Armenians have fled their homes in nagornokarabakh after azerbaijan carried out a military blitz to seize the contested territory. We will go to armenia for the latest. Then to ukranianamerican journalist lev golinkin, who revealed that the ukrainian world war ii veteran honored last week in the canadian house of commons was actually a nazi. His reporting set off a diplomatic crisis in canada. He swore allegiance that he was part of the group that fought for the rights. Amy finally, to the Deputy Foreign minister of cuba. We will speak to him about the recent attack on the Cuban Embassy in washington, d. C. , and Foreign Policy towards cuba. Policy since 1960 has been to make life as difficult and unbearable as possible for the people of cuba, with the ambition that that will lead to the overthrow of the government. That is the impact for the people of cuba. Amy all that and more, coming up. Welcome to democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. U. S. Officials have begun notifying federal workers that the government may shut down on saturday at midnight. During a shutdown, millions of federal workers will stop being paid, including members of the military and air traffic controllers. Millions of recipients of government aid may also lose access to benefits, including 7 million women and children who rely on the wic program, the special Supplemental Nutrition Program for women, infants, and children. While the senate is working on a bipartisan proposal to keep the government open, no progress appears to have been made in the house where far right lawmakers are in a battle with House Speaker kevin mccarthy. The house passed a number of spending bills on thursday night, including a 300 million military aid package for ukraine, but the bills will not avert a shutdown. This comes as the Washington Post reports a group of farright republicans are plotting to remove mccarthy as speaker as soon as next week. President biden addressed the possible shutdown in a speech in tempe, arizona, at an event honoring the late republican senator john mccain. Pres. Biden extremists in congress wanting to burn it down. Amy during the same speech , biden warned that donald trump and the Maga Movement threatens the future of democracy in the United States. Pres. Biden theres something dangerous in america, and extremists movement that does not share basic beliefs of micro see, the Maga Movement. They are not hiding attacks, their openly promoting them. Tacking the free press attacking the free press, the role of the law, voter suppression, and election subversion. Amy bidens speech in arizona was interrupted by the climate activist kai newkirk who called on the president to declare a Climate Emergency. Excuse my interruption, mr. President. Why have you not declared a Climate Emergency . Why have you yet to declare a Climate Emergency . Hundreds of arizonans have died. Pres. Biden i tell you what, if you shush up, i will meet with you after this. Amy in other climate news, 18 youth activists with the Sunrise Movement were arrested thursday after they occupied House SpeakerKevin Mccarthys office , demanding he take action on the Climate Crisis and avert a government shutdown. Despite the imminent government shutdown, the republicancontrolled House OversightCommittee Held its first hearing in its impeachment inquiry of joe biden on thursday. The hearing did not go as planned as the republicans own witnesses, including forensic accountant Bruce Dubinsky and George WashingtonUniversity Law professor jonathan turley, admitted there is no evidence biden committed impeachable offenses. I do not believe that the Current Evidence would support articles of impeachment. I am not here today to even suggest corruption or wrongdoing. Amy Republican Leaders have deemed staffers dealing with the impeachment inquiry to be essential workers so they keep working even if the government shuts down. During the House Oversight hearing, republican lawmakers refused to say if former President Donald Trump should be held accountable if convicted. They were asked that question by Texas Democratic congressmember greg casar. Will members of the Oversight Committee please raise your hand if you believe both hunter and trump should be held accountable for any of the indictments held against them if convicted by a jury of their peers . Raise your hand if you think that equal justice under the law applies and trump should be held accountable . I think it is worse than empires think that republicans will not raise their hands. They refuse to say that equal justice under the law should apply to everyone. Amy a new York Appeals Court has rejected an effort by donald trump to delay his civil fraud trial, which is scheduled to begin on monday. Earlier this week, the trial judge ruled trump in his sons, eric and donald, had fraudulently inflated the value of their assets by billions of dollars to obtain loans and lower their insurance rates. This could lead to trump losing control of some of his most iconic new York Properties , including trump tower, where his apartment is. Meanwhile, trump has decided against trying to move his election interference trial in georgia from a state to federal court. In pakistan, at least 52 people have died in a suicide bombing in the province of balochistan. The bombing occurred near a mosque as worshippers gathered for a religious procession to mark the birthday of the prophet muhammad. A separate last today