into the territorial airspace of the Republic of Cuba.”

“At the time of the flight,” the report added, “Mr. Basulto did not have authorization from the Cuban Government Air Traffic Control Authority for entry into, and operation within, that airspace”.

This is what resulted in the Cuban shootdown of the plane. The report noted that the violation from BBTR was “careless or reckless so as to endanger the lives or property of others”.

These documents show that BTTR and Jose Basulto were reputedly warned, both by Cuba and the U.S. that repeated violations of Cuban airspace would lead to Cuba taking action, something they deliberately chose to ignore.

The continued provocation from BTTR and Jose Basulto was a clear stunt in an attempt to get Cuba to respond to the continued violations of their airspace, to use the incident to manufacture consent for war with Cuba.

Years later, it seems the Trump administration, and its ultra-anti-Cuba Secretary of State Marco Rubio, will use the provocation to give BTTR and Jose Basulto what they wanted.

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