Former Colombian President Ivan Duque: "The Cuban government has sponsored terrorism."

The former Colombian president (2018-2022), Ivan Duque, stated that the "Cuban government has sponsored terrorism" in several regions, after the United States confirmed the island on the list of state sponsors of terrorism.

"It was the Cuban government that committed a crime by protecting the terrorists of the National Liberation Army (ELN) who planned and carried out an attack that took the lives of 22 innocent young people at a training center" in Colombia in 2019, he posted on his Facebook account.

He also accused Havana of protecting the members of the mentioned organization's Central Command. "That is called sponsoring terrorism. These terrorists were requested by the Colombian justice system after an in-depth investigative process," Duque recalled.

There are many sycophants of Castro, Ortega, Chávez, and Maduro who live hallucinating due to the authoritarian, repressive, and destructive drug of 21st-century socialism. But even if the terrorist dresses as a revolutionary, terrorist he remains," he concluded.

During his term, Duque had to deal several times with the Cuban regime and hold it accountable for the actions of various guerrillas protected by Havana.

In 2021, the Colombian government asked Cuba to provide details of an attack that the ELN guerrilla was planning in Bogotá, information that was revealed to the Colombian authorities by the Cuban ambassador José Luis Ponce. A day before that incident, Duque once again asked the Cuban authorities about the current status of the extradition request for the guerrillas who remained on the island.

On Wednesday, the White House removed Cuba from the list of "countries that do not fully cooperate with counterterrorism efforts"; however, it kept it on the list of states that are "sponsors of terrorism."

According to Washington, "cooperation in the fight against terrorism is possible, but we still believe that there are actions being taken that support terrorist activities" by the island.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro came to the defense of the Havana regime and responded to his predecessor in power stating, "Duque committed a great injustice against the Cuban people, which is being corrected today. I congratulate President Biden for making a just decision: removing Cuba from the list of countries that support terrorism," Petro posted, somewhat mistaken by confusing the list.

On Friday, May 17, the Colombian Foreign Ministry also highlighted the measure taken by the Biden administration, stating in a press release that "the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Colombia welcomes the announcement by the Government of the United States of America regarding the removal of Cuba from the list of countries that do not fully cooperate in the fight against terrorism."

The Cuban regime demanded on Wednesday that the United States remove it from the list of state sponsors of terrorism because it entails sanctions that affect the island.