separate blast hit a mosque killing at least five people Near Peshawar city. No group has claimed responsibility for the blasts. The United NationsRefugee Agency is reporting more than 2,500 people have died or gone missing this year while attempting to cross the mediterranean to seek refuge in protection in europe. That is a sharp increase over last year when about 1700 migrants died or went missing. A top official at the u. N. High commissioner for refugees official called on nations to do far more to save lives. All mediterranean states must urgently step up search and rescue efforts and implement effective mechanisms. Saving lives at sea and providing humanitarian assistance is a sick first basic for humanity, and is helping in good faith should not be penalized for doing so. Amy in niger, protesters gathered again outside a French Military base in the capital of niamey to demand an immediate withdrawal of french troops. French president Emmanuel Macron has vowed to remove french troops over the coming months. The prominent panafrican activist kemi seba of benin addressed protesters. To taste freedom. Everyone has the right to taste independence. Everyone has a right to gain dignity. If france will not let africans do so, we will force them to listen to us. Amy the former president of bolivia, Gonzalo Sanchez de lozada, and his former defense minister have agreed to pay damages to eight People Killed during a 2003 massacre in the largely indigenous aymara city of el alto. The murders happened as massive indigenousled protests erupted across bolivia against a proposed pipeline in what became known as the gas war. One plaintiff in the case was Teofilo Baltazar cerro, whose pregnant wife was killed by a bullet fired through the wall of a house. He said, i feel proud that aymara bolivians showed the world that no leader, no matter how rich or powerful they are, has absolute impunity. The u. S. Case against Gonzalo Sanchez de lozada was brought by the center for constitutional rights. In mexico, three arrests have been made in the state of zacatecas after an armed group kidnapped seven teenagers on sunday. After days of searching, the bodies of six of the teens were found on wednesday. One teen survived and is being treated in the hospital. Three of the teenagers were cousins, the rest were classmates. They were abducted while they were together for a sleepover. The killings have sparked outrage in a community where fighting between rival drug cartels has led to a soaring number of murders and disappearances. Many have blamed the u. S. Backed war on drugs for exacerbating the Drug Cartel Violence in mexico. In news from texas, a 29yearold man from the city of palestine has pleaded guilty to federal smuggling charges for his role in the death of 53 migrants from mexico, guatemala , and honduras who died in the back of a sweltering hot truck in san antonio last year. Christian martinez faces up to life prison. He is the first of the six charged in the case to plead guilty. In new mexico, a protest over the reinstallment of a statue of the violent spanish conquistador juan de onate was disrupted thursday when a man wearing a red maga hat opened fire and shot a native american protester who had to be airlifted to a hospital. The shooting occurred in the city of espanola. The shooter was taken into custody after he drove away in a white tesla. The 16th century conquistador juan de onate is a controversial figure in new mexico. In 1599, a year after he became new mexicos first colonial governor, he ordered a massacre that killed between 800 and 1000 acoma people. The u. S. Equal Employment Opportunity commission has sued elon musks electric car manufacturer tesla for allowing rampant racial abuse of black workers at its plant in fremont, california. Tesla is also accused of retaliating against workers who raised objections to the racist harassment. In a statement the federal agency said, black employees regularly encountered graffiti, including variations of the nword, swastikas, threats, and nooses, on desks and other equipment, in bathroom stalls, within elevators, and even on new vehicles rolling off the production line. California governor gavin newsom has signed legislation to increase the minimum wage for fast food workers to 20 an hour. The law also creates a new council to help set industrywide standards on pay and working conditions. The law takes effect april 1. And on capitol hill, senator ed markey of massachusetts and Congressmember Jamal Bowman of new york have introduced the Green New Deal for Public Schools act, a 1. 6 trillion initiative to eliminate all Carbon Pollution from schools. Congress member bowman, who is a former school principal, spoke outside the capitol on thursday. Schools without windows i know, i have worked in them, without windows, and burning fossil fuels constantly with toxins all throughout the year. We are asking kids, our most precious and vulnerable resource, to go learn in these spaces. That is what we are asking them to do. So, while we are asking them to go to a place to be nurtured and loved and educated, were also harming and killing them at the same time. So the Green New Deal or Public Schools is a response to this crisis. Amy and those are some of the headlines. