The removal of Cuba from the one-sided U.S. list of countries allegedly sponsoring terrorism was one of the demands of the Seventh Summit of Heads of State and Government of CELAC, the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, held recently in Buenos Aires.
By María Josefina Arce
The removal of Cuba from the one-sided U.S. list of countries allegedly sponsoring terrorism was one of the demands of the Seventh Summit of Heads of State and Government of CELAC, the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, held recently in Buenos Aires.
The request is contained in one of the eleven Special Declarations approved at the meeting in the capital of Argentina, which rejects arbitrary lists and certifications affecting nations in the region.
A few days earlier, a total of 160 U.S. lawyers made the same pronouncement in a letter sent to President Joe Biden. The signatories emphasized the total absence of legal and moral arguments for the presence of the Greater of the Antilles in this relationship, which implies the imposition of economic and financial sanctions that limit its capacity to make transactions.
Since 1982 and for more than three decades, Havana was part of that list, until 2015, when then President Barack Obama ordered its withdrawal in the midst of a rapprochement between the two countries.
But in the last days of his term, his successor in the White House, Donald Trump, included Cuba again, in an act described as merely political to please the ultra-right of Cuban origin, settled on U.S. soil.
Since that moment, there has been no end to the demands of governments, peoples, international organizations and personalities to exclude Cuba from the list, a nation that, they emphasize, has a long history of providing health care and saving lives around the world.
The archipelago has made clear in world forums its position in favor of international peace and security, to which it has tirelessly contributed all these years.
In 2014, under its pro tempore presidency of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, the region was declared a Peace Zone in Havana.
In addition, Cuba was a guarantor of the peace dialogue between the government of then President Juan Manuel Santos and the former guerrilla Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-People's Army (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia-Ejército del Pueblo).
The role played in this process has been highlighted by the UN, which emphasized the Cuban side's respect for the protocols established in this type of negotiations.
Its seriousness, responsibility and commitment to peace in Colombia led to the ratification of its designation as guarantor country in the talks currently being held by the new Colombian government, presided by Gustavo Petro, and the insurgent National Liberation Army.
Cuba is a defender of International Law and committed to the United Nations Charter. In this sense, it has rejected any measure of coercion and advocates for dialogue, the peaceful solution of conflicts, solidarity and cooperation.
