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Letter of the Day | Baseless and misguided action against Cuba

Published:Saturday | January 16, 2021 | 7:09 AM

THE EDITOR, Madam:

The Jamaica Peace Council (JPC) strongly condemns the baseless and misguided decision of the United States (US) government to place Cuba for a second time on their list of countries that are sponsors of international terrorism.

The JPC believes that Cuba’s peaceful and dignified role in international affairs does not in any way warrant it being placed on any list of nations that sponsors international terrorism. On the contrary, Cuba exports solidarity with the peoples of the world by fighting diseases like Ebola and COVID-19, issuing scholarships for the education of doctors, teachers, engineers and other technically trained personnel, and helping to defeat apartheid and terrorism in Angola, Mozambique, Namibia and South Africa.

We in the JPC, like most members of the US Congress, note with serious concern the deranged mindset of President Trump, who is considered by most in the US Congress to be a “present threat” to democracy and stability in the US in the wake of his incitement of the terror attack against the Capitol last Wednesday.

As a peace organisation, we believe that President Trump is a clear and “present threat” to world peace, stability, and particularly sovereign nations like Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua and Iran which are asserting their right to self-determination.

ECONOMIC SABOTAGE

We believe that President Trump’s recent action in placing Cuba on the list of countries the US considers to be sponsors of terrorism is an act of provocation and further economic sabotage against Cuba’s sovereign and peaceful development.

The JPC therefore calls on the incoming Biden-Harris administration to not only review and remove Cuba from the list of sponsors of global terrorism but we are also calling on the incoming US administration to end the criminal US blockade against Cuba and to normalise relations between the two sovereign neighbours.

Yes to World Peace. No to International Bullying of nations!

SECRETARIAT

Jamaica Peace Council

jamaicapeacecouncil@gmail.com