CARICOM decries U.S. designation of Cuba as state sponsor of terrorism
Designation of Cuba as sponsor of terrorism a “misguided action”
The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) has denounced Wednesday the unilateral declaration by the outgoing United States administration to designate Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism.
“Cuba’s international conduct does not in any way warrant that designation,” CARICOM said in its official statement released two days after the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced the move. “This further attack on the country adversely affects its international standing and its social, human and economic development.”
CARICOM further said that the decision to put the Caribbean nation in its state sponsor list “is another misguided action” that places Cuba in an even worse situation.
CARICOM has also called for the immediate review and reversal of these unjustified actions.
On Monday, the U.S. State Department announced that it is nulling an Obama-era decision in 2015 that removed Cuba from the state sponsor list.
“For decades, the Cuban government has fed, housed, and provided medical care for murderers, bombmakers, and hijackers, while many Cubans go hungry, homeless, and without basic medicine,” said US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
“Cuba also harbors several U.S. fugitives from justice wanted on or convicted of charges of political violence, many of whom have resided in Cuba for decades,” he added.
Cuba returns to the list “following its broken commitment to stop supporting terrorism as a condition of its removal by the previous administration in 2015.” The US State Department further cited that on May 13, 2020, the State Department notified Congress that it had certified Cuba under Section 40A(a) of the Arms Export Control Act as “not cooperating fully” with the US.
Cuba rejoins three other countries on the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism: Iran, North Korea and Syria. Sudan was recently removed as part of its agreement to normalize ties with Israel.
This last-minute move of the outgoing Trump administration could potentially hinder the efforts of incoming president Joe Biden to normalize relations with the Caribbean country.
Diplomats, expert
Cuba’s Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla expressed his disapproval in a tweet on Monday.
“We condemn the hypocritical and cynical designation of #Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism, announced by the US. The political opportunism of this action is recognized by all who have an honest concern about the scourge of terrorism and its victims,” Parrilla said.
Meanwhile, an expert on Latin America and professor at American University, William LeoGrande, told CNN in an interview that the designation would have “little practical impact” because Cuba is already subject to wide-ranging US financial sanctions.
Currently in place is the United States embargo against Cuba, which is often touted as the most enduring trade embargo in modern history. This embargo prevents American businesses, and businesses with commercial activities in the U.S., from conducting trade with Cuban interests.