Barbados welcomes the news that the Government of the United States of America (USA) has removed the Republic of Cuba from the USA’s list of countries that are “not cooperating fully” in the USA’s fight against terrorism.
Barbados notes, however, that the Republic of Cuba remains on the US State Department’s list of countries that have been deemed by the USA to be state sponsors of terrorism.
Barbados reiterates that there was absolutely no justification for Cuba to have been placed on the List of State Sponsors of Terrorism back in January 2021. Equally, no such justification exists today.
Barbados deplores the fact that Cuba’s unjust inclusion on the State Department’s List of State Sponsors of Terrorism has caused and continues to cause severe damage to the economy of Cuba and tremendous suffering to the Cuban people.
Barbados further notes that the damage caused to Cuba by its unjustified inclusion on the List of state sponsors of terrorism augments and amplifies the severe damage inflicted on Cuba by the USA’s now 62-year-old economic, commercial, and financial embargo.
Barbados urges that both the designation as a state sponsor of terrorism and the 62-year-old embargo be terminated as a matter of urgency so that relief can be brought to the harsh conditions under which the Cuban people have had to endure.