Help Get Cuba off the US list of State Sponsors of Terrorism

You can help share the facts through supporting resolutions, so that people in the U.S. know the truth about Cuba.

Help pass resolutions in your community. Initially designed for city councils, resolutions are also applicable to organizations — unions, churches, others — to show what is in fact true:  Large numbers of people oppose the current U.S. policy of attacking Cuba. Many people wish to normalize relations.

With your help, we can build overwhelming public opinion — so that unfair and damaging policies against Cuba are no longer politically expedient!

Biden has refused to reverse Trump’s action

As Trump was leaving office, his administration placed Cuba on the U.S. “List of State Sponsors of Terrorism”. That action is in addition to the over 60-year U.S. blockade of Cuba. Even more than the blockade, the “terrorism” listing creates additional difficulties for Cuba with financial transactions and in qualifying for financing.

Being included on this list is not merely symbolic, however unfair it is.  It has real-world consequences, due to the economic and military power of the U.S.: Countries included on the list are subject to possible sanctions, including cancellation of scientific and cultural interchanges, suspension of aid for development, and restrictions on exports.

Cuba does not belong on the U.S. list of State Sponsors of Terrorism!

There is absolutely no evidence of any kind to show Cuba has carried out, planned, supported or sponsored any acts of terrorism! By contrast, Cuba has repeatedly been the victim of U.S.-sponsored acts of terrorism, including bombings and sabotage. For many years, Cuba’s international role has been marked by providing medical aid to other countries, doing so for free for poor countries and in disaster situations.

The United States is pressuring other governments, banking institutions and companies throughout the world to penalize Cuba. The U.S. also obsessively pursues other means to block any sources of “hard currency” transactions for Cuba, so that Cuba lacks access to the internationally accepted (“hard”) currencies used in global trade. The intention of the U.S. actions is to cause an economic collapse — which is considered an act of war by international law.

Resolutions show public agreement that it’s time for the U.S. to remove Cuba from the "terrorism list", end the U.S. blockade, and normalize Cuba-U.S. relations!

You can take action by organizing to pass resolutions in your city council and other organizations, in support of normalizing U.S.-Cuba relations. WILPF’s Cuba and the Bolivarian Alliance Issue Committee is here to help you! We can answer question, provide background information, and connect you to additional references. Contact us at Venceremos@wilpfus.org.

We can create a constituency for positive change!

Take the resolution to your union,  church, professional associations, your city council or board of supervisors.

A sample resolution is here. WILPF US has passed a resolution already! So have other organizations and local governments, representing millions of people in the U.S.

What is the U.S. basis for placing Cuba on this list?

The U.S. presents several reasons.

Cuba’s refusal to extradite Assata Shakur to the U.S. is one of the U.S. pretexts to claim Cuba is a sponsor of terrorism. Assata Shakur fled the U.S. after COINTELPRO persecution and prosecution. She was granted asylum in Cuba in 1984, as a U.S. political prisoner.

Another U.S. “charge” is that Cuba supports the elected government of Venezuela. The U.S. has claimed that the Venezuela elections were improper. Disagreeing with the U.S. policy on a third country is not terrorism. The U.S. is simply seeking to control the foreign affairs of another country.

In a third instance, Cuba helped support the negotiations that eventually led to greater internal peace in Colombia. However, after the earlier Havana peace talks between the Colombian government and ELN (National Liberation Army) rebels failed, Cuba permitted the ELN representatives to remain in Cuba until safeguards for their return to Colombia were put into place — following the international agreements regarding all negotiating parties.

Rather than being evidence of “terrorism,” these actions demonstrate the ethical nature of Cuba.  A more pragmatic, less idealistic, state would have treated Shakur and the ELN representatives as bargaining chips. It is greatly to Cuba’s credit that — even under the extreme conditions created by the pandemic, natural disasters like Hurricane Ian, and the U.S. blockade —  they have refused to make deals with the lives of these people.

Please help!  Inclusion on the “State Sponsors of Terrorism” list means Cuba has reduced-access to food and medicine for its people, reduced ability to combat climate change, and reduced ability to rebuild after hurricanes and the pandemic. You can help by introducing resolutions in support of Cuba in your community. The U.S. attacks on Cuba are wrong, and they hurt people.

Links to sample resolution

• Click here to view or download PDF file.
• Click here to download Word doc that you can edit  

Also, click here for a helpful toolkit of pointers to aid your work in supporting a resolution. For any additional questions, please contact the WILPF Cuba & Bolivarian Alliance Committee at Venceremos@wilpfus.org.