CUBA: OFF THE LIST?

Publicado en: http://www.securefreesociety.org/

In its initial meetings with U.S. diplomats, Cuba demanded its removal from the State Department list of countries sponsoring terrorism. The State Department was instructed to perform a six-month review to assess whether Cuba should be removed from the list, which includes Iran, Sudan and Syria. Four months later, the White House has endorsed their removal but Cuba will not come off the list until after a 45-day review period, during which a joint resolution to block its removal could be considered in the U.S. Congress. SFS cautioned strongly against a posture where U.S. national security interests with Cuba are subservient to political interests, and describes how Cuba continues to support terrorism. On February 25, 2015, SFS hosted a policy roundtable Cuba: Off the List with panelists including SFS senior fellow Fernando Menéndez, former FBI Assistant Director, Thomas Fuentes, and former USAID Acting Administrator, José Cardenas, ably moderated by seasoned VOA reporter Patricia Dalmasy. To listen to audio of the policy roundtable, visit our soundcloud. Also on February 25, 2015, ahead of the roundtable, SFS senior fellow J.D. Gordon published “Will Gitmo become a terror base?” in Fox News Latino analyzing the future and fate of Guantanamo Bay Cuba under this new policy. Most recently, on April 15, 2015, SFS executive director Joseph Humire outlined the reasons why Cuba should remain on the list of state sponsors of terrorism in the PanAm Post (also inSpanish). Lastly, our policy report Canada On Guard raised important concerns on the Cuban state’s role in redesigning Venezuela’s immigration system, establishing a criminal-terrorist pipeline from the Middle East to South and North America, and vice versa. This concern and our policy report were highlighted in the Wall Street Journal, the Miami Herald, El Nuevo Herald (in Spanish) and Breitbart News.

CNN analyst and former Assistant Director of FBI’s Office of International Operations, Thomas Fuentes (on the left) with SFS executive director Joseph Humire.

Pictured left to right: Joseph Humire, Thomas Fuentes, Fernando Menéndez, Patricia Dalmasy, José Cardenas, and SFS senior fellow J.D. Gordon.