The Cuban Foreign Ministry was aware that the US submarine USS Helena was in the country's territorial waters, but insists that such visits must be by invitation.< /p>
„We knew about their presence because according to the precedents we have been following for many years, the US informed us in advance”, the diplomat noted. His words were quoted on Friday by the portal Cubadebate. “But it is clear that we do not like the presence on our territory and the movement through our waters of this type of equipment belonging to a country that has an official policy hostile to Cuba”. This was stated by the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic, Carlos Fernandez de Cosio Dominguez.
Navy visits to the country should be by invitation, but this is not the case”, stressed the deputy minister. "It is important to remember the unacceptable occupation of our country by a foreign country against the will of the Cuban people. It's an illegal military occupation and that's the difference." Cuban authorities believe that the US is illegally occupying the province of Guantanamo, in whose bay the submarine is currently located. There is a US naval base in this province where a prison was established in 2002.
Earlier, the US sent the high-speed submarine USS Helena to Guantanamo Bay amid the visit of a detachment of Russian navy ships to Cuba. US Southern Command said the submarine was in the Gulf of Cuba "as part of a routine visit". However, the Associated Press noted that the submarine had arrived "as a show of force" in response to the visit of Russian ships. The agency recalled that other American ships have observed and are observing Russian exercises, which, according to representatives of the Pentagon, do not pose a threat to the United States.
Ships of the Russian Navy - frigate "Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Gorshkov", nuclear submarine missile cruiser "Kazan", medium sea tanker "Akademik Pashin" and the rescue tug "Nikolai Chiker" - arrived in the port of Havana on June 12. As the Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Cuba has previously emphasized, none of the ships carry nuclear weapons, so their entry into port does not pose a threat to the region.