Removal from the terrorist list is nothing more than the recognition of the truth

Photo: Cubaminrex

“Serious, important and in the right direction, although very limited and late”. This is how Political Bureau member and Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla referred yesterday to the measures announced last Tuesday by the U.S. government, which exclude Cuba from the list of countries that sponsor terrorism; indicate the suspension of the right to initiate an action under Title III of the Helms-Burton Act of 1996, and eliminate the list of restricted Cuban entities with which U.S. citizens and institutions are prohibited from financial transactions, which has had an effect on third countries.
When answering the reasons for these provisions, the Minister assured the press that “the U.S. administration has taken these decisions because its plan has failed, because the vision of provoking the collapse of the Cuban economy, the social explosion (…), is still unable to achieve its objectives”.
He stressed that the measures constitute the recognition that their policy against Cuba is an obsolete, failed policy, which does not contribute to the objectives or national interests of the U.S., nor does it have the support of U.S. citizens or Cubans living in that country; that it causes world isolation, discrediting its foreign policy, damaging instruments that, supposedly, the U.S. government needs to achieve certain objectives of its international agenda.
“What we should ask the Biden administration is why it has waited until now to do what it could have done since its election, because in its electoral platform he committed himself to adopt significant changes in U.S. policy,” he said.
He stressed that, with this decision, the list of countries sponsoring terrorism has been demolished. It no longer exists, no one else will be able to believe in it, because it is an absolute and tangible confirmation that it has no purpose in confronting the scourge of terrorism, but is a mere and vulgar instrument of political coercion against sovereign states”, he added.
“If another president were to come along and include Cuba on the list again, we would have to ask ourselves what the reasons are, what the U.S. government law enforcement agencies would say, where would the credibility of the government be,” he questioned.
Regarding the possibility that these decisions may not be sustained in time, he said that “they are executive measures that could be reversed”, he said, although he emphasized that “it will be difficult to explain it, if it were to happen”.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs referred to having read, in this regard, “opinions of some of those who drafted the previous measures -and who participated, played a leading role and caused the setback in the bilateral relationship- pointing out that it will take time and work to reverse them”.
As for the foreign policy of each state, he pointed out that “it should not be subject to the ups and downs of the different governments, much less to the whims of domestic politics or electoral competitions or chicanery”.
Addressing the importance of the exclusion of the Island from this list, he argued that “it has been the recognition of the truth”. He insisted that Cuba should never have been included in this list, fundamentally because of its status as a victim of terrorism.
The Minister said that this measure “lacked any credibility or prestige at international level”, but its practical effects, especially in the financial sector, are extraordinary.
“It will be very difficult to maintain the coercive measures derived from this list, which limit access to financial institutions and services in any country,” he said, recalling the obstacles that the inclusion of Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism posed to the importation of basic necessities for the Cuban people, the prohibition for European citizens and citizens of other countries to use the electronic authorization system for U.S. visas.
Regarding Title III of the Helms-Burton Act, he noted that it is aimed at intimidating third countries. “It contains a brutal arbitrariness and violation of international law, which is to try in U.S. courts individuals, entities and companies from third countries or Cubans for their economic ties with the Island, outside U.S. jurisdiction or without any relation to the United States.
He said that it is also the recognition that what has been done was illegal and arbitrary, with a great effect not only on international law, but also on the flow of capital investment to Cuba, access to technology, to the market and a threat against foreign sovereignty.
Regarding the third decision signed by Biden, the Foreign Minister commented that it is a directive that gives orders to almost the entire U.S. government.
“Within that memorandum, one of the atrocities of the blockade against Cuba has also been eliminated, which is the so-called list of restricted entities of 2022, which affects both public entities and private sector services in our country.”
“The corresponding step is to continue lifting elements of the blockade, to allow Cubans to live in peace. We will defend with all vigor and determination our independence and our sovereignty against any act of interference, the observance of our Constitution and the application of our laws, just as we preserve national security, internal order and citizen security”, he said.
He emphasized the importance of “considering that, whatever happens in relation to these measures in the future, they are an important fact, an event that has traveled the world, and that has received very broad international support in a few hours”.
He also reiterated that “the government of Cuba has historically and persistently proposed to the government of the United States of America to hold a respectful and responsible dialogue, on the basis of equality, sovereignty and mutual respect, without interfering in the internal affairs of our countries”.

