Foreign Affairs of Cuba considers it “a totally unfounded accusation and used for political purposes.”
The Cuban Foreign Ministry has denied that Cuba “does not cooperate fully with the US counterterrorism efforts, ” after US President Joe Biden ratified Trump’s decision on Tuesday to include the island on his blacklist of countries that sponsor terrorism alongside Iran, Syria and North Korea.
In a public note on the Foreign Ministry website, Cuba considers that its inclusion on this list is “a totally unfounded accusation and used for political purposes , which attempts to justify the attacks against Cuba, including the inhumane economic, commercial and financial blockade it is suffering. our town”.
The inclusion of the island in the list of countries that sponsor terrorism was a decision taken in the last throes of the Donald Trump government and that its critics consider the result of a strategy to complicate things for his successor.
“Cuba endorses in its Constitution the repudiation and condemnation of terrorism in any of its forms and manifestations. It has maintained a transparent and impeccable attitude in the fight against terrorism , as well as has expressed its willingness to cooperate with US authorities as it does with other countries “, adds the island government in its note.
In fact, the Cuban government insists that “it is the US authorities that have refused to cooperate with Cuba in the fight against terrorism ” and accuse the US of never having returned “a single fugitive from Cuban justice.” and not even try “any of them for crimes and terrorist acts committed against our people and citizens of other countries.”
During the campaign prior to his election, Biden promised to reverse some of Trump’s policies against the island , giving signs that he would follow in the footsteps of Barack Obama , who in his last year in office came to visit Cuba, thus becoming the first president in Cuba. do it in almost a century.
However, for now Biden maintains the line of its predecessor. “A change in policy toward Cuba is not now among President Biden’s top priorities ,” said press secretary Jen Psaki.