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. We begin todays show in nagornokarabakh. The president at a center of a decades long dispute between azerbaijan and armenia announced this week that the government will dissolve itself by january 1. This comes just days after azerbaijan carried out a military blitz to seize the territory, which is mostly made up of Ethnic Armenians, after a 35year fight for political autonomy. Hundreds were killed in the attack. Now armenian officials report more than half of nagornokarabakhs 120,000 residents have fled to armenia. Thousands remain without food, shelter, and clean sources of drinking water. This is one of the refugees speaking from goris, armenia. We do not know what is happening to us next. We do not know what the government has in store for us. There is not a single chance to go back. If there were chances, we would not leave in the first place. It is very dangerous there. Amy in response to the worsening crisis, samantha power, head of usaid, said the u. S. Would provide 11. 5 million in aid, and urged azerbaijan to facilitate access to those in need by humanitarian workers. Armenia has warned of an Ethnic Cleansing Campaign in the contested region. Meanwhile, on wednesday, azerbaijan arrested the former head of the nagornokarabakh government as he was trying to cross into armenia. For more, we are joined by roubina margossian, managing editor with evn report, an independent media outlet based in armenia. She reported from nagornokarabakh during the 2020 war. She joins us from yerevan, armenias capital. Welcome back to democracy now can you talk about exactly what is happening . And for a global audience, explain the historical context, as well. Roubina well, that is a big question, question that goes on for so long. Starting with what is happening today, this is ethnic cleansing. Seeing the numbers of people leaving their homeland, it was 70,000 people last night. At 10 00 a. M. , 88,000 people have left. In hours, these are people leaving everything behind, getting out in any means possible, even in cars that are not functional. Why is this happening . That is basically the question we are going to try to answer. But there is no one short answer. This is, however, happening after 10 months of these people being starving, being constantly on trek, after being held hostage by azerbaijan after being told they could leave or reintegrate. After being attacked. On september 19, azerbaijan organized a blitz attack, calling it an antiterrorist measure, which sounds like russias special operation in ukraine. So after azerbaijans special operation, hundreds of civilians died. Now the people have no options. If they want to survive, they have to leave. And they are leaving. The assumption is, after a couple of days, there will not be anymore left and those left will probably be arrested. One man was arrested at a corridor appeared reuters has reported that azerbaijan has extensive blacklist of people that they will be looking for and want to arrest, charges, one is only sure they will be charged. This is a situation right now on the ground. People are fleeing for their lives because they know there is no surviving azerbaijan. Historically, wealth amy let me first ask you about the significance of the head of nagornokarabakh saying that the area, that nagornokarabakh, as it is known now, will cease to exist by the end of the year and the fact that he has been arrested trying to get into armenia . Roubina we do not know that he himself has been arrested. We actually do not have news of that altogether. There are very few independent journalists left their reporting on the situation, some already left. It effectively, we have no communication with those who are still there. Some officials, we have no news about. We do not know if they are there or they managed to get out. We are not hearing from them. Nothing is confirmed that this point. Question was with the government being dissolved, is that the question . Amy yes. Roubina they have until january 1 to do this. But this is not so much about whether or not republic that no one recognized is still going to exist or not, whether or not those institutions that for over 32 years people have built, and whether or not a democracy that could have been and was a more established democracy then azerbaijan. This is not just me saying, it is every human rights report ever saying that even elections late nagornokarabakh were more fair than elections have ever been in azerbaijan. It is basically this democracy dieting dying. If it ceases to exist, that means technically nothing other than a humanitarian disaster, the death of a possible democracy happening. Also, just all over the place, from any perspective, perspective of contemporary human rights and historical perspective. A humanitarian failure. Amy over the weekend, armenia as the United Nations for help monitoring the rights of Ethnic Armenians in the garneau car, arguing they face the prospect of ethnic cleansing in nagornokarabakh. They said that civilians would be protected, this is what was said. Unless real Living Conditions are created for the armenians of nagornokarabakh in their homes and effective mechanisms of protection from ethnic cleansing, the likelihood that armenians will seek exile from their homeland as the only way to preserve their lives and identity increases significantly. Amy so is that happening . You are just back from goriz, where many refugees are coming. Describe what you found. Roubina it has happened, almost done happening. And it is not what was armenia was warning about as they have warned about this for years, and