South Centre condemns Cuba’s inclusion on US SSOT list

Cuba's re-inclusion by the administration of US President Donald Trump on the spurious list of countries that alledgely support terrorism violates international law, the South Centre denounced on Thursday.    

“This unjustified decision is a violation of international law that aggravates Cuba’s already delicate economic and social situation,” said a statement from the Geneva-based non-governmental organization for analysis of the Global South.

South Centre joins the voices of the international community that strongly rejects such an arbitrary and unjust decision, announced by Trump’s team on January 20, the same day he arrived at the White House.

The Trump administration’s recent decision to reinstate Cuba on the unilateral list has caused a wave of reactions and criticisms from the international community, which underlined its unfair nature, South Centre noted.

Surprisingly, Trump’s act reverses the decision made in the United States just a few days earlier by the outgoing administration of Democratic President Joe Biden, when Cuba was removed from Washington’s State Sponsors of Terrorism (SSOT) list, the organization recalled.

Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel described such a step as an act of arrogance and contempt for the truth, and underlined that this action confirms the discredit of the United States and the use of the list as a mechanism of coercion, the Global South think tank underscored.

Analysts from human rights groups expressed their concern about the implications of the aforementioned decision, since being on the SSOT list entails a series of negative financial consequences, which worsens the situation of the Cuban people, the statement indicated.

These consequences include difficulties for Cubans, affected by shortages of food, medicine, fuel and prolonged power outages, while being on the list creates obstacles for those who wish to invest in Cuba, which reduces their external financing, it said.