The United States adopts measures in the right direction

Photo: Juvenal Balán

On January 14, 2025, the U.S. Government announced the decision to: 1) exclude Cuba from the State Department’s list of countries that allegedly sponsor terrorism; 2) make use of the presidential prerogative to prevent action in U.S. courts against lawsuits filed under Title III of the Helms-Burton Act; and 3) eliminate the list of restricted Cuban entities that designates a group of institutions with which U.S. citizens and institutions are prohibited from engaging in financial transactions, which has had an effect on third countries.

Despite its limited nature, this is a decision in the right direction and in line with the sustained and firm demand of the Government and the people of Cuba, and with the broad, emphatic and reiterated call of numerous governments, especially in Latin America and the Caribbean, of Cubans living abroad, of political, religious and social organizations, and of numerous political figures in the United States and other countries. The Government of Cuba thanks everyone for their contribution and sensitivity.

This decision puts an end to specific coercive measures that, together with many others, cause serious damage to the Cuban economy, with a severe effect on the population. This is and has been an issue in Cuba’s official exchanges with the U.S. Government.

It is important to point out that the economic blockade and a good part of the dozens of coercive measures that were put into effect since 2017 to reinforce it remain in force, with full extraterritorial effect and in violation of International Law and the human rights of all Cubans.

To cite just a few examples, the illegal and aggressive persecution continues against fuel supplies that Cuba has a legitimate right to import. The cruel and absurd persecution of Cuba’s legitimate international medical cooperation agreements with other countries continues, threatening to deprive millions of people of health services and limiting the potential of Cuba’s public health system. Cuba’s international financial transactions or those of any nationals that are related to Cuba remain under prohibition and retaliation. Merchant ships docking in Cuba also remain under threat.

On the other hand, every U.S. citizen, company and subsidiary entity of a U.S. corporation is prohibited from trading with Cuba or Cuban entities, except for very restricted and regulated exceptions. Harassment, intimidation and threats against the national of any country that intends to trade with or invest in Cuba continue to be official U.S. policy. Cuba continues to be a destination that the U.S. Government prohibits its citizens from visiting.

The economic war remains and persists in posing the fundamental obstacle to the development and recovery of the Cuban economy at a high human cost to the population, and continues to be a stimulus to emigration.

The decision announced today by the United States corrects, in a very restricted way, aspects of a cruel and unjust policy. It is a correction that occurs now, on the verge of a change of government, when it should have been made years ago, as an elementary act of justice, without demanding anything in return and without fabricating pretexts to justify inaction, if it was desired to act correctly. In order to exclude Cuba from the arbitrary list of State sponsors of terrorism, it should have been enough to acknowledge the truth, the total absence of reasons for such designation and the exemplary performance of our country in the fight against terrorism, which even U.S. government agencies have admitted.
It is known that the U.S. government could reverse the measures adopted today in the future, as has happened on other occasions and as a sign of the lack of legitimacy, ethics, consistency and reason in its conduct against Cuba.

To do so, U.S. politicians do not usually stop to find honest justification, as long as the vision described in 1960 by the then Assistant Secretary of State Lester Mallory, and the goal described by him of subduing the Cubans by means of economic siege, misery, hunger and desperation, remains in force. They would not stop at justifications as long as that government continues to be incapable of recognizing and accepting Cuba’s right to self-determination, and as long as it continues to be willing to assume the political cost of international isolation caused by its genocidal and illegal policy of economic asphyxiation against Cuba.

Cuba will continue to confront and denounce this policy of economic warfare, the interference programs and the disinformation and discrediting operations financed every year with tens of millions of dollars from the U.S. federal budget. It will also remain willing to develop a relationship of respect with that country, based on dialogue and non-interference in each other’s internal affairs, despite differences.

