Vedant Patel

Havana, May 3 (RHC)-- Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez reiterated today that the United States lacks legitimate reasons to include his country on the list of sponsors of terrorism.

The foreign minister shared on Twitter a video of the deputy spokesman of the U.S. State Department, Vedant Patel, evading questions about the U.S. government's dialogues with Cuba to confront terrorism when it has it included in its list of nations that allegedly sponsor this scourge.

Faced with the repeated question, Patel said that these conversations are standard and take place at regular intervals, referring to the recent technical exchange of authorities of both countries on anti-terrorist cooperation.

Regarding his government's evidence for keeping the Caribbean nation on the list of sponsors of terrorism, the U.S. official alluded to the now hackneyed justification of human rights violations.

However, when asked for examples of these violations, he again evaded the question and avoided answering whether any country that violates human rights deserves to be on the list.

The United States put Cuba back on its unilateral list in January 2021, due to the presence on the island of members of Colombia's National Liberation Army (ELN) after the rupture of dialogues with the government of former President Iván Duque.

But the new Colombian administration restarted negotiations with the insurgent group, and highlights the important role of Cuba in the peace process in that country, first with the Armed Forces of Colombia-People's Army (FARC-EP) and now with the ELN.

The government of Gustavo Petro has requested on several occasions the elimination of Cuba from the list, however the President of the United States, Joe Biden, maintains the largest of the Antilles under this denomination, which causes incalculable human damage.

According to the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), the most egregious consequences of this decision are associated with humanitarian aid, business, investment and trade.

The nomination creates additional obstacles for the delivery of humanitarian assistance to Cuba in a complex economic scenario, aggravated by the tightening of the U.S. economic, commercial and financial blockade.