CUBA | Does the US still consider Cuba a state sponsor of terrorism ?

KINGSTON, May 16, 2023 – The United States continues to be reluctant in categorically removing the Republic of Cuba from its list of state sponsors of terrorism despite having and offering no evidence of Cuba’s actions in this regard.

According to official United States media, on May 15, 2024, the Secretary of State of the United States sent to Congress one more of the arbitrary reports that usually qualify countries, without any mandate or international recognition.

It lists four countries that supposedly “do not fully cooperate with United States counterterrorism efforts in calendar year 2023.” Among them and unlike recent years, Cuba is not slanderously mentioned.

However, the State Department itself maintains Cuba on a list that designates states that supposedly “sponsor” terrorism. This is an absolutely unilateral and unfounded list, whose sole purpose is to slander and serve as a pretext for the adoption of coercive economic measures against sovereign States, such as those ruthlessly applied against Cuba.

But Cuba’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs  wants  the United States government “to correct this injustice on the part of, not only the Cuban people and numerous governments, especially in Latin America and the Caribbean, but also political, social and religious organizations within the United States itself and several politicians from that country.

“The clear and absolute truth is that Cuba does not sponsor terrorism, but has been a victim of it, including State terrorism, as anyone who is interested in the subject can confirm, an issue that the United States government is perfectly aware of. its State Department, and its intelligence and law enforcement agencies,” Cubaminrex says.

“They also know the extraordinary damage caused to the Cuban economy by the measures, actions and the intimidating effect that is automatically unleashed against any State that appears mentioned on that list, regardless of what the truth is.

“It is not enough to recognize that Cuba cooperates fully with the United States. It also does so with the international community as a whole. It is a known truth and no attempt should be made to confuse public opinion. The President of the United States has every prerogative to act honestly and do the right thing,” the Cuban government declared.

A Reuters report yesterday said “the U.S. removed Cuba from a short list of countries the United States alleges are “not cooperating fully” in its fight against terrorism, a State Department official said on Wednesday.

The official cited the resumption of law enforcement cooperation between Cuba and the U.S. as one the reasons why the previous designation was deemed “no longer appropriate.”

“The department determined that the circumstances for Cuba’s certification as a ‘not fully cooperating country’ have changed from 2022 to 2023,” the official said.(WiredJA)