In addition, 120 Presbyterian churches signed a letter to the president, Joe Biden, asking him to remove Cuba from an arbitrary list of sponsors of terrorists because it is inflicting suffering on Cubans today.
President, you have the power to remove Cuba from the list of state sponsors of terrorism. Cuba is not a terrorist country,” said the signatories.
Grouped by the Cuba Partners Network, the churches recall that the administration of Barack Obama (2009–2017), of which Biden was vice president, removed the island from the list in 2015 after concluding the obvious: it is not a sponsor of terrorism.
They argued that “in fact, we understand that the governments of the United States and Cuba are cooperating on counterterrorism matters in the region.”
They said they witnessed the “economic suppression and hardships of our fellow churches and the Cuban population caused by the embargo of the United States (blockade)” because of that designation.
They mentioned the strengthening of the blockade due to the reactivation, as they warned, of Title III of the Helms-Burton Act of 1996, stricter regulations under the Donald Trump Administration (2017–2021), and the reimposition of Cuba as a sponsoring country. terrorism.
From October 24 to 27, the CPN held an annual meeting of church partners with Cuban pastoral and lay representatives.
“We heard the latest sufferings suffered by the families of the church and all Cubans as a result of the regulations” that resulted in being included in that list, because “finances and imports were affected,” they said.
“Cubans cannot import drugs, pharmaceutical supplies, or medical equipment; food and inputs for food production; oil; and energy inputs and equipment, among the wide range of common daily needs for which import is prohibited,” they argued in the letter.
In the letter, Biden mentioned a series of sad stories about the impact of unjustified inclusion, which turned the tables on the economic, commercial, and financial blockade imposed more than six decades ago on the people of the island nation.
They deplore the impact of the coercive measure, especially in the field of public health in the treatment of cancer patients, especially children, and the effects on the daily lives of Cubans due to the lack of fuel.
It is clear that with this they are trying to reduce the Cuban economy “to dust,” the letter emphasized, respectfully insisting that Biden “recognize the terrible damage” it has caused to the Cubans, so they suggested that he “act immediately to eliminate Cuba from the list.” In January 2021, days before leaving office, Trump reincorporated Cuba into unilateral relations with Washington and added the provision of more than 240 measures adopted during his Republican mandate to his policy of maximum pressure against Cuba.
A line from which, in essence, the current Democrat inhabiting the Oval Office has not left until now.