at least for 10 months, we had three u. N. Security council sessions. But as we know and as the whole situation has demonstrated, by acting like this, azerbaijan has effectively demonstrated that at the highest platforms of humanitarian law, the highest platforms of the world, the Foreign Ministry of dozens of countries, their words mean nothing. The resolutions announced are not much. Basically, azerbaijan has demonstrated with what has happen right now that these platforms, these countries, even, their foreign ministries are bankrupt, and essentially anything they say is null and void of any effect. This is great news for any perpetrator regime in the world, which we see happening all over the place. This is the victory of a dictatorship over democracy, a dictatorship that has already also targeted armenia. What is happening now on the border, what was happening in goriz, people passed a less than twohour drive in 36 hours. These are people who came with whatever they had, whatever they could pack, whatever means they could people just crammed in the back of pickup trucks, in the back of trucks used for cattle, just to make it. They set on a corridor under enemy supervision for 36 hours with no communication. Now they are arriving in armenia. What is a situation here . The government is there, several humanitarian Access Points where they are given all the help and recommendations where to go, given directions how to get where. They talk about livelihood and effectively jobs eventually. These people are terrified. They just survived. Genocide survivors, and this is a heavy word for any armenian to use, now they are being asked, well, where do you want to live . They say nowhere on the border because we cannot face the same enemy over and over again. Armenia, the borders are with azerbaijan and turkey, stretches and stretches. There is no place in armenia, technically speaking, where there is not a border. You look one way, that is turkey. People are saying we do not want to go to any border communities because we just cannot bear it. It is just any other humanitarian disaster, and in the introduction, you set the world is full of them. The world has failed over and over again in this respect. Yes, the u. S. Promised money in assistance, and i do not understand this term humanitarian access so where . To a place where there are no longer people . To a place where, as it was announced today, already azerbaijanis have moved into, home still warm from the armenians there. This is one kind of disaster the world can easily forgive itself for its failures, because people are coming to armenia as armenian citizens, as armenians. They will not be knocking on european doors, will not be camped anywhere. They will be living with their own, and it will not be something for the world to see for decades. It will not be like in lebanon. Amy you have said you see this as a proxy war with turkey and israel on one side and turkey and israel are explain the roles of turkey, israel, russia, armenia, and azerbaijan. Roubina well, it is pretty clear, actually, is real has been kind of a military parking for azerbaijan, even before september 19 when the attack started on nagornokarabakh, so we were reporting about the increased fights with military equipment coming, with more controlling on the borders, and this is coming from israel, the same thing that happened in 2021. The amount of flights from israel to azerbaijan were indescribable. As for turkey, theres not much to say. As they call themselves, you know, one nation, two countries, turkey blatantly, for azerbaijan , turkey is always vocal about its support for azerbaijan. Turkey is also vocal about its support turkey coordinated the process with armenia to azerbaijan. Amy so turkey and israel supporting azerbaijan, and russia has a mutual defense pact with armenia. Where do you see this going . What do you think would lead to a lasting and just negotiated peace, and this last minute we have . Roubina i think the negotiations of peace between armenia and azerbaijan, if you have the question, what about the conflict that was a big part of this negotiation . It is constantly dragged into the peace discussions. The thing is, it is more than clear that russia, as political scientists have said, advocated its duties power to armenia time and again, time and again. It is now effectively these are my words, punishing armenia for its western pivot, basically the humanitarian crisis would have been and should have been prevented if not for the support of the Russian Peacekeeping mission. While it is true the watchful eye and helpful hand of the Russian Peacekeeping mission and Russian Federation that this has happened at this time, like the way it has happened because russia is growing increasingly dissatisfied and concerned with armenia, the western pivot and western presence in armenia, also in regards to the monitoring ocean on armenias borders. So russia is moving armenia losing armenia, and if armenia loses something it has fought for and died for for three decades now, maybe armenia would come to its senses. Amy we are going to have to leave it there, but we will continue to cover this. Roubina, managing editor with an independent media outlet based in armenia, speaking to us. