Statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Cuba
On January 14, the United States government announced the decision to: 1) exclude Cuba from the State Department’s list of countries that allegedly sponsor terrorism; 2) use presidential prerogative to prevent action from being taken in US courts against lawsuits filed under Title III of the Helms-Burton Act; and 3) eliminate the list of restricted Cuban entities, which designates a group of institutions with whom US citizens and institutions are prohibited from carrying out financial transactions, and 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 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 Cuban government thanks everyone for their contributions and responsiveness.
This decision puts an end to specific coercive measures that, along with many others, cause serious damage to the Cuban economy with a severe effect on the population. This is and has been a topic present in Cuba’s official exchanges with the United States government.
It is important to note 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 of fuel supplies which Cuba has a legitimate right to import continues. The cruel and absurd persecution of Cuba’s legitimate international medical cooperation agreements with other countries continues, thus threatening to deprive millions of people of health services and limiting the potential of the Cuban public health system. International financial transactions by Cuba or by any national that are related to Cuba remain under prohibition and retaliation. Merchant ships that dock in Cuba also continue to be threatened.
On the other hand, all US citizens, companies and subsidiary entities of a US corporation are prohibited from trading with Cuba or Cuban entities, except for very restricted and regulated exceptions. Harassment, intimidation and threats against nationals of any country that proposes to trade with Cuba or invest in this country continues to be official US policy. Cuba remains a destination that the US government prohibits its citizens from visiting.
The continuing economic war is still the fundamental obstacle to the development and recovery of the Cuban economy, with a high human cost for the population, and it continues to be a stimulus to emigration.
The decision announced today by the United States corrects, in a very limited 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 materialized years ago as an elementary act of justice, without demanding anything in return and without fabricating pretexts to justify inaction. To exclude Cuba from the arbitrary list of states sponsoring terrorism, it should have been enough to recognize the truth, the total absence of reasons for such a designation and the exemplary performance of our country in the fight against terrorism, which has even been admitted by agencies of the United States government.
The government of that country could reverse in the future the measures adopted today, as has occurred on other occasions and as a sign of the lack of legitimacy, ethics, consistency and reason in its conduct against Cuba.
To do so, US politicians do not usually stop to find honest justifications, as long as the vision described in 1960 by then Assistant Undersecretary of State Lester Mallory, and the goal he described of subduing Cubans by means of economic siege, misery, hunger and desperation, remain in force. They would not stop to find justifications as long as the US government continues to be incapable of recognizing and accepting Cuba’s right to self-determination, and as long as it remains willing to assume the political cost of the 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, and the disinformation operations financed each year with tens of millions of dollars from the US federal budget. Cuba also remains willing to develop a relationship of respect with the US, based on dialogue and non-interference in each other’s internal affairs, despite the differences.
Translated from Spanish by PV staff
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