Hundreds, thousands of voices around the world have spoken out against the injustice of keeping Cuba on the lying US list of countries sponsoring terrorism.
Solidarity associations, religious groups, regional economic forums, high-ranking United Nations officials and even US congressmen have demanded it, as well as dozens of dignitaries who have taken to the podium of the General Assembly to argue why they are voting against the blockade – the first and strongest shackle against our country’s economy and, therefore, the fundamental cause of our hardships. An economic war reinforced, precisely, by the arbitrary name given to the Island.
The presence in this relationship, in addition and only, of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Iran, Syria and Venezuela, shows that it is a mechanism with political ends to facilitate Washington’s implementation of its geostrategy by lashing out, to the point of intended suffocation, at countries that, due to their economic and social model, and because they hinder the materialization of American hegemony, are uncomfortable for it.
In the Cuban case, being on the list justifies the application of additional punitive measures to those that make up the blockade, as a way of preventing the State – with the logical repercussions on its citizens – from the slightest movement in the international financial context, which, obviously, also hinders the slightest commercial movement.
It is not just that we are being punished; third parties who try to violate the leonine US provisions are also being tied up by coercion, by threatening them with restrictions and other arm-twisting that would affect them.
Three days ago, thirty former presidents of recognized prestige publicly joined the calls made to the White House to free Cuba from this unjust and fierce bond that is added to the web of sanctions in force for more than 60 years, by means of a respectful but sufficiently argued letter to urge the president of the United States, Joseph Biden, to remove the Island from the list before leaving. His resignation from being a candidate for reelection now gives him a loophole to do so, without thinking about the supposed costs.
Trying to rejoin the island again would be more difficult after the truth was acknowledged, as in 2015, that Cuba does not sponsor terrorism, and the lie that Donald Trump relied on when, six years later, he linked the island with arbitrary protection for the Colombian armed group ELN, which was negotiating peace with his government on Cuban territory, was debunked. After the talks were broken off by that executive, the intention was for Havana to ignore the protocols signed for that eventuality, according to which the host country should not proceed with the extradition or delivery of the negotiators who were on its soil.
Now, the message of the 35 former presidents could be similar to that of those who preceded them with a similar claim. The arguments are the same: Cuba is not a country that promotes terrorism, and the US designation that labels it as such is fallacious, violates all international precepts, and is having a dramatic impact on national life and on people.
However, perhaps the weight of so many voices together, the prestige and credibility of these former presidents, the solidity and rationality of their positions and the propitious situation for a decision of this nature, which means the imminent end of Biden’s term, have given this letter a visible international media impact that should not be ignored in Washington.
Among the reasons for asking the UN to consider this request, the signatory personalities, from various continents and with different political positions, emphasize that “without any evidence, Cuba is accused of having links with terrorist activities of which it has been a victim,” and among other elements, recognize that the unjust decision to keep it on the list violates international laws and also affects the Universal Charter of Human Rights “by impacting the most vulnerable sectors of the Cuban population (…)”.
Described by its signatories as “an evident message of humanism and understanding beyond legitimate ideological differences that cannot and should not justify acting in opposition,” the text also recalls that during the Barack Obama administration, of which Biden was a part, progress was made towards the relief of sanctions and the normalization of diplomatic relations; and points out that Cuba and the US are two neighbors “that do not have to deprive themselves of their mutual cooperation simply because they have political systems with different ideological inspirations.”
During the presentation of the updated report that precedes the debate, in the UN General Assembly, of the Cuban Resolution that every year demands the end of the blockade with the almost unanimous support of the international community, the island’s foreign minister, Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, pointed out that it is enough to just “sign a paper” to remove Cuba from the list.
“They could do it this afternoon, they have all the executive powers; it has already been done once. They could appeal to decency and honesty, and do it again,” he suggested, later ratifying Cuba’s willingness to engage in dialogue based on mutual respect, sovereign equality, non-interference, on an equal footing, and on the basis of reciprocal benefit with any government or president of the United States, provided that it is a serious and responsible dialogue, for which we have always been willing, he said.
This is a statement that should be taken into account by whoever is elected in November as the new occupant of the White House.
This is without taking into account the opportunity it would provide Washington with to raise the morale of its questioned international policy and to give its so-called fight against terrorism the credibility it lacks.
In cash and in kind
The damage that Cuba’s inclusion on the list causes to the national economy is palpable. This and other unilateral measures, such as actions brought before courts under Title III of the Helms-Burton Act; sanctions or threats against shipping companies, transporters and insurers or reinsurers related to fuel supply, and the persecution of Cuban financial transactions, were confirmed in the recent year as the most severe in their negative impact on the economy and the lives of citizens, according to the Report that Cuba will present to the UN.
In less than two months after its application after our country was reinstated in that relationship on January 11, 2021 —Obama had withdrawn it in 2015—, more than 45 banks from different countries closed operations related to our country, which lost transnational operators, mainly from the United States and Europe.
1,064 actions by foreign banks refusing to provide services to the Island, including transfers for the purchase of food, were reported between January 2021 and February of this year, as a consequence of the measures imposed by being considered a terrorist State.
Furthermore, the document adds, this led to an increase in the index known as Country Risk, which obviously discouraged potential investors.
On the other hand, the issuance by the United States of a supposed law to “prevent terrorist travel in 2015” excluded those who visit our country from the possibility of enjoying the modern visa exemption program through the system known by its acronym ESTA, with its logical detrimental consequence for tourism that comes to the Island, and the damage that this causes to the desire to boost the economy.
The right and legal thing to do, and the necessary thing to do, is for the United States to unconditionally lift the blockade, not only because it violates international law and norms of coexistence, it attacks third parties, it is a unilateral punishment for political purposes and it constitutes an act classified as genocide. In addition, this policy has not achieved its objectives, which is why Barack Obama himself recognized it as obsolete.
Until that act of rationality is achieved, Cuban efforts to defeat the blockade from within would have a foothold if, in another act of justice, the US were to exclude Cuba from the spurious list on which it should never have been.
