Cuba rejects inclusion in religious freedom black list

Numerous voices in Cuba rejected on Sunday the inclusion of the Caribbean country in a punitive list on religious freedom drawn up and updated every year by the United States.

In social networks, Cubans express their discontent with the arbitrary list and affirm that the national religious institutions enjoy the right to practice their beliefs by the law and respect among all.

Last Friday, Cuba, and Nicaragua were included in a list unilaterally created by Washington of countries that, in the opinion of the US government, systematically violate religious freedom, which entails possible sanctions against those States.

In this regard, Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez said on Twitter that the designation of the island "in the arbitrary listing shows that, once again, the US government needs to resort to dishonest accusations to maintain an unsustainable policy of abuse against the Cuban people".

In a statement, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced the designations of Cuba and Nicaragua, in addition to 10 other nations considered "as countries of special concern under the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 for having committed or tolerated particularly serious violations of religious freedom".

The list of "Countries of Particular Concern" again this year includes China, Saudi Arabia, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Russia, Iran, Pakistan, Myanmar, Eritrea, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan.