Guyana, Georgetown, October 9, 2023. The Former President of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, Donald Ramotar expressed his Solidarity with the people of Cuba through a letter published in the national press media.
¨Remove Cuba from the terrorist list and remove the blockade¨
Dear Editor,
Forty-seven years ago, on October 6, 1976, one of the worst terrorist attacks in our region took place off the island of Barbados when seventy-three young and unsuspecting people were killed by a bomb that brought down Cubana Flight 455. aircraft. The people who died that day were eleven Guyanese, fifty-seven Cuban nationals and five from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).
The objective of this attack was the Cuban State. That was not the first time that Cuba was the target of terrorist attacks. Almost from its beginnings, Cuba and the Cuban people were victims of terrorism by Cuban groups in the US, hosted and financed by the US government, and of State terrorism mainly from one of the most powerful covert organizations in the world, the Intelligence Center. (INC). These acts were carried out against a small state whose people only sought to improve their lives and help others do the same. The only thing they want and desire is to develop their country as they wish.
The Cuban nation has made a monumental contribution to our region in education (it has educated thousands of people from Asia, Africa, and Latin America). The Cuban State has sent its doctors to all parts of the world wherever natural disasters occur and to countries that do not have enough medical personnel to care for their people. Most developing countries have been victims of a terrible brain drain. Consider this fact: there are more Ethiopian doctors in Chicago than in all of Ethiopia.
In Guyana, we have benefited and continue to benefit from Cuba in many areas, particularly in health. Cuban teachers have helped educate thousands of people outside of Cuba. Cuba's solidarity is legendary. He played an important role in ending the apartheid regime in South Africa and protected the independence of Angola. It is this country that has done so much to save lives, eradicate ignorance, and improve the health of people who are subjected to such great terrorism. More than that, the Cuban State and its people have been subject to an economic blockade for more than sixty years.
That blockade has cost the nation billions of dollars in trade and has created enormous problems and suffering for the Cuban people. To aggravate the illegal attacks, the United States has included Cuba on a list accusing it of being a sponsor of terrorism. This has given them the excuse to impose more difficulties on Cuba. How ironic, how immoral this is!
This country has done more than most to bring relief to other people. Even until recently, the Cuban people under very adverse conditions developed vaccines to fight the COVID-19 virus and shared them with others.
What generosity, what selflessness! The time has come to remove Cuba from the United States terrorist list and to lift the economic blockade of this island. The time has come to put an end to the suffering of the Cuban people!
The people of our region must ask the United States to remove Cuba from its terrorist list and abandon the oppressive blockade. Cuba has done a lot to fight terrorism. Why continue punishing your people? Justice demands this, it is humanitarian to demand this. (This is claimed by those who perished in the Cubana disaster). Allow Cubans to breathe and develop their full potential on the path they themselves have chosen.
Sincerely,
Donald Ramotar
Former President of Guyana.