The European Union (EU) points out that the inclusion of Cuba in the list of states that sponsor terrorism in the US “will only aggravate the situation of the Cubans”.
“The decision of the United States to return Cuba to the list of countries that sponsor terrorism will only aggravate the already difficult situation of the Cubans in the midst of the pandemic and of the economic measures for the unification of the exchange rate of currencies”, an EU spokesman has pointed out this Wednesday to the Spanish agency Eurpa Press.
More than a week before the end of the mandate of the outgoing US president’s administration, Donald Trump, his Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, declared on Monday that the US has returned Cuba to the list of “States Sponsors of Terrorism”, from which it had been withdrawn in 2015 by the government of Barack Obama (2009-2017), a step that will be an obstacle in the event that the US president-elect, Joe Biden, seeks to restore Washington-Havana relations.
Among other infusions, Pompeo accuses Cuba of giving refuge to members of the Colombian guerrilla group National Liberation Army (ELN) who traveled to Havana (the Cuban capital) to hold peace talks with representatives of the Colombian government in 2017.
According to the spokesman, this decision of the US government “does not respond to any new information”. In fact, “although the ELN is named as a terrorist organization by the EU, the group’s members are in Cuba participating in the negotiation process with the Colombian government,” he stressed.
“We are reviewing the impact of the decision on these negotiations and will consider further steps to facilitate the peace process,” the official concluded.
Since 1962, Washington has imposed a severe economic, commercial and financial blockade against Cuba in order to force a change of government. Despite the apparent improvement in relations between the two countries during the Obama administration, after Trump became president in 2017, measures against the island were tightened, closing the door to any dialogue.
by Jeremy Abbott – American Correspondent – FFN
