The American Empire's Relentless Attacks Against Cuba - OpEd
By Yanis Iqbal
January 21, 2021
On January 11, 2021, the US put Cuba back on the State Sponsor of Terrorism list “for repeatedly providing support for acts of international terrorism in granting safe harbor to terrorists.” In his usual roguish tone, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo stated: “With this action, we will once again hold Cuba’s government accountable and send a clear message: the Castro regime must end its support for international terrorism and subversion of U.S. justice.”
The designation of Cuba will result in sanctions that restrict US foreign assistance, punish those who engage in trade with the Latin American country, ban defense exports/sales and impose controls on exports of dual use items.
Solidarity with Venezuela
Three arguments were used by Pompeo to justify sanctioning Cuba. Firstly, Pompeo cited Cuba’s security support for Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, which he said had allowed the socialist leader to maintain his grip on power and create “a permissive environment for international terrorists to live and thrive within Venezuela.” All the bluff and bluster about “international terrorists” can be reduced to Pompeo’s groundless figments of imagination.
It is true that Cuba has been supporting Venezuela, including by sending several members of the Henry Reeve International Contingent of Doctors specialized in Disasters and Serious Epidemics to facilitate the latter’s Coronavirus health infrastructure. What is not true is the logic used by Pompeo according to which solidarity with Venezuela translates into assistance for terrorists. If there are any terrorists in Venezuela, they can be found in the US-backed coup-mongering opposition – a political faction which has repeatedly called for murderous US sanctions, which contributed to 40,000 deaths in 2017–18 alone.
More:
https://www.eurasiareview.com/21012021-the-american-empires-relentless-attacks-against-cuba-oped/
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