Pretoria, 1 August 2024 - "More than 120 countries have demanded that Cuba be removed from the State Department's spurious and unilateral list of countries that allegedly sponsor terrorism!" Those were the words of the Third Secretary of the Cuban Embassy in South Africa, Bryan Betancourt Brito, in an interview with the South African radio station SAfm.
This afternoon, the young Cuban diplomat took a few minutes out of his busy schedule to talk to Ashraf Garda on The National Pulse, where he explained in detail the damaging effects of the list on the Cuban people and economy. He pointed out, for example, that it has had an extraordinary negative impact on the Cuban economy, due to its intimidating effect and the obstruction of the economic-financial operations of third parties in their trade relations with Cuba, for fear of being sanctioned by the United States.
However, he added that Cuba is not alone, as it can count on international solidarity, including from South Africa and many other countries on the African continent and the world. He said that governments, presidents, former presidents and foreign ministers have joined the worldwide call to remove Cuba from this unjust list, as well as more than 45 parliaments, more than 300 organisations in solidarity with Cuba and associations of Cubans living abroad, more than 20 international and regional organisations, UN human rights experts and political parties from all over the world.
"The clear and absolute truth is that Cuba does not sponsor terrorism, but has been a victim of it, including state-sponsored terrorism, as anyone interested in the matter can testify," he concluded.
(Cuban Embassy in South Africa)