Nearly 600 parliamentarians from 73 countries around the world wrote a joint letter, coordinated and published by Progressive International (PI), in which they condemn the designation of Cuba by the United States as a “state sponsor of terrorism” as “cynical, cruel and a clear violation of international law”. In the letter, published today, Friday, September 20, the legislators call on their respective governments to “take immediate steps to advocate for the removal [of the designation].”
The U.S. State Sponsor of Terrorism designation, withdrawn in 2015 after a thorough assessment by the Obama Administration, was reapplied to Cuba in the final days of Trump's 2021 presidency. Countries on the U.S. list face extreme sanctions that hinder access to medicines and food. The other three countries with the U.S. government designation are Syria, since 1979, Iran, since 1984, and North Korea, since 2017. President Joe Biden has not withdrawn the designation, despite promising a return to the Obama-era policy.
The signatories, brought together by Progressive International, advocate “the urgency of removing Cuba from the list of ‘state sponsors of terrorism’ in the name of dignity, decency and the integrity of the UN Charter.” They note that, according to UN experts, the designation has undermined “fundamental human rights, including the right to food, the right to health, the right to education, economic and social rights, the right to life and the right to development.”
Notable signatories include former Belgian Workers' Party President Peter Mertens, Brazilian MP Célia Xakriabá, Canadian MP and IP Council member Niki Ashton, Colombian Senator and IP Council member Clara López Obregón, former Secretary General of the Progressive Party of the Working People (AKEL) of Cyprus Andros Kyprianou, Ecuadorian MP Jahiren Noriega, French MP Arnaud Le Gall, German Die Linke party leader Martin Schirdewan, Ghanaian MP Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, Secretary General of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) Dimitris Koutsoumpas, former President of Guyana Donald Ramotar, First Vice-President of the National Congress of Honduras Hugo Noé Pino, Indian MP John Brittas, Jamaican People's National Party leader Mark Golding, Malaysian MP Wong Chen, Mexican Morena party secretary general Citlalli Hernandez, Senegalese MP Guy Marius Sagna, Serbian Socialist Movement leader Bojan Torbica, Seychelles opposition leader Sebastian Pillay, Spanish MP and IP Council member Gerardo Pisarello, Spanish Podemos party leader Ione Belarra, Sri Lankan National Freedom Front leader Wimal Weerawansa, Turkish Peoples' Democratic Party Chairman and IP Council member Ertuğrul Kürkcü, former UK Labour Party leader and IP Council member Jeremy Corbyn.
The signatories argue that the designation “is cruel because it is designed to maximize the suffering of the people of Cuba, stifling their economy, displacing their families and even restricting the flow of humanitarian aid.”
In May 2024, the U.S. State Department finally removed Cuba from the list of states that “do not fully cooperate” with the United States in the fight against terrorism. However, the letter argues that “this is not enough,” as “Cuba continues to suffer as a result of its cynical, cruel and illegal exclusion from the international economy.”
The letter, coordinated by Progressive International, comes after 35 former heads of state and government wrote to Joe Biden asking him to remove Cuba from the list as he enters his final months in office.