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org. Coming up, we will speak with the one who exposed the ukrainian world war ii veteran on her last week in the canadian house of commons, revealed he was actually a nazi. Stay with us. [music break] amy this is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. We turn now to the revelation that the ukrainian world war ii veteran honor last week in the canadian house of commons was actually a nazi, setting off a diplomatic crisis last friday, canadas house of commons gave a standing ovation to a canadian ukrainian veteran who fought in the nazi ss unit during world war ii. 98yearold Yaroslav Hunka, was honored by the canadian president. Volodymyr zelenskyy was also honored. The war veteran from the Second World War who fought the ukrainian independence against the russians and continues to support the troops today, even at his age of 98. [applause] amy that is the speaker of the house of commons, who invited hunta. He then resigned from his post tuesday. This house is above any of us. Therefore, i must step down as your speaker. I reiterate my profound regret for my error in recognizing an individual in the house during the joint address to parliament of president zelenskyy. That public recognition has caused pain to individuals and communities, including the Jewish Community in canada and around the world, in addition to survivors of nazi atrocities in poland, among other nations. I accept full responsibility for my actions. Amy on wednesday, canadian Prime MinisterJustin Trudeau also formally apologized. I want to reiterate how deeply sorry canada is for the situation it has put president zelenskyy and the ukrainian allegation in. It is extremely troubling to think that this egregious error is being politicized by russia and its supporters to provide false propaganda about what ukraine is fighting for. Fridays joint session was about what canada stands for, about our steadfast support of ukraines fight against putins brutality, lies, and violence. It was a moment to celebrate and acknowledge the sacrifices of ukrainians as they fight for their democracy, their freedom, their language and culture, and for peace. This is the side canada was on in world war ii, and this is the side we are on today. Amy meanwhile, canadas conservative leader described the event honoring the former nazi soldier is the biggest single diplomatic embarrassment in canadas history. This week, polands Education Minister issued a statement, calling for the extradition to poland for hunka to be tried. Were joined by lev golinkin, the ukrainian american journalist who reported on this first, saying that reported extensively on this crisis, russia, and the far right. Welcome back. Explain exactly who this guy hunka was. How was it that he is standing there and, 98 years old, and pointed out by the house of Commons Speaker, and everyone applauded . You have Justin Trudeau apologizing. I do not think zelinski has said anything about this yet. Lev he has not. As far as i know, zelenskyy has condemned this in 2021, condemned it then, been silent since, as far as this incident. I will tell you this, as soon as i saw the news that he was described as a finder fighter for ukraines independence against russia, i knew he was a nazi collaborator. The first question that came to my mind was, which unit was he in . Because that is a euphemism that they use to say, you know, we did not fight for germany, we fought against russia. It is a rhetorical trick because when they fought against russia, they were fighting alongside and under command of nazi germany. Honestly, i have been shocked because i have reported on canadas dark history of taking in nazi collaborators, including in the nation about canadas nazi monuments, which they have monuments to this exact division. This is a country that on its soil has monuments celebrating that ss, as does the United States. In many ways, Yaroslav Hunka belonged up in the parliament, because he was there as part of the country that took in at least 2000 ss galichina vets, to thousands of these soldiers from a division that committed horrific war crimes. One of the interesting things, because they were taking in partly because they were enemies of the ussr, so it was cold were politics. But, and this often gets lost, an ancillary benefit to why canada took them in was using them as strike breakers to break the powers of the unions. The unions were growing strong after world war ii, and these men were organized and ready to act as strike breakers. So this is a dark part of canadas domestic policy and Foreign Policy together. Amy so if you can explain further, when it comes to world war ii, how these nazi units were formed, what their relationship was with germany. Lev yes, it is very important to know that these people are described as ukrainian heroes, the overwhelming majority of ukraine fought against the third reich, so many get there lives fighting against the third reich. The only ones that really say all of ukraine collaborated with the nazis, thats what Vladimir Putin says, what muska propaganda says. The reality is that a small region in western ukraine welcome to the nazis. This is the same region where they started slaughtering jews as soonest the nazis invaded. In many cases, the ss did not have to kill the jews because the Ukrainian National it despots had already done it. A small percentage rose up, they joined the nazis, and when germany needed more soldiers because germany was losing were, they created this ss division mostly composed of volunteers, people like hunka so they volunteer for this commission, they