Joe Biden’s government in The United States ruled out this Thursday removing Cuba from the list of countries sponsoring terrorism for now to which it was put by the previous administration of the president donald trump (2017-2021).
This was expressed by the Secretary of State of the United States, Anthony Blinkenwhen asked during an appearance before the Foreign Relations Committee of the US House of Representatives.
“We do not plan to remove them from the list,” he asserted after questioning by the Republican congresswoman for Florida María Elvira Salazar.
The leader of US diplomacy explained that the law emanating from Congress establishes “very high criteria” so that the Government can make a decision of this type.
“What I am committed to is that, if there were a review, it would be based on the law and the criteria it establishes, which, as I said, have a very high bar,” Blinken said.
The inclusion of Cuba in the list in January 2021 was one of the last decisions made by the trump government before leaving power.
The United States then justified the measure, which entails several sanctions, alluding to the presence on the island of members of the Colombian ELN guerrillawho traveled to Havana to start peace negotiations with the Colombian Executive.
The island had left the list in 2015, during the rapprochement stage promoted by the then US president Barack Obama (2009-2017) and stopped by Trump, who during his term doubled the sanctions on Havana and stopped the “thaw”.
The current Biden Administration has made some gestures towards the island, such as eliminating the limit on remittances to Cuba, but it is still far from Obama’s approach.
They demand that the Cuban dictatorship release the 9/11 protesters
On March 1, ten women prisoners in Cuba for his participation in the anti-government demonstrations of July 11, 2021 (11J)they demanded that the island’s regime release of all detainees.
The request was embodied in a clandestinely composed manuscript in the Guatao women’s prison, in Havana, and followed a visit to the island a few weeks ago by Cardinal Beniamino Stella, in which he expressed the wish of the pope Francisco that the young people who were deprived of their liberty for expressing their ideas be released.
“We demand that the Havana regime respect and comply with the provisions of the highest pontiff of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis, who through his emissary sent his wish and ordinance for our release”begins the writing of the prisoners that was disclosed, initially, by the independent journalist Monica Barowho lives outside of Cuba.
In the letter, the women point directly against the dictator Miguel Diaz-Canelwhom they urge to take immediate action, and thank “the representative of the Church in the world” for worrying about the situation of the Cuban prisoners.
“The blood symbolizes our sacrifice and dedication to the Cuban cause and the firmness of our ideals. Freedom for political prisoners!” Closes the document that is signed in blood by Mariuska Díaz, Angélica Garrido Rodríguez, María Cristina Garrido Rodríguez, Gloria López, Mailene Noguera, Lizandra Góngora, Yessica Coimbra and Odett Hernández, among others.
On February 8, Cardinal Stella arrived in Cuba on a mission on behalf of Pope Francis, in which he called for an end to repression and censorship on the island. “It is important that young people who at one point expressed their thoughts in the way we know them can return to their homes”commented then and added that “The Pope very much wants there to be a positive response” by the Díaz-Canel regime.
(With information from EFE)
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Source-www.infobae.com