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Statement from Cuban Ministry of
Foreign Relations
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MINREX forcefully rejects the manipulation of an
issue as sensitive as international terrorism, in
order to advance a policy against Cuba, and demands
that our country be definitively deleted from this
spurious, unilateral, arbitrary list, which is an
affront to the Cuban people, and discredits the
government of the United States itself
On April 30, the U.S. State Department released its
Country Report on Terrorism 2013, which repeated the
absurd designation of Cuba as “a state sponsor of
terrorism,” for the 32nd time.
The State Department was obliged to recognize in its
own report that in 2013 Cuba supported and sponsored
negotiations between the FARC and the government of
Colombia, with the objective of achieving a peace
agreement; that there is no information indicating
that the Cuban government has supplied weapons or
paramilitary training to terrorist groups; and that
members of the ETA resident in Cuba were relocated
with the cooperation of the Spanish government.
Despite this, considerations of a political nature
and the need to justify at all cost the failed
blockade, unanimously rejected by the international
community, take precedence over rationality once
again.
The only pretext to which the State Department
alludes, to support this slanderous accusation of
Cuba, is the presence in the country of “fugitives”
from U.S. justice, none of whom, it is worth
clarifying, have been accused of terrorism. Some of
these citizens were legitimately granted asylum,
while others who committed crimes in the United
States, were duly tried and sentenced, and chose to
reside in Cuba after the completion of their
sentences.
The government of Cuba reaffirms that our national
territory has never been utilized, nor will it be
utilized, to shelter terrorists of any nationality,
or for the purpose of organizing, financing or
perpetuating terrorism against any country in the
world, including the United States. Moreover, our
government rejects and unequivocally condemns all
acts of terrorism, in any location, under any
circumstances, and regardless of alleged
motivations.
It is the United States government which employs
state terrorism as a weapon against countries which
oppose its domination. It uses repugnant methods of
torture and advanced military technology, including
unpiloted drones, to extra-judicially execute
alleged terrorists, including U.S. citizens,
additionally causing the deaths of many innocent
victims within the civilian population.
Cuba is one of the countries which, for defending
its independence and dignity, has suffered over
decades the consequences of terrorist acts,
organized, financed and executed from U.S.
territory, acts which have caused 3,478 deaths and
2,099 debilitating injuries.
Cuba, Latin America and the Caribbean and the world
will never forget that the United States continues
to harbor terrorists of Cuban origin, such as Luis
Posada Carriles, intellectual author of the first
terrorist attack on a civilian aircraft in the
Western Hemisphere, causing the in-flight explosion
of a Cubana de Aviación plane off the coast of
Barbados, October 6, 1976, killing the 73 passengers
aboard.
Paradoxically, the U.S. continues to hold serving
long, unjust prison sentences, those who struggled
against terrorism, Gerardo Hernández, Ramón Labañino
and Antonio Guerrero, for crimes they did not
commit.
The Ministry of Foreign Relations forcefully rejects
the manipulation of an issue as sensitive as
international terrorism, in order to advance a
policy against Cuba, and demands that our country be
definitively deleted from this spurious, unilateral,
arbitrary list, which is an affront to the Cuban
people, and discredits the government of the United
States itself.
Havana, April 30, 2014
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