Radio Cadena Agramonte emisiora de Camagüey
Havana, Jan 15.- Cuba was removed from the US list of countries sponsoring terrorism, a White House decision celebrated today by world leaders and social organizations that also demand the end of the US blockade.
The measure announced the day before by the Joe Biden administration was received with satisfaction in several countries, especially in Latin America, including Venezuela, Colombia and Bolivia, as well as representatives of solidarity movements with the Caribbean nation. The Bolivarian government of President Nicolás Maduro described the United States' action as limited and maintained that such a designation should never have been applied to the Caribbean island.
In this sense, he stressed the need to dismantle the economic, financial and commercial blockade that has affected Cuban society for more than 60 years.
For his part, the head of state of Bolivia, Luis Arce, praised the US decision and stated that “reason, truth and justice have prevailed”, after the “unilateral, arbitrary and infamous inclusion (on that list) in 2021”, assured the dignitary in his X account.
For his part, the president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, also celebrated the exclusion of Cuba from that monstrosity that the United States unilaterally created. The president considered that eliminating punitive measures, even partially, constitutes progress.
The Foreign Ministry of that country expressed gratitude to the Cuban people for their unrestricted support in the negotiation and dialogue processes necessary to achieve peaceful coexistence in Colombia.
“Due to our firm conviction in multilateralism as a principle of international relations, we reject the imposition of sanctions and unilateral measures and for this reason, together with other allied countries in the region, we supported the efforts and requests for the sister Republic of Cuba to be excluded of this list,” added the note from that portfolio.
The Bolivarian Alliance for the People of Our America-People's Trade Agreement welcomed the news and also praised “the elimination by the US government of two other unilateral coercive measures,” announced by the White House this Tuesday.
According to the Latin American and Caribbean integration bloc, despite the limited nature of the decision, it “goes in the right direction and in line with the sustained and firm claim of Cuba” and numerous international actors, while favoring the Cuban nation on its sovereign path of development.”
In the United States, the National Network on Cuba (NNOC) reaffirmed its commitment to fighting the blockade and highlighted the solidarity efforts to achieve the result made public the day before by the Biden administration.
NNOC co-president Cheryl LaBash told Prensa Latina that “When we fight, we win!”, referring to the “many resolutions that represent more than 60 million people in the United States — municipal councils, state legislatures, unions—that made their voices heard.” (Text and photo: PL)
