Coalition of Caribbean Civil Society Organization – Statement demanding Cuba be removed from US State Department’s List

A DEMAND THAT CUBA BE REMOVED FROM THE US STATE
DEPARTMENT’S LIST OF SPONSORS OF TERRORISM
The egregious wrong committed by the Donald Trump Administration when
they placed CUBA on the US State Department’s unilateral List of State
Sponsors of Terrorism needs to be urgently addressed and rectified.
President Trump and his Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, committed this
cynical act in January 2021, just days before the defeated President’s term
came to an end.
HERE THEN ARE TEN REFLECTIONS ON THE ABSURDITY OF THE
CLAIM THAT CUBA IS A STATE SPONSOR OF TERRORISM:
1. Far from being a perpetrator or sponsor of Terrorism, Cuba has, in fact,
been the victim of no less than 713 acts of terrorism, the vast majority
of which have been organized, financed and executed by entities of the
US government and/or by persons or organizations that are based in
or that find refuge in the territory of the United States of America.
2. Included in this list of anti-CUBA acts of Terrorism is the infamous 6th
of October 1976 bombing of a Cubana civilian aircraft in the territorial
space of Barbados, killing all 73 persons on board.
3. The acts of Terrorism against CUBA have killed 3,478 persons, and
have maimed, 2,099 Cuban citizens. In addition, damages to life and
property have been calculated to reach the total of 181 billion US
dollars.
4. As part of its Constitution, Cuba has ratified its condemnation and
rejection of terrorism in all its forms, and Cuba has maintained a
manifestly clear and transparent position in the fight against terrorism.
5. Having been included arbitrarily in the US State Department’s
infamous unilateral List in the past, Cuba was excluded from that List
on May 29, 2015, during the Barack Obama administration, and was
maliciously and vindictively included again on January 11, 2021, a few
days before President Donald Trump finished his mandate.
6. The negative consequences derived from inclusion in this List are
restrictions to Cuba’s exports, diminished commercial benefits,
obstacles to the obtaining of credits from international financial
institutions, prohibition against the export of arms, as well as limits to
obtaining economic help, and the list goes on.
7. This fraudulent and ridiculous identification of Cuba as a State Sponsor
of Terrorism serves to reinforce the effects of the illegal US blockade
against Cuba by increasing difficulties for Cuba to engage in
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international trade, to carry out financial operations, and to acquire
basic staples for its people.
8. The placing of Cuba on this fraudulent List also intensifies
the extraterritorial character of the US laws and regulations that
uphold the US blockade against Cuba and reinforces its dissuasive and
harassing impact on third parties, regarding their relations with Cuba.
9. Because of Cuba’s undeserved presence on this List, many banks have
suspended operations with Cuba, including transfer of funds to buy
food, medicines and spare parts, or to import goods for the population
— actions that have had an increasingly damaging effect within the
context of facing the pandemic of COVID-19.
10. Additionally, scores of Cuban diplomatic missions throughout the world
have lost relations that they had enjoyed for many years with banks
which had served them well, due to fear on the part of those banks of
reprisals by the United States government, including fines that amount
to millions of US dollars. This situation affects the functioning and
maintenance of Cuba’s embassies, and it has also affected the payment
of Cuban contributions to various regional and international
organizations.