Democratic congressmen from Massachusetts asked US President Joe Biden to remove Cuba from the list of sponsors of terrorism, a designation issued at the end of Donald Trump's administration, The Hill newspaper highlighted this Tuesday.
Members of Congress criticized Trump's inclusion of Cuba in that arbitrary and unilateral list of State Sponsors of Terrorism (SSOT) and urged Biden to revoke it, published an article in the newspaper specialized in political and legislative issues.
“This was a vindictive action taken by the Trump Administration in January 2021 when it left office, and the policy should have changed by now,” Democratic Reps. Jim McGovern and Ayanna Pressley wrote in a December letter that was not made public until now. according to the newspaper.
“In fact, Cuba and the United States have a bilateral cooperation agreement on counterterrorism in operation,” both congressmen stressed in the letter, also signed by Senators Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey, and Representatives Seth Moulton, Lori Trahan and Stephen Lynch.
Democrats also insisted on Biden's unfulfilled campaign promises regarding the review of some of the coercive measures adopted by Trump (2017-2021) against Cuba.
“As a presidential candidate, you promised to address a new commitment to Cuba and return to the policy initiated during the Obama-Biden administration, and we support you in this commitment,” they reminded the current occupant of the Oval Office.
Trump included the Caribbean country on that list during his last week in office and this imposed severe restrictions on the island's access to international financial markets, which limits its ability to do business with other countries and entities, which are forced to choose between trading with the United States or with Cuba, the article added.
“While there are multiple reasons for the economic crisis in Cuba, undoubtedly a major contributing factor is the restrictions and sanctions faced by international financial institutions and other entities because Cuba is on the SSOT list,” the lawmakers warned in their letter.
Obama (2009-2017) removed Cuba from the list in 2015 after admitting that the Caribbean nation is not a sponsor of terrorist acts.
“We recognize that much has changed in Cuba and the United States since 2018, but two and a half years into his presidency, the overwhelming number of sanctions imposed by his predecessor, including placing Cuba back on the SSOT list, remain in place,” they pointed out.
The congressmen described it as “the Trump Administration's misleading reason” to include Cuba in said classification again.
They recalled that during his visit to the United States, Colombian President Gustavo Petro personally appealed for Cuba to be removed from the list and highlighted the Caribbean nation's role in facilitating peace negotiations in his country.
The Democrats also mentioned in his letter that Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador asked the United States to remove Cuba from the aforementioned list in recent bilateral talks on migration with Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
“The constant difficulties faced by all sectors of Cuban society are the driving force for tens of thousands of people to leave their homes and migrate to the United States,” they emphasized.
Therefore, they concluded, it is against the direct interests of the United States to continue with the collective economic restrictions that result from Cuba remaining on the SSOT list.
Source:PL