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US Biological Warfare against Cuba
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U.S. Biological Warfare Against Cuba Alleged Forwarded article from timdmcd@acpub.duke.edu (Tim McDowell) posted for UNITED NATIONS Note verbale dated 28 April 1997 from the Permanent Mission of Cuba to the United
Nations addressed to the Secretary-General. The Permanent Mission of Cuba to the United
Nations presents its compliments to the Secretary-General and, with regard to In this respect, the Permanent Mission of Cuba to the United Nations, following
instructions from its Government, kindly requests that the present letter and the attached
report be circulated to all Member States as an official document of 1-On 21 October 1996, at 10.08 hours, crew members of scheduled flight CU- 170 of Cubana de Aviacion (Cuban Airlines), on board a Fokker-27 aircraft, flying region of Cuba, noticed a single-engine airplane flying from north to south, at about 1,000 feet (300 metres) above them, apparently spraying or sprinkling unknown substances - some seven times - in an intermittent manner. 2-At that very moment, Cubana de Aviacion Fokker aircraft was located 25 to 30 kilo metres south of Varadero, in Matanzas Province., flying at an altitude of 9,000 feet and at a speed of 400 kilo metres per hour. 3-According to scheduled flights, objective radar control and recordings of radio conversations between the airplanes and ground control when the south in a course perpendicular to the Cubana de Aviacion flight was a fumigation aircraft Model SAR, register N3093M, of the civilian aircraft registry of the United States of America, operated by the State Department of that country, as stated in the flight authorization requested to the Institute registry of civilian aircraft. The above-mentioned airplane had taken off from Patrick United States Air Force Base, in Cocoa Beach in the state of Florida, bound for Grand Cayman. 4-The Cubana pilot immediately reported to flight control on the release of unknown substances, in the form of a white or greyish mist, by the SAR airplane. The Cuban air controller established communication with the United States aircraft and asked whether it was having any technical problem, to which the pilot's answer was "NO". He was also asked about the type of aircraft he was flying, answering that it was a single-engine AY-65. That conversation is recorded on tape. 5-On 18 December 1996, the first signs of the presence of a Thrips plague appeared in
Matanzas Province, at potato plantations of the Diamant variety, sowed 38 days before on
the "Lenin" State Horticultural Farm in Javelins Municipality. Samples of these
organism were sent to the Central Quarantine Laboratory of the National Pest 6-On 26 December 1996, the Cuban ministry of Foreign Affairs presented a note of complaint to the United States Interest Section in Havana regarding the incident that had occurred in the Giron corridor, urging the United States party to take appropriate measures aimed at the clarification of the event. 7-On 12 February 1997, the United States Interest Section in Havana handed over to the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Cuba a reply to that note, stating that on the day of 8-On 14 February 1997, the Central Quarantine Laboratory confirmed that the insect examined was the Thrips palmi karay, exotic to Cuban territory until that moment. 9-The Thrips palmi is indigenous to Asia. Since 1985 it has scattered across certain
Caribbean zones, including Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Jamaica. It is a polyphagous
phytophagan that infects practically all crops, weeds and ornamental plants. It is
reported to be a vector of viruses such as that known as TSWV. It is an 10- Taking into the levels of highest density of the insect population, it could be
ascertained that the primary source of the outbreak was located on the above- 11- In the first half of January 1997, outbreaks of the same insect were spotted in municipalities south of Havana Province, bordering Matanzas, affecting corn, beans, pumpkins, cucumbers and other crops. 12- Once the insect was identified, the Government of Cuba adopted a programme of
emergency measures to fight it, including chemical control, through the purchase of 13- At the end of March 1997, The Government of Cuba, complying with international regulations, informed the Secretary-General and the United Nations Center for Disarmament, about the presence of Thrips palmi karay in its territory, and notified this finding to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) to which Cuba applied for technical and financial assistance to fight the pest. 14- At present, Thrips palmi is spread virtually throughout Matanzas and La Habana Provinces, in two municipalities of Cienfuegos Province, in some municipalities of Pinar del Rio Province and in the Island of Youth. Its presence has not been detected in the central and eastern provinces of the country. II.- RESULTS OF THE INVESTIGATIONS. 16- The specialists appointed by the Cuban party to clarify the event considered unlikely a voluntary or involuntary leakage of fuel or oil, which is confirmed by the answer given by the United States airplane pilot himself to the Cuban air controller. 17- The argument used by the United States party in its note of reply regarding the
smoke release, appears, from the technical point of view, weak and in contradiction 18- Bearing in mind the place where the unknown substance was released, it can be established that the most risky area for infection is a zone covering 15 to 20 kilometres to the west and 20 to 25 kilometres to the east of the Giron air corridor, although the whole territory of Mananas Province is considered a probable infected zone. These zones match those actually infected both by the primary and secondary outbreaks. 19- Considering the insect population found on 18 December 1996, at the main source of the outbreak, specialists of the Cuban National Pest Control Centre estimated the beginning of the plague to date back to three or four previous generations. Bearing in mind the reproductive cycle of this insect, the beginning of the infection can be ascertained as approximately 21 October 1996, which was precisely the date when the United States S2R aircraft flew over this point. 20- Mindful of the distribution of the agent in countries like Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Jamaica, it would be expected that any natural occurrence would be in the eastern region of Cuban territory, the closest to those countries. Its appearance more than 600 kilometres away from region is, therefore, odd and suspicious. 21- Although at first sight it could be expected that the height of the flight of the S2R aircraft is not the most appropriate for the dissemination of biological agents, information is available regarding experiments made by North Americans themselves in which that type of agent was dropped from even higher altitudes. On the other hand, the enduring features of the insect, mainly in its larva state, make its survival possible at these altitudes. 22- Because of its nature of being a polyphagous phycophagan that strikes and severely damages practically every crop, and is also resistant to a considerable variety of pesticides, the Thrips palmi can be considered ideal biological agents able to inflict heavy damage on agricultural food crops. In a document entitled "Report of the Subgroup for Investigation of Claims of Use or Escape of Agents which Constitute Biological or Toxin Weapons", of 29 February 1996, prepared by the Federation of American Scientists, Thrips palmi are included among the invertebrate that could come within the purview of the Convention on Biological Weapons. 23- In this particular case, the behavior of the plague in Cuba shows a polyphagia
bigger than the one described in the scientific literature. 25- There is reliable evidence that Cuba has once again been the target of biological aggression. Alianza Nacional Cubano-Americana Tim McDowell |
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