The Canadian Network on Cuba denounces in the strongest possible terms the U.S. State Department’s re-inclusion of Cuba on its list of countries that “do not fully cooperate against terrorism.” While distinct from, and less significant than, its so-called list of State Sponsors of Terrorism (SSOT), to which it also baselessly re-added Cuba earlier this year, we recognize that these are instruments used by the United States government to demonize and punish nations that remain defiant in the face of U.S. imperialism and neocolonialism. They are facets of the “maximum pressure” and economic warfare policy against Cuba, intentionally designed to inflict damage and suffering on the Cuban population and intimidate any State that is affiliated or cooperative with Cuba.
The United States, as always, fails to present any concrete evidence for this spurious designation of Cuba, meant to derail bilateral relations and prop up its narrative of Cuba as a threat to the region. Cuba has never participated in the organization, financing, or execution of terrorist acts against any country, nor has Cuban territory ever been used for that purpose. It is well known by the international community that the same absolutely cannot be said of the United States.
One cannot help but recoil at the arrogance with which the United States bestows itself the authority to capriciously and arbitrarily choose who is and who is not supporting terrorism. Cuba has been fighting terrorism at home, in its geographical region and across the world, since the triumph of its Revolution in 1959, regardless of whether the United States recognizes this role or not.
Perhaps the most insulting aspect of Cuba’s continued inclusion on such lists is the fact that the United States has a well-documented history of supporting terrorism, including but not limited to Operation Gladio in Europe, the Afghan mujahideen, contras in Nicaragua, and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. The greatest irony of all, however, is the six decades of terrorism that the United States has supported against the Cuban people, including the Bay of Pigs invasion, the bombing of Cubana Flight 455, and the deadly explosions at three Cuban hotels in 1997. Confessed terrorists Luis Posada Carriles and Orlando Bosch Avila lived peacefully in Miami under the protection of the United States until their deaths, and the Cuban government has still received no reply to requests for information on the identity of the perpetrator of the terrorist attack against the Cuban Embassy in 2023, nor to the requests on 61 people and 19 organizations based in the U.S. with links to terrorist acts against Cuba.
After over a year and a half of the U.S.-sponsored genocide in Gaza; three years of proxy war against Russia; escalating provocations against China; and new threats to annex the territory of sovereign countries, the hypocrisy and contradiction of the United States’ policy towards Cuba is on full display. Anti-Cuba policies are deeply unpopular globally, as well as in Canada and the United States. The Canadian Network on Cuba stands with this principled community in our solidarity with the Cuban people, in defense of their right to self-determination and sovereignty, and to live and develop without illegal, unilateral, and coercive measures imposed upon them.
Sincerely,
Samantha Hislop & Julio Fonseca
Co-Chairs, Canadian Network on Cuba