committed war crimes, and at the end of the work, they were taken in and released. Many of them, thousands, were taken into the u. K. , the u. S. , into canada. And the biggest thing that people should understand is that when we think of nazis being taken into the new world, with think of argentina and nazis hiding there and keeping a low profile, these nazis were openly proud of what they did in canada. They formed organizations, formed veterans associations. I think people have been asking me, like, what was he thinking . Why was he even putting himself out there . The answer is because canada spent so long turning a blind eye to these people and allowing them to be proud of who they are, the notion that anything would happen, the notion that people would complain, i do not think it crossed this mans mind. Because i and everybody else, the few people that reported about this, we were just called russia and propagandists. Even though these were literal nazis who were historically proved to have committed war crimes come a people did not want to hear it. It is holocaust divisionism. They were portrayed as heroes, suddenly these are were heroes who successfully painted themselves as heroes. So i was stunned that all of a sudden canada decided to face the facts. Amy so why do you think the ukrainian president , zelenskyy, has not said anything, given what has happened to that unit in the past . There he was along with Justin Trudeau and the house of Commons Speaker who has since resigned applauding this demand. How was he brought to House Speakers attention . I think he lived in his area. To be brought to the house of commons and celebrated as zielinski met with the house of commons . Lev this is a man who was active in the community. I think there is evidence coming out that he definitely donated money, hunka did, his family did, donated to the university of alberta, for example, for a scholarship, and the University Just announced they were giving it away. So he was active in the community, not just a random person. As far as zielinski, he is in the middle of fighting a war that is obviously something that is in his mind, he was just away on a states visit. He came back. I think the important thing is that i do not think anybody is active in the media. I think the important question is not, why hasnt he said anything, but, why wasnt he asked his response when trudeau apologized, when the Canadian Parliament speaker apologized . And i also want to just understand how entrenched this is in the canada. Canadas deputy Prime Minister has spent years presenting her grandfather who was a nazi collaborator as a war victim. Ok . So the Canadian Parliament speaker spent 30 seconds turning a perpetrator into a hero, that deputy Prime Minister has done it for decades. Amy explain exactly who her maternal grandfather is. Lev her grandfather worked as a propagandist that took over a polish newspaper, which used to be owned by a jew who was sent and murdered in the death camps with his family, her grandfather proceeded them to turn up antisemitic propaganda inflaming antijewish hatred. Amy this is michael tromiac . Lev yes, and of course he is not responsible for this with her grandfather, nobody is saying that. The problem is youre actively presenting him as a victim, that she was presenting this narrative that these people were were were were victims and should be idolized. And when she was cut, she basically blamed russian propaganda and walked away. It is she is not responsible for her grandfather, she is responsible for twisting history and putting visionism and presenting a perpetrator is a victim. And that just shows you that of course, hunka did not think anything would happen, because you have the deputy Prime Minister who was whitewashing a nazi collaborator and nothing happened. Amy lev, can you talk about poland and the Education Ministry saying that they want hunka extradited to be tried . The man is 98 years old. Lev there is a mix of politics and real pain happening there. The Education Minister is part of the far right section of poland, ok, so it is hard to say that he is simply doing it because of his care. It is a political issue. And unfortunately, this has led to a lot of tension between poland and ukraine, because poland is one of ukraines greatest allies. But because these units, like ss galichina, they have committed horrible crimes against polish civilians, this unit was not good at actually fighting, it lost one of five actual troops. The only thing it was pretty good at was suppressing resistance and committing war crimes against unarmed civilians. So poland very much feels this pain when ukraine, which is its ally, insist on honoring it. The tortures of poles. But russia is using it and prorussian factions and with the polish society are using it to drive a wedge between poland and ukraine. So he is doing it because there is genuine pain there, because ss galichina did commit war crimes, but there is also a political aspect to it that it is not 100 simply just wanting to get justice. There is a lot of, unfortunately, dirty politics on both sides. Amy lev golinkin, thank you for being with us, reporting extensively on the ukraine crisis, russia, and the far right. We will link your latest piece, headlines, canadas House Speaker resigns over celebration of 98yearold who fought in nazi unit. And his memory is titled a backpack, a bear, and eight crates of vodka, a memoir of soviet ukraine. Next, we speak to the Deputy Foreign minister of cuba about the recent attack on the Cuban Embassy in washington, d. C. , and more. Stay with us. [music break] amy which side are you on, by rebel diaz. