The Diplomat
The Cuban government considers that the measures announced on Tuesday by the Biden Administration -excluding Cuba from the list of countries that sponsor terrorism; suspending the possibility of lawsuits before US courts to claim compensation for goods seized in Cuba; and eliminating the list of Cuban entities prohibited from carrying out financial transactions-, “points to the right direction” but still have “a limited scope”.
According to a statement from the Cuban Foreign Ministry “this decision puts an end to specific coercive measures which, together with many others, seriously damage the Cuban economy and have a severe impact on the population”. The statement stresses “the economic blockade and a large part of the tens of coercive measures entered into force since 2017 to further strengthen it, still remain in force, with their full extraterritorial impact and in violation of International Law and the human rights of all Cubans”.
The Cuban government’s note states that “the decision announced today by the United States rectifies, in a very limited way, some aspects of a cruel and unjust policy” and calls attention to the fact that “it is being introduced right now, on the verge of a change of government, when it should have been materialized years ago, as an elemental act of justice”.
In this sense, it shows its distrust that, after Donald Trump’s inauguration, “the government of that country could reverse in the future the measures that have been adopted today, as has already happened in the past, and as an expression of the lack of legitimacy, ethics, consistency and reason in its behavior towards Cuba”.
Finally, the communiqué states that “Cuba will continue to face and condemn that economic warfare policy, the foreign interference programs and the disinformation and discredit operations financed every year with tens of millions of dollars of the US federal budget” and adds thas “It will also continue to be ready to develop a respectful relation with that country, based on dialogue and non-interference in the internal affairs of both countries, despite the differences”.
The measures announced by the White House are adopted in support of the dialogue between the Government of the island and the Vatican for the release of political prisoners. According to Cuban President Miguel Díaz Canel, shortly after the news was announced, he informed Pope Francis that his government will release 553 prisoners as a “unilateral and sovereign” decision.
