Clinton condemns Cuba shootdown and imposes emergency sanctions

In the days following the February 24 shootdown, President Bill Clinton termed the attack "a blatant violation of international law" and announced a set of immediate retaliatory measures against Cuba. Clinton suspended all charter flights between the United States and Cuba indefinitely, tightened travel restrictions for Cuban officials on U.S. soil, expanded the broadcast reach of Radio Martí, and directed Ambassador Madeleine Albright to convene an emergency session of the UN Security Council. These measures were deliberately calibrated — Clinton chose diplomacy and economic pressure over any military response, opting instead to accelerate the Helms-Burton legislation that had previously stalled in Congress.