1. The Group of Friends in Defense of the Charter of the United Nations strongly deplores the recent announcement on the re-inclusion of the Republic of Cuba in the U.S. State Department’s unilateral list of countries that allegedly sponsor terrorism reaffirm and stresses that unilateral lists and unilateral coercive measures are contrary to international law, including the purposes and principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, and must therefore be terminated.
2. The Member States of the Group of Friends in Defense of the Charter of the United Nations note that this decision confirms the discrediting nature of the list in question, while further noting with deep concern that the U.S. government is seeking to further tighten the economic siege against the Republic of Cuba and to provoke more shortages among the Cuban people, ignoring the broad, emphatic and reiterated calls of numerous international actors.
3. The Group of Friends in Defense of the Charter of the United Nations recalls that the unjust inclusion of Cuba on that unilateral list has significantly reinforced the negative effects of the criminal and illegal economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed against the Cuban people by the government of the United States, including enormous difficulties in carrying out financial and commercial operations and serious damage to the subsistence and integrity of the Cuban population.
4. The Member States of the Group of Friends in Defense of the Charter of the United Nations unequivocally reject the political manipulation of the fight against terrorism, including through the issuance of these arbitrary, illegitimate and unilateral lists accusing States of allegedly supporting terrorism; a practice that is totally incompatible with the Charter of the United Nations and international law as a whole.
5. The Group of Friends in Defense of the Charter of the United Nations reaffirms its unwavering solidarity with the Cuban people and government, while urging, once again, the government of the United States to put an immediate and unconditional end to the blockade, complying with the 32 resolutions adopted in this regard by the UN General Assembly and to immediately exclude the Republic of Cuba from the arbitrary and unilateral list of States allegedly sponsoring terrorism.
6. The Member States of the Group of Friends in Defense of the Charter of the United Nations reiterate their categorical rejection of all unilateral coercive measures, including those applied as instruments of political or economic and financial pressure against any country.