The North admitted what is known to all: that Cuba fully cooperates with counter-terrorism efforts.
This is what Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez wrote on his X account. And this was applauded by a group of Democratic congressmen.
In a joint statement they said they welcomed the decision by Joe Biden’s administration to remove Cuba from a list of countries that “do not fully cooperate” in the fight against terrorism. “This previous designation was counterproductive and unhelpful,” they stressed.
Jim McGovern and Barbara Lee, House of Representatives and ranking members of the Rules Committee and the Subcommittee on State Appropriations and Foreign Operations, respectively, welcomed the State Department’s disposition. Also joining are Gregory W. Meeks, Ranking Member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, and Joaquín Castro, Ranking Member of the Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere.
The statement, posted on McGovern’s official website, recalled that the two governments have spoken directly “about law enforcement and counter-terrorism efforts, including those related to extradition”.
They noted that, despite existing differences, the best way to address them is “through engagement and dialogue, as we do with other countries in our hemisphere”.
On 15 May, the head of US diplomacy, Antony Blinken, removed Cuba from this unilateral and arbitrary list of nations that, according to Washington, “do not cooperate fully” in the fight against terrorism.
The news circulated immediately in the media and social networks, causing confusion because many thought that Biden had finally heard the almost universal demand that the West Indian country be removed from the other, equally arbitrary and illegal list: that of state sponsors of terrorism.
Cuba was first included on the State Department’s list of sponsors of terrorism during the administration of President Ronald Reagan in 1982, but in 2015, then-President Barack Obama said the designation had no merit in the island’s case and withdrew it.
However, on 12 January 2021, days before leaving office, Donald Trump bequeathed to his successor Joe Biden the reinclusion of Cuba on the list of sponsors of terrorism, something he maintains despite calls for him to rectify this stance in his policy towards the Caribbean nation. PL
(Translated by Cristina Popa – Email: gcpopa83@gmail.com) – Photos: Pixabay
.jpg)
