The State Department notified the U.S. Congress on May 12 that Iran, North Korea, Syria, Venezuela and Cuba were certified under Section 40A (a) of the Arms Export Control Act as “not fully cooperating” with U.S. anti-terrorism efforts in 2019.
The State Department’s official website published the notification, clarifying that Cuba has now been reinstated on the infamous list from which it was removed in 2015, following the restoration of diplomatic relations between the two nations under the leadership of Presidents Barack Obama and Raúl Castro.
What the announcement does not include is that the change occured – coincidentally – on the same day that Cuba’s Foreign Minister denounced the U.S. government for its complicit silence in the face of the terrorist attack on our embassy in that nation, April 30.
In a statement, issued when the U.S. last approved the inclusion of Cuba on the list in April of 2014, our Foreign Ministry stated, “The government of Cuba reiterates that our national territory has never, and will never, be used to harbor terrorists of any origin, nor to organize, finance or perpetrate acts of terrorism against any country in the world, including the United States. Likewise, it rejects and unequivocally condemns any act of terrorism, in any place, under any circumstances and for any reason whatsoever.
“It is the government of the United States that uses state terrorism as a weapon against countries that oppose its domination, uses reprehensible methods such as torture and employs advanced military technology, including drones, to extrajudicially execute alleged terrorists, including United States citizens, and has also caused numerous deaths of innocent members of the civilian population.”
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