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. We end todays show in cuba, as government officials have released footage showing an individual throwing two molotov cocktails inside the Cuban Embassy compound in washington, d. C. , last sunday. Cuban officials have condemned it as a terrorist attack, while the Biden Administration has denounced the assault but stopped short of describing it as terrorism. An investigation is underway. No arrests have been made. Cuban officials said this is the latest in a series of attacks against cuban Diplomatic Missions in recent years. The attack came as International Pressure continues to mount, demanding the Biden Administration lift embargo from cuba and remove it from the list of state sponsors of terrorism. The cuban president addressed the u. N. General assembly in new york last week, where he stressed the urgency of a new and fairer global contract. The g77 was founded six decades ago to repair centuries of injustice and abandonment. And in todays world, they are entangled in a host of world crises where poverty is on the rise and hunger is even greater. We are united by the need to change, which has not been resolved, and by the condition of being the main victim of the current global multi dimensional crisis, abusive unequal in change, scientific and technological gaps, and the degradation of the environment. But we are also united and have been for more than half a century now by the inescapable challenge of the determination to transform the Current International order, which, as well as being exclusionary and irrational, is unsustainable for the planet and is not viable for the wellbeing of all. Amy just ahead of the United NationsGeneral Assembly in new york, cuba hosted the g77 summit in havana, where leaders low and middleincome countries echoed calls for a change to the international order. The meeting, which was also attended by china, came at a time of growing frustration against western powers and divisions over the war in ukraine, also the fight against the Climate Crisis and the Global Economic system as many global south nations face unprecedented debt, rising living costs, and worsening economic crises. Cuban president diazcanel also addressed global debt at the u. N. General Assembly Last week. Most of the g77 nations are forced to allocate more resources to servicing debt than investments in health or education. What sustainable achievements can happen with that . Amy for more, we are joined in new york by Carlos Fernandez de cossio, cubas Deputy Foreign minister. Welcome back to democracy now it is good to have you with us. If you could start off by talking about the attack on the Cuban Embassy in washington, d. C. Cuba just released the video footage of the molotov cocktails being thrown in the compound. Thank you for having me. As you have explained, throwing two molotov cocktails over the fence and against the building of the embassy. This is in the middle of the capitol of the United States, just a few miles of the white house. In most capitols of the world, that would be considered a terrorist attack. Imagine if it happened to a u. S. Embassy or nato member embassy anywhere in the world, it would immediately be called a terrorist attack. It has not happened to this moment. There is a history of aggression against cuban embassies and of terrorism against them. And the majority of that terrorism has been financed, organize, are perpetrated from the territory of the United States by people who live there. There is a long history of that, and we have many victims in in cuba of terrorism, organize, perpetrated, and carried out from the territory of the United States. Amy what do you want to see happen right now . We will expect a thorough investigation, a speedy investigation, and for the perpetrators to be prosecuted and treated as what they are, as criminals that committed a terror study attack against a Diplomatic Mission in the center of the u. S. Capitol. Amy i want to go to a clip of them credit massachusetts congressman jim mcgovern talking about cuba on the house floor yesterday. Current u. S. Policy against cubas best describe is continuing the sanctions and policies of donald trump. One thing the United States can do to provide relief is to remove cuba from the state sponsor of terrorism list here there is absolutely no reason for cuba to be on that list, none, and the impact affects nearly every Global Financial and economic institution. Many european nations and u. S. Allies want to help relieve the suffering of the cuban people, especially in areas of health and basic needs, but their hands are tied because of that list and the financial restrictions and punishments. Our policy is a relic from the cold war, and quite frankly, it is cruel. Amy that is Congress Member jim mcgovern of massachusetts. We are talking to cubas Deputy Foreign minister. If you can respond to what the Congress Member is saying, describe the effects of the sanctions on cuba, and if you can relate it to the increasing number of migrants, we are seeing the same thing with venezuela, where the u. S. Has imposed major sanctions against the government, the increased number of migrants that are coming into the United States. The last phrase the