The US removes Cuba from the list of countries that do not cooperate in the fight against terrorism

This Wednesday, the State Department excluded Cuba from the list of countries not fully cooperating with counterterrorism efforts.

Martí News had access to an official statement, addressed to members of the US Congress, which specifies that, according to Section 40A of the Arms Export Control Act, four other countries, North Korea, Iran, Syria and Venezuela, continue without comply with cooperation.

The Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, signed the text where he indicates that the conditions that previously placed Cuba in this category have changed, leading to the island not being included in the list for the current period.

Cuba's departure from the list of countries not fully cooperating with counterterrorism efforts, could be interpreted as a first step by the Washington government to also remove the Caribbean country from the list of State Sponsors of Terrorism.

The State Department clarified that the designation in the list of State Sponsors of Terrorism, which includes Iran, Syria, North Korea and Cuba, is managed independently.

The Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Grill confirmed the recent measure of the US government on the social network

"The US has just admitted what is known to everyone: that Cuba collaborates fully with the efforts against terrorism. All political manipulation of the issue should cease and our arbitrary and unjust inclusion on the list of countries sponsoring terrorism should end. ", said.

In the chancellor's opinion, the "United States Government must remove Cuba from the arbitrary list with which it designates countries that supposedly sponsor terrorism and stop applying the coercive economic measures that accompany this unjust designation."

Cuba was reincorporated into the list of State Sponsors of Terrorism in 2021 during the administration of Donald Trump. The island had been removed from the same list in 2015 by Barack Obama.

The State Department emphasized that any change in the inclusion of Cuba Such a list would require compliance with precise legal criteria and standards established by the US Congress.

Many Cubans are attentive to the decision that the United States government will make when it is appropriate to analyze the permanence of Cuba on the list of State Sponsors of Terrorism, in that group that shares with Iran, Syria, and North Korea, because it will have a great connotation in the future development of the island.