By Martha Andres Roman
Havana, (Prensa Latina) The April 30´s attack against the Cuban Embassy in the United States shocked people who, inside and outside these two countries, immediately condemned the incident and expressed their solidarity with the Caribbean island.
Since a man shot at the Cuban embassy in Washington DC early morning, some versions of what happened and attacker’s motivations began to circulate on social media and in some US media outlets.
Likewise, many voices repudiating the attack recalled the history of attacks against Cuban representatives abroad and even saw some links between this incident and the rhetoric of the current US administration against Cuba.
Prensa Latina News Agency held an online interview with the Cuban ambassador to the United States, Jose Ramon Cabañas, to find out details of the event and how the Cuban embassy staffers experienced that day.
– How did the events take place in the early hours of April 30?
A vehicle arrived at 2:05 a.m. and parked just in front of the Embassy, where it is banned to do so. A man ambled up to the pedestrian gate with a Cuban flag on his hand and hurled it at the gate, bawling out inaudible phrases. Then, he slipped back into his car and drew an AK-47 assault rifle.
He started shooting at the embassy frontage and with nearly half magazine he changed position and kept firing the lobby. When he ran out of bullets he threw the rifle at the main entrance gate, went back his car, put a US flag on his shoulders, and began shouting and gesturing on 16th Street which is five-lane wide. He remained that way until the police arrived around 2:10 a.m. and arrested him with no resistance.
– But what you are telling us does not match up with the police report that has been released. Why can you give these details so precisely?
In these situations the first written reports may have inaccuracies. The unfortunate thing is that they still leak with such inaccuracies. We have, in addition to the testimony of our colleagues, the security camera videos that we shared with the US Secret Service. In the footage, the offense against our national symbol and the satisfaction of the man when carrying the US flag while shouting were clearly seen.
– How did the embassy staff react? Did you call the police?
All Cuban embassies abroad have a protocol to follow for these cases, precisely because of the history of attacks that we have faced for 60 years. The protocol forecast not only the warning to those who must step in the situation, but also the security measures for the personnel.
We were immediately informed and a small group of officials headed to the embassy. The law enforcement officials had already blocked the street, so we had to enter the embassy on foot.
Later, we learned that neighbors and embassies next to ours had phoned the police, and the city’s own mechanisms to alert shootings in open spaces also worked. As we said before, the Metropolitan Police and the Secret Service had a professional performance from the first moment.
– How did you find the staff inside the embassy? What were your first thoughts when you arrived?
The security guards were clamed as always. They are professionals and are well-trained for these situations. They immediately informed us of details of what happened and measures taken.
Our first thoughts were about fallen comrades in similar situations in the past. Felix Garcia, Adriana Corcho, Efren Monteagudo, Jesus Cejas, Crescencio Galañena and many others flashed through our minds. But we returned to reality to locate all our staff and find out their status.
We verbally inform our superiors in Havana. We were worried about the fact that our relatives would first know a distorted version through social networks. We began to assess internal damage, as around 10 shells pierced glass and lobby in various directions.
– In addition to the police officers present in the incident, did any other US federal agency contact you then or later?
We called the US State Department at mid-night and called back again at dawn. In the first call they were unaware of the facts, and in the second call they promised to update themselves and give us some details of information collected, something that has not happened over 96 hours (four days) later.
Likewise, we sent two diplomatic notes, one in Havana and the other in Washington, but we remain unanswered.
Cuban Ambassador to the US: ‘They will not destroy our symbols’Not even the US Department of State or the Secretary of State Mike Pompeo have even made a formal public condemnation of this incident. Instead, in his first reference to Cuba a day after the attack, Mike Pompeo spoke out against the Cuban medical brigades that are currently providing medical assistance to dozens of countries in the world.
– How was the rest of April 30 for you?
On the one hand, responding to access requests by the US Secret Service and, on the other, responding to the information required from Havana.
Experts spent a long time working outside the embassy, in the garden, frontage, main entrance and finally in the lobby. They left at noon. We strongly believe they gathered enough information about what really happened.
Then we had to do various internal tasks with our staff. On May 1, you saw the pictures. Our people always calm, disciplined and firm. All Cubans have access to a good education and particularly in History. We really understand the meaning of what happened for ourselves and for our people in Cuba, which always devote their constant attention to every single detail.
– How did people who have relations with you in Washington, Cuban-Americans, and other diplomats react?
From very early, we began to receive messages and solidarity and indignation calls. Many people do not understand how a citizen can drive miles on a highway with an assault rifle and ammunition, stop in the heart of Washington DC and open fire on an embassy.
– Some police reports handled by the press referred to the identity of the man, his alleged motivations, among other matters. What can you say about it?
First, such a leak is unfortunate, which not even the officers who have worked on the case can explain. We don’t know who did it, or for what purpose, but it is obviously not to support the investigation. We do not officially know details about attacker´s identity, so we must not pronounce ourselves either.
Cuban Ambassador to the US: ‘They will not destroy our symbols’Apparently there is someone trying to attain an opinion even before the information were known off-the-record. In the United States, no information is leaked, only what high-level officials want it to leak is leaked. I say that there can be no reason to justify such an aggression, which is an act of terrorism by nature.
Supposed mental conditions of the man have been mentioned and some people begin to assimilate it as a TV series. But it is pretty hard to think that a mentally disturbed person can easily access a driver’s license, have the power to drive and find a point on the map, grab and operate an assault rifle, and then not be so disturbed as to offer no resistance to the police. A disturbed person who apparently also knew how to operate his social networks very well.
– Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez, in his words to the press, said that certain individuals may feel encouraged to conduct such acts amid exacerbated anti-Cuban rhetoric. What do you think about it?
History is witness. If you take some dates of similar events in the past and relate them to the state of bilateral relations, you will find that some attacks against our embassies and our personnel happened precisely when the United States’ stance towards Cuba was most hostile.
Attackers are not only politically motivated, they feel they are in the right moment and feel they have some immunity.
When you see every day, absolutely every single day, high-level officials of the United States attacking Cuba, tightening the blockade, even at times when we all are fighting the Covid-19 pandemic, and the US officials in a morbid and immoral way attack our medical brigades, our doctors, the verbal terrorism only lacked armed terrorism, and it has already happened.
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