-DATE- 19621116 -YEAR- 1962 -DOCUMENT_TYPE- SPEECH -AUTHOR- F. CASTRO -HEADLINE- COMMUNICATION TO U THANT -PLACE- CUBA -SOURCE- HAVANA IN SPANISH -REPORT_NBR- FBIS -REPORT_DATE- 19621116 -TEXT- FIDEL CASTRO COMMUNICATION TO U THANT Havana in Spanish to the Americas 0515 GMT 16 November 1962--E (Text) To His Excellency, the Acting Secretary General of the United Nations, U Thant. Your Excellency: The conciliatory effort which you put forth from the acting secretaryship of this world organization, is tied closely to the recent events which the world has lived through in regard to the Caribbean crisis. It would be unnecessary then to detail each and every one of the circumstances and the incidents which have developed in this week of extreme tension. I would only like to make reference to the following point: We make manifest to you, and we state publicly also, and repeatedly, our refusal of unilateral inspection on the part of any organization, national or international, of Cuban territory. We (make effective?) in this way the inalienable right of a sovereign nation to resolve, within its territory, all the problems in agreement with the will of its government and its people. The Soviet Government, complying with the promise made to Mr. Kennedy, withdrew its strategic missiles, an act which was inspected by U.S. officials on the high seas. We repeat once more that the emplacement of those arms was nothing but an act of legitimate defense of the Cuban Republic against the aggressive policy which the United States has practiced against our country since they very start of the revolution. This did not give any right to the U.S. Government against Cuba, since all our acts have been carried out according to international law in the use of the sovereign prerogatives of our state. But it was a pretext utilized to perpetrate acts of force, which (brought?) the world to the brink of war. The pretext has now disappeared. Nevertheless, U.S. government officials state that they do not consider themselves obligated by any promise, among other reasons, because Cuba does not permit inspection of its territory. The United States taking refuge in the right of force, constantly violates our territory, through the use of air forces stationed in different Caribbean bases and on aircraft carriers which it uses against us. We have given proof that we are disposed to a dignified peace. We propose five points of guarantees, the minimum which a sovereign nation can demand. We handed over the body of Major Anderson, killed when he carried out his illegal flight over Cuban territory and we warned the U.S. Government of the necessity to cease those violations of our sovereignty. At the same time we have done all possible to avoid incidents (arising?) in relation to such acts. What was obtained in exchange? The violations have multiplied. Each day the incursions of war planes over our territory grow more alarming. Military planes harass our air bases. They fly low, (buzz?) our military defenses, and photograph not only the dismantled installations of strategic missiles, but all our territory, palm by palm, and inch by inch. The capture of the chief of a group of spies, trained by the CIA and led by it here in Cuba, has let it be known how the photographs taken by the spy planes were used for the orientation of saboteurs and their maneuvers and, furthermore, how they thought, among other things, to (cause chaos?) to cause the death of 400 workers in one of our industries. This (pertains?) essentially to the safety of our nation and insults the dignity of our people. An attempt is being made not only to obtain advantage for military and subversive ends through the information and detailed knowledge of our industrial installations and their defense dispositions but also to humiliate and demoralize the Cuban people. They are the typical Hitler methods to soften the resistance of the people. Mr. Acting Secretary General, no sovereign state can allow its air space to be violated in this manner without lessening its dignity. When this violation is carried out by reconnaissance planes of any enemy, which openly threatens our country, permitting it means more than a lack of dignity, it is a shameful backing down before the enemy. They cannot ask us to accept this by virtue of the discussions which are taking place regarding the crisis, because the integrity of our geographic space and the sovereignty of Cuba will never be negotiable. For our part, we have given repeated warnings to the aggressors. On 27 October, in the middle of the crisis, the Cuban Government declared that our country would not accept the vandalic and piratical right any war plane to violate our air space, because essentially it effected our safety, and would facilitate the conditions for a surprise attack. The right of Cuba to resist such violations is irrevocable! Today, again, by means of the communique which we send to you, as Secretary General of the United Nations, we give notice that when within reach of our antiaircraft fire all war planes which violate Cuba's sovereignty by invading our air space will only be able to do so at the risk of being destroyed. If the United States sincerely desires, as we ourselves wish it, to take steps which lead to the solution of those present problems, they must start by respecting those elemental rights of our country. In the history of our republic more than once the United States, with the use of force, has intervened in our internal affairs. It imposed this power in the first constitution of our republic by virtue of a law of U.S. Congress, supported by an army of occupation. The present action of the United States tends to reestablish de facto those imperialist Pretorian prerogatives. The long history of struggle of our country, ending in full sovereignty and national dignity after a century of struggles with bloodshed and heroism, has no possible retreat. A powerful military force would be able to liquidate us, but never subject us. And first we would make the pirates who would dare to invade the soil of the Cuban homeland, pay a heavy price. Even in death our flag would continue victorious because we are defending something even more sacred than our right as a sovereign nation in the union of free nations of the Earth. We are giving the necessary alert to defend world peach, we are defending the right of small nations to be considered on a level of equality, we are telling all peoples of the Earth, that, facing the imperialist enemy, there can be no backing down. The way of the calm and severe warning, protected by the sureness of an answer in keeping with the magnitude of the aggression, is the salvation of peace. Our right to live is something that cannot be discussed by anyone. But if our right to live is conditioned by our obligation to fall on our knees, we answer once more that we do not accept. We believe in the right to defend liberty, sovereignty, and the dignity of this nation and we will exercise it inevitably up to the last man, woman, or child capable of holding a weapon in this territory. I reiterate to you the testimony of my highest consideration. Signed: Fidel Castro, Prime Minister of the Cuban Revolutionary Government -END-