The US has removed Cuba from a list of countries it considers "not fully cooperating" with its "counterterrorism efforts". The US State Department has determined that the circumstances for Cuba's categorization as a "not fully cooperating country" have changed from 2022 to 2023.
However, this list is not the U.S. list of "state sponsors of terrorism" on which Cuba was placed by the Trump administration in January 2021 to tighten the U.S. economic, commercial and financial blockade against Cuba, which has been in place for more than 60 years. Cuba and the worldwide Cuba solidarity movement vehemently demand that Cuba be removed from this list, as this categorization impedes Cuba's access to make transactions through international banking systems and purchase necessary goods such as fuel, construction materials, spare parts, food and medicine on the international market. In addition, the country is losing potential loans, trade partners and investors, which is greatly worsening the island's economic and social situation.
The removal of Cuba from the list of "countries that do not fully cooperate with U.S. anti-terrorism efforts" has led some friends of Cuba to wrongly assume that it would be the list of "state sponsors of terrorism."
In principle, ÖKG welcomes the removal of Cuba from the list of states that allegedly "do not fully cooperate with US anti-terrorism efforts" as a step in the right direction. However, we continue to demand that the US administration remove Cuba from its list of "state sponsors of terrorism"!
It should be noted that the US is misusing its so-called "anti-terrorist struggle" as an argument for geopolitically motivated wars - in countries such as Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen and Libya, among others - in order to consolidate its global supremacy.
The Cuban government's national and international policies are in line with the United Nations Charter. Cuba stands on the side of international law and condemns all acts of terrorism, including U.S. state terrorism, of which Cuba has been a victim for decades.
In its more than 65 years of history since the revolution, Cuba has not occupied any foreign country, has not sent aircraft carriers to the world and has not supported terrorism. We condemn in the strongest terms that the U.S. dares to defame Cuba as an alleged "state sponsor of terrorism".
Hermann Pernerstorfer Chairman of the ÖKG
Vienna, May 29, 2024
(EmbaCuba Austria)