"An Island on a Continent"

Washington May 21^st, A group of Democratic congressmen applauded this Monday that the United States Government admitted Cuba’s cooperation in the fight against terrorism.

In a joint statement they expressed that they welcome the decision of the Joe Biden administration to remove Cuba from a list of countries that «do not fully cooperate» in the fight against terrorism. «This prior designation was counterproductive and useless,» they stressed.

House members Jim McGovern and Barbara Lee, ranking members of the Rules Committee and the Subcommittee on State Appropriations and Foreign Operations, respectively, welcomed the State Department’s move.

Also joining are Gregory W. Meeks, ranking member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, and Joaquín Castro, ranking member of the Foreign Affairs Subcommittee for the Western Hemisphere.

The statement, published on McGovern’s official website, recalled that both governments have spoken directly «about law enforcement and counterterrorism efforts, including those related to extradition.»

They pointed out that, despite the existing differences, the best way to address them is “through commitment and dialogue, as we do with other countries in our hemisphere.”

On May 15, the head of US diplomacy, Antony Blinken, eliminated Cuba from that unilateral and arbitrary list of nations that, according to Washington, “do not fully cooperate” in the fight against terrorism.

The news immediately circulated in the press and social networks, causing confusion because many thought that, finally, Biden had heard the almost universal demand that the Antillean country be removed from the other list, equally arbitrary and illegal: that of states. sponsors of terrorism.

What Blinken did was modify the criteria regarding those who “do not cooperate.”

The United States has just admitted what is known to everyone: that Cuba collaborates fully with efforts against terrorism, Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez wrote in his account on X.

“All political manipulation of the issue should cease and our arbitrary and unjust inclusion on the list of countries sponsoring terrorism should end.”

Cuba was first included on the State Department’s list of sponsors of terrorism during President Ronald Reagan’s administration in 1982, but in 2015, then-President Barack Obama said that designation had no merit in the island’s case and he removed it.

However, on January 12, 2021, days before leaving office, Donald Trump bequeathed to his successor Joe Biden the reinclusion of Cuba on the list of sponsors of terrorism, something that he maintains despite the demand that he rectify that position. in its policy towards the Caribbean nation.