CARICOM Foreign Ministers want Cuba off the US list of State Sponsors of Terrorism

Montego Bay, Jamaica- The Caribbean Community Council for Foreign and Community Relations (COFCOR) says it “welcomes the decision of the Government of the United States of America (USA) to remove the Republic of Cuba from its list of states that are “not cooperating fully” in its fight against terrorism.”

In a statement from the Caribbean Community, the  COFCOR however noted that the Republic of Cuba continues to be  on the US State Department’s list of countries that have been deemed by the USA to be State Sponsors of Terrorism.

The COFCOR, which comprises the Foreign Ministers of all the fifteen member CARICOM states,  has against that background, reiterated its call for “the urgent removal of Cuba from the list of countries deemed to be State Sponsors of Terrorism.”

The CARICOM Foreign Ministers also reaffirms its rejection of the unilateral imposition by the United States of America of the economic, commercial, and financial embargo against Cuba. Both the designation as a State Sponsor of Terrorism and the 62-year-old embargo are unjust and wrongly imposed upon the Cuban people and must be terminated.

The Cuban government, in a statement from its foreign ministry, says the United States government continues to perpetuate an injustice on the Cuban people, much to the consternation of many regional  governments in Latin America and the Caribbean.

There have also been demands by political, social and religious organizations in the United States itself and by several U.S. politicians that the US remove Cuba from the notorious list of state sponsors of terrorism.

“The clear and absolute truth is that Cuba does not sponsor terrorism, but it has been a victim of it instead, including State terrorism. This is a question that can be confirmed by anyone interested in the topic and that is very well-known by the government of the United States, its State Department and its intelligence and law enforcement agencies.

“They are also fully aware of how significantly harmful are for the Cuban economy the sanctions, actions and the intimidating effect that automatically have on any State having it included in such a list, regardless of what the truth might be.

“It is not enough to acknowledge that Cuba fully cooperates with the United States. Cuba does so with the entire international community as well,” the Cuban government said.