(3 Jul 1996) English/Nat
U-S Transportation Secretary Federico Pena is urging the Security Council to take action after a U-N report said Cuba violated international law when it shot down two U-S civilian planes this year.
The report confirms U-S claims the two civilian planes were outside Cuban airspace when they were shot down by Cuban MiG fighters in February.
After meeting with members of the U-N Security Council, the U-S Transportation Secretary said the U-N report was right about the shooting down of unarmed civilian planes in February.
SOUNDBITE:
"It is clear that the fundamental principles of human decency were ignored. In fact Cuba's own procedures were disregarded in violation of international law. As a result, four innocent people were killed."
SUPER CAPTION: Federico Pena, U-S Transportation Secretary
The planes were from the group "Brothers to the Rescue," made up of Cuban exiles who regularly patrol the waters off Cuba looking for refugees on rafts.
The UN-affiliated International Civil Aviation Organization said the closest plane was nine nautical miles from Cuban waters when MiG fighters blew it out of the sky.
The group had been making forays close to Cuba's coastline -- some said deliberately trying to provoke Castro into taking action.
Washington says it discourages such action and grounds pilots that fly too close to Cuba.
Cuba continues to deny the validity of a U-N report that the island nation downed two U-S planes over international waters.
In what U-S officials see as an attempt to deflect international criticism, Cuba is now saying that American flights near Cuban air space are a hazard to air traffic and may cause a collision.
SOUNDBITE:
"We have taken extraordinary steps over the last year and a half -- and even since the shoot down -- to do all that we can, under our laws, to discourage anyone violating international law. On the other side, the Cuban government has done nothing. All the Cuban government has done is to say publicly and to us diplomatically that they will continue to enforce their airspace which means that if any other civil aircraft enters their airspace they will shoot it down - again in violation of international law."
SUPER CAPTION: Federico Pena, U-S Transportation Secretary
Havana says U-S aircraft pose a hazard to the region and that a number of incursions into Cuban airspace have raised concerns about the safety of the skies around Cuba.
Pena brushed aside Cuban claims that its air traffic controllers had to divert seven commercial flights earlier this year to avoid collisions with unannounced U-S- based flights.
SOUNDBITE:
"I'm sorry. What I find astounding about all this is that we are in regular communication with the Cuban government. We have diplomatic notes that are exchanged. Our air traffic controllers are talking to their air traffic controllers. If there's a problem, they should communicate to the appropriate people and we will make sure that those problems are corrected."
SUPER CAPTION: Federico Pena, U-S Transportation Secretary
The State Department echoed Pena's outrage.
SOUNDBITE:
"I find it highly ironic that a representative of the Cuban government would fault the United States for its civil aviation procedures."
SUPER CAPTION: Nicholas Burns, U-S State Department Spokesman
The Security Council is expected to discuss the civil aviation report in the coming weeks.
But the Security Council is unlikely to take any strong action such as sanctions against Cuba.
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