Press Advisory
Cuba is a state linked to terrorism in 2022 reports investigation published by CFC.
Washington, DC, July 27, 2022
Contacts: John Suarez (612)-367-6845 / Janisset Rivero 786-208-6056
Colombian terrorist group Ejército de Liberación Nacional (ELN)
Center for a Free Cuba, July 27th, 2022, Washington, DC. The Center for a Free Cuba (CFC) released today a study examining the link between Havana and international terrorism, while other voices lobby the Biden administration to remove Cuba from the list of state terror sponsors. This report by José Arias analyzes the period between 2020 and 2022 and finds that Cuba continues to sponsor terrorism.
“Cuba has maintained close relations with countries that are directly involved in terrorist attacks and with terrorist groups from Syria, Iran, and North Korea. Cuba has also been proven to hide and help terrorists from different countries, like the United States and Colombia. At least one terrorist group that has an agency in Cuba has been used as a center of operations that take place in Latin America. Co-acting with Venezuela, Cuba presents a big threat to not only Latin American countries but to the United States and the whole world too”, affirms the study titled “Involvement of Cuba in Terrorism: 2020-2022.”
The Cuban state was removed from the list of state terror sponsors in 2015 during the Obama administration and was returned to it in January 2021. On March 12, 2021 the Center published the “Fact Sheet: Cuban Support for Terrorism” that provided historic context. Today’s published report outlines how the Cuban government remains a bad actor in 2022.
In a State Department report published in early 2021, the evidence is presented that reveals how Cuba continues to be an international threat, linked to recognized terrorists whom it protects, and that acts together with other state terror sponsors in carrying out acts of terrorism.
“Cuba's relationship with terrorism comes from its anti-American ideology, which it shares with other countries. Of all those countries, Cuba has something that no other country has, which is a strategic location, namely the proximity to the United States. Over the past three years, Cuba has provided all over the world a highly effective human intelligence network that has been able to find vulnerabilities in the security of many different countries. Furthermore, Cuba has been shown to be interfering with and intercepting US communications. All the information and knowledge that Cuba acquires is shared with some of its allies, which include countries like Iran and Syria”, according to the data analyzed in the study, Venezuela is Cuba's main partner in Latin America.
“Many different types of weapons and military personnel are sent and received in Venezuela, with some remaining in the country and others returning to Cuba. Most of the trades are done with states that are also sponsors of terrorism, like Iran and North Korea.”.
The report highlights members of groups such as the FARC and the ELN who use Cuba and Venezuela to travel or hide when necessary, and a base of operations that the terrorist group Hezbollah has had in Cuba for ten years now.
“This report calls attention to the continuing participation of the Cuban government in international terrorism, stressing that these ongoing actions are increasingly accentuated in coordination with other state terror sponsors, and terrorist groups, demonstrating that the regime in Havana has not reformed its bad practices. Nor does it have the desire to change, therefore it is imprudent to remove Cuba from the list of states that sponsor terrorism,” said John Suárez, Executive Director of the Center for a Free Cuba”, who added that the report is available on the organization's website and has been sent to governments and international organizations.
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