The Canadian Peace Congress joins with voices across Canada and around the world in condemning the cowardly terrorist attack on the Cuban Embassy in Washington D.C. which took place on the evening of September 24, 2023. Two Molotov cocktails were hurled at the embassy, setting portions of it aflame. While no one was injured in this attack, significant property damage resulted.

What makes this incident so serious is the fact that the Cuban government had repeatedly warned U.S. officials that its sovereign space was under threat, but no measures were taken to prevent this attack.

Such acts of terrorism against Cuba and its citizens have a long, inglorious history, dating back more than 60 years to the early days following the victory of the Cuban Revolution in 1959. Many of these attacks were carried out from U.S. territory, and several committed by the U.S. government itself, in flagrant violation of international law.

We would remind the Biden Administration that it has a solemn duty to guarantee the protection of foreign embassies and diplomatic properties on its soil. The Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations (1961), to which the United States and virtually all other countries are bound, states in Article 22: “The receiving [or host] State is under a special duty to take all appropriate steps to protect the premises of the mission against any intrusion or damage and to prevent any disturbance of the peace of the mission or impairment of its dignity.” 

At a time when international tensions are rising, and when the Republic of Cuba in particular continues to suffer great hardships as a result of the illegal and unconscionable U.S. blockade, it is incumbent on the US authorities to make every effort to ensure that actions threatening the safety and integrity of foreign diplomatic embassies and missions on its territory are not allowed to occur.

The Canadian Peace Congress supports the demand that this incident be investigated thoroughly, that the person (or persons) responsible be brought to justice, and that local and state authorities take all necessary actions to prevent any such acts of terrorism from taking place in the future.

Executive Committee, Canadian Peace Congress

September 28, 2023