Cuba on Tuesday rebuffed the US charges of harassment against
its mission in Havana, saying Washington is making up stories
aiming to create a bilateral crisis.
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The rebuff was carried by the official newspaper Granma
after US diplomats told international press that the Cuban
government had cut off supplies of electricity and reduced drinking
water in a bid to harass them.
Accusing the US officials who had discussed the problems of
telling "bare-faced liars," the newspaper said they were trying to
create a diplomatic crisis in order to revoke migratory accords and
food purchase agreements signed between Cuba and US business
people.
The newspaper said that the US office had never been under
attack, either overtly or covertly, even though it was using an
electronic screen to show anti-Cuban messages.
"These last anti-Cuban imputations have the perfidious objective
of distracting the attention from the real problem, which is the
subversive and provocative actions of the Special Interests
Office," said the newspaper.
It also accused the US office of warehousing material and
financing activities to subvert the country's internal order.
"The revolutionary government has given them a lesson in
firmness, and acted in strict adherence to diplomatic rules in the
face of vulgar, despicable actions," the newspaper said.
Cuba and the United States broke diplomatic relations in
1961.
In 1977, during the administration of then US President Jimmy
Carter, the US Interests Office was established under the Swiss
Embassy in Havana to handle consular affairs such as visa
processing. Cuba has a similar office in Washington.
(Xinhua News Agency June 14, 2006)
