In a letter, 46 US Congressmen urged President Joe Biden to reverse the designation currently imposed on Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism and recognized its role in the peace agreements in Colombia.
Washington.- The letter dated July 31, with a copy to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, expressed the concern of members of the legislature over the arbitrary measure against the Caribbean nation, which fulfilled its commitments as guarantor of the peace talks process in Colombia.
According to them, this peace process also depends on whether other countries accept to be guarantors of the talks. In this regard, they warned: “We are concerned that the Trump administration’s decision to designate Cuba as a State Sponsor of Terrorism (SSOT) may make it difficult to identify these countries and we urge him to reverse this designation.”
In January 2021, a few days before ending his term, Donald Trump re-included Cuba on the SSOT list as part of the maximum pressure policy that characterized his stance towards the island.
The then president used as a pretext Cuba’s refusal to extradite 10 members of the ELN (National Liberation Army) who had participated in peace negotiations with the Government of Colombia.
"As guarantor of the talks, Cuba was fulfilling its commitment under international protocols, a position fully supported by another guarantor country, Norway," they stressed.
The Colombian government – the text emphasized – has repeatedly requested the removal of Cuba from the SSOT list, in recognition of its “essential role as host and guarantor of peace talks.”
The designation -which is maintained by its successor Biden- meant a reinforcement of the economic, commercial, and financial blockade that has weighed on the Cuban people for more than six decades.
Cuba was included for the first time on this unilateral list in 1982, during the administration of Ronald Reagan (1981-1989) and President Barack Obama (2009-2017) reversed the measure in 2015 after admitting that it lacked merit.
Cuban authorities have systematically denounced that Cuba has actually been a victim of terrorism for years, often organized and planned from US territory. (PL)