congressman used was that it is a cruel policy, and that is the aim of what is being done. There is no rationale, no reasonable argument by any member of the u. S. Government to explain why cuba should be on that list. Cubas relationship with terrorism is as a victim. Over 3400 deaths caused by terrorism in cuba, not as a perpetrator. The reason it is there is because of an economic effect. It is a tool to reinforce the economic blockade. A country that is on that list suffers the consequences of Financial Transactions and commercial transactions being cut or being damaged anywhere in the world. A few weeks after cuba was put on that list in 2021, dozens of Financial Institutions have a long relationship with cuba, severed that relationship and cut it simply because they feared punishment by the United States or they think they will be seeing their interest damaged in doing business with the United States because of the influence, extraterritorial influence of the United States. Another example, tourists from europe are threatened by the United States as they travel to cuba that they will have problems if they were to travel to the United States. They will lose the exception or waiver that they have as europeans travel to the u. S. , and they would have to request a visa with the possibility of being denied. So it is an extraterritorial threat. Tourism is a main source of income for cuba, one of our main industries. So it hasnt impact on our it has an impact on the Financial Resources we need to stabilize and develop the economy, so it has an influence on cubas everyday life in doing business and trying to sell and buy, make payments, obtain credits from any country, not speaking about the United States, speaking of any country around the world, including countries with a Good Relationship with human judgments cuba, those which have a longlasting relationship. But the effect and impact of the u. S. Policy has a threatening effect on them. Amy can you explain your understanding of why the Biden Administration is doing this, continuing this, given that when biden was Vice President under president obama, they change the relationship with cuba, talking about normalizing that relationship . It is a very important question, one that we normally ask americans, for them to explain to us, why the president that, during the Electoral Campaign committed to voters, to electors, that he would change swiftly the policy. He has not done it. And the excuses change. And the reasons change. Two elections, two political considerations, to the presence of powerful members in congress, with obstacles to the president to act. But truly, the reason is not very clear to us beyond the wish of trying to make life as unbearable as possible for the people of cuba as a way of trying to extract cuban lyrical concessions. Amy talk about the Climate Crisis, and issue the cuban president raised addressing World Leaders at the yuan General Assembly, as well, as other g7 nations addressing World Leaders at the u. N. General assembly. The Climate Crisis. The Climate Crisis is one of the largest challenges for humankind, and we are all in it together. In many ways, it is the result of unsustainable patterns of consumption and production that have continued to exist in spite of conventions and agreements, and it is a big threats. Unfortunately, it is a greater threat for developing countries, small island states, low coast, and the impact is always going to be greater to the countries that suffer the disadvantages of an unfair International Economic order that is also unsustainable. You need i nancy you need to change the rules of trade, the rules of financing you need to change the rules of trade. With climate change, it will threaten all and will continue to be there and not addressed. Amy talk about hosting the g77 in cuba. We just spoke to the colombian president , who was just in havana, and talked about also joining with lula, with the south african president , amlo, i think, the mexican president. I think youre president was just in mexico, promising to lead a Worldwide Campaign to lift the embargo against cuba. Cuba cares during this year, the group of 77, it is a responsibility we took in january to try to find consensus, to conciliate divisions in a very large group, large countries, different ideologies, but we all suffered the same conditions of an unfair International Economic order. As part of that responsibility, we hosted this summit in cuba and put inferences on science, technology, and innovation as an mitchell fax that can help make the leap other countries need and deserve. Most of these leaders in cuba spoke about the issues of the group of 77 in developing countries, but they also called attention on the injustices committed against cuba, specifically the blockade, the list of countries allegedly sponsored terrorism, and we believe there is a united front, there is vision should by europeans in the case of u. S. Policy towards cuba. Amy we have to leave it there. We will conduct this interview in spanish and will post it on democracynow. Org. Carlos fernandez de cossio, cubist Deputy Foreign minister speaking to us from new york. And this breaking news, california senator Dianne Feinstein has died at the age of 90. She was the oldest member of the senate, longestserving woman. Dianne feinstein was also the first woman to serve as mayor of san francisco. Again, this news, california senator Dianne Feinstein has died