Havana, January 14, 2025

Díaz-Canel in Caracas for the Inauguration of Nicolás Maduro

Photo: Cuban Presidency X Account 

CARACAS – The First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, arrived this Friday in Caracas, after 8:00 a.m. (local time), to participate in the swearing-in ceremony of Nicolás Maduro Moros, this January 10, as re-elected President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, for the 2025-2031 cycle.
The Head of State -who touched Venezuelan soil at the Simón Bolívar International Airport- was received by Gabriela Jiménez, sectoral vice-president for Science, Technology, Education and Health, as well as by Dagoberto Rodríguez Barrera, ambassador of the largest of the Antilles in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.
Recently, in mid-December 2024, Díaz-Canel had visited the Caribbean country to take part in the 24th Summit of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America-People’s Trade Agreement (ALBA-TCP).
At that important meeting, the Cuban dignitary had declared that “Cuba will not bend, just as ALBA-TCP will not”; and had called for that integrating organization to “continue moving forward, in constant search and realization of projects for the economic development and dignity of Our America”.
This will be the third time that Nicolás Maduro Moros – born in Caracas on November 23, 1962 – is sworn in as President of his country. He has been carrying on his shoulders for more than ten years the task of leading a great nation of Our America, as the protagonist of a performance whose essence is to preserve the legacy of Commander Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías.
The Cuban delegation that has arrived to the South American country and headed by the President of the Island, is also integrated by the member of the Political Bureau and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Cuba, Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla; the head of the Department of International Relations of the Central Committee of the Communist Party, Emilio Lozada García; as well as the General Director of Latin America and the Caribbean of the Foreign Ministry, Eugenio Martínez Enríquez; and the Cuban Ambassador to this sister nation, Dagoberto Rodríguez Barrera.

Díaz-Canel: “Thank you for your heroism in the face of the barbarity of the economic war against us”

Photo: ACN

Cuba’s top authorities sent a message to the people just hours before celebrating the 66th anniversary of the triumph of the Revolution, this January 1st.
“Dear compatriots: Infinite thanks for your heroism in the face of the barbarity of the economic war that is being waged against us,” declared Miguel Díaz-Canel, First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and President of the Republic.
With his message, in X, the president encouraged to remember the year that is ending, not for the obstacles and shortages but for the victories achieved.
“It is a great honor and thrill to know that we are part of this people who were not born destined for greatness. It has earned it through heroism and creativity in resistance. Long live Cuba forever free and sovereign by the will of its people,” added the head of state.
His message was accompanied by a video, in which the daily life of Cubans is accompanied by his words at the closing of the 4th Ordinary Period of Sessions of the National Assembly of People’s Power in its 10th Legislature, at the Convention Palace, on December 20, 2024:
In today’s Cuba, no one needs to walk very far if they want to find our heroines and heroes: They are millions! They make up the body and soul of a Revolution that resists and incessantly remakes itself. They are of all colors and of all ages. They do not think of medals or tributes, because they are determined to make a living day by day.
They do not think about losing but about winning; and if someone asks them what they are up to, they will say that they are “in the fight”, “in the struggle”, “in the fight”, “on their knees”, without crying, because the most powerful empire in history has been denying their beloved country, for more than 60 years, in cold blood and with total perversity, their right to welfare.
There are our heroes and martyrs, those who, as José Martí said, are sacred because they served their homeland. And there are also those of today, those who are not yet in any book: all those who put their hands and intelligence to work for Cuba; those who know that work is the source of all benefits; those who do not complain bitterly because something has been done wrong or has not been done, because they get involved in the solutions; those who put chest and hands to life and go tearing off bits and pieces of the problems, just as weeds are pulled out of the way.
These heroic protagonists have names and surnames: they are our children, always cheerful; they are their teachers, with humility as a sign, and full of lights, many of them doing wonders in amazing corners of the geography. They are our workers full of grease, smut or mud, but full of courage as they clean a well, or compose a thermoelectric boiler, or raise a high tension tower or a pole that has been knocked to the ground by a hurricane.
They are our doctors, nurses, scientists, artists and creators; they are all the entrepreneurs who dream of order, cleanliness and making things work well. It is the family ironing the school shirt at any cost, and at all hours standing in front of the pots and pans in the house (Applause). It is our young people -that sacred force of the country- wanting to do something useful. They are our indefatigable cadres, those who in the field must make bold decisions and unite wills. Heroes are all of them, absolutely all those who do not believe in defeat! They are invincible heroes!