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United States: Cuba back on list of “States supporting terrorism”

 

C’s a strong decision taken by the Trump administration nine days before the end of the US president’s term. It decided to place Cuba again on the American blacklist of countries “supporting terrorism”. “With this measure, we will again hold the government of Cuba responsible and send a clear message: the Castro regime must end its support for international terrorism and the subversion of American justice,” said the head of the government. American diplomacy, Mike Pompeo, in a statement referring to former Cuban leaders Fidel and Raúl Castro.

The island was removed from this list in 2015 by Barack Obama. Mike Pompeo accuses Cuba, to justify this sanction, of having “repeatedly supported acts of international terrorism by giving refuge to terrorists”. This last-minute decision risks making it more difficult for President-elect Joe Biden, who will take office on January 20, to reconnect with Havana. After the spectacular rapprochement under the Obama administration, the Trump administration has only hardened its positions with regard to communist power.

Removed from the list in 2015

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez on Monday denounced the “political opportunism” of the Trump administration, which has just re-inscribed Cuba on the American blacklist of “states supporting terrorism”. “We condemn the cynical and hypocritical characterization of Cuba as a state supporting terrorism announced by the United States. The political expediency of this action is recognized by all those who honestly care about the scourge of terrorism and its victims, ”reacted the Cuban diplomat on Twitter.

Havana, for its part, left the list in 2015, during the spectacular rapprochement operated by former Democratic President Barack Obama, of which Joe Biden was the vice-president. That same year, the two enemy countries re-established diplomatic relations in an attempt to turn the page on the Cold War. During a historic 2016 visit to Cuba, Barack Obama even became the first sitting US president to set foot on Cuban soil since the Castro revolution of 1959.


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This article is published in issue 18 of Vanity Fair on newsstands until April 30, 2024. Join your hands proudly.

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