{"id":7658,"date":"2021-01-13T16:38:33","date_gmt":"2021-01-13T16:38:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiofree.org\/?p=149630"},"modified":"2021-01-13T16:38:33","modified_gmt":"2021-01-13T16:38:33","slug":"the-trump-administrations-parting-outrage-against-cuba-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2021\/01\/13\/the-trump-administrations-parting-outrage-against-cuba-2\/","title":{"rendered":"The Trump Administration\u2019s Parting Outrage Against Cuba"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/a>(Photo credit: Yander Zamora\/EFE)<\/p>\n On January 11, in his final days before leaving office, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo added one parting blow to the series of bludgeons his administration has inflicted on Cuba for four years: putting the island on the list of \u201cstate sponsors of terror\u201d that includes only Iran, North Korea and Syria. The designation drew swift condemnation from policymakers and humanitarian groups as a decision widely characterized as \u201cpolitically motivated.\u201d It comes six years after the Obama administration had removed Cuba from the same list as part of his policy of rapprochement.<\/p>\n In the six years since, Trump\u2019s State Department could not point to a single act of terror sponsored by Cuba. Instead, Secretary Pompeo based his decision on Cuba\u2019s alleged support for the ELN (National Liberation Army \u2013 Colombia\u2019s second-largest guerilla group) and the harboring of a handful of U.S. fugitives wanted for crimes committed in the 1970s, including renowned Black revolutionary Assata Shakur. Lacking more specific accusations, the State Department criticized Cuba for its supposed \u201cmalign interference in Venezuela and the rest of the Western Hemisphere.\u201d<\/p>\n These claims don\u2019t stand up to scrutiny. Regarding the ELN, the gist of the story is that the Trump administration is punishing Cuba for its role in attempting to bring peace to the long-simmering conflict in Colombia. ELN negotiators arrived in Cuba in 2018 for peace talks with the Colombian government. As part of the protocols for these meetings<\/a>, ELN negotiators were allowed entry into Cuba and promised safe passage back into Colombia after their conclusion. Guarantor countries, including Cuba and Norway, assumed responsibility for their safe return. The talks collapsed in January 2019 following an ELN car bombing in Bogot\u00e1 that killed 22 people. Colombia requested the extradition of the negotiators, but Cuba refused<\/a> because the Colombia government will not honor the previous government\u2019s commitment to guaranteeing the negotiators\u2019 freedom upon returning home.<\/p>\n Regarding Secretary Pompeo\u2019s other arguments, Cuba\u2019s main influence in the Western Hemisphere has been the opposite of \u201cmalign\u201d: it has deployed its doctors throughout the region and the world, saving thousands of lives during the Covid-19 pandemic. And when it comes to harboring terrorists, it\u2019s worth noting that for decades the United States harbored Luis Posada Carriles, mastermind of a 1973 bombing that killed 73 people on a Cuban commercial airliner.<\/p>\n Cuba\u2019s placement on the state sponsors of terror list is meant to be a thorn in any plan by the Biden administration for rapprochement. Taking Cuba off the list will require<\/a> a review process that could take months, delaying any new initiatives to roll back Trump-era policies. It will also cause further pain to Cuba\u2019s economy, already battered by tightened sanctions and the pandemic that has devastated the island\u2019s tourism industry. The new terrorism label will likely scare off many businesses that import to Cuba, banks that finance transactions with Cuba and foreign investors.<\/p>\n A week before the designation, nine U.S. Senators wrote to Secretary Pompeo and warned<\/a> that such a step \u201cwill politicize our national security.\u201d It has drawn strong condemnation from Senator Patrick Leahy<\/a>, who said it made a \u201cmockery of what had been a credible, objective measure,\u201d and House Foreign Affairs Chairman, Representative Gregory Meeks<\/a> who said the hypocrisy from President Trump less than a week after he incited a domestic terror attack was \u201cstunning but not surprising.\u201d<\/p>\n