Swapo calls for Cuba’s removal from list of alleged ‘terrorist’ countries

The Swapo party has called for the removal of Cuba from the United States’ list of countries allegedly sponsoring terrorism.

This comes after media reports in the US this month stated that its state secretary submitted a list of four countries to the US Congress that allegedly did not fully cooperate with the United States’ anti-terrorist efforts for the 2023 calendar year.

In a media statement on Wednesday, Swapo secretary general Sophia Shaningwa said the United States’ position had subjected Cuba to a humanitarian crisis.

“In what we can only conclude as a guilty conscience by a government that continues to perpetuate despicable crimes against humanity towards the Cuban people, this list does not include Cuba, even though the same US government continues to keep Cuba on its list of countries allegedly ‘sponsoring terrorism’,” she said.

“This coercive position by the US government has subjected the Cuban people to a humanitarian crisis for over six decades, limiting trade opportunities for Cuban businesses with a free world, a world desired by the United States of America,” she added.

Shaningwa said that the party ‘strongly’ calls for the removal of Cuba from the US list of countries allegedly “sponsoring terrorism”, and to enable the people of Cuba to be masters of their own destiny and be able to fully realise their hopes and aspirations.

“Cuba itself is a victim of terrorism, an undeniable fact known by the US government. The listing of Cuba enables the marginalisation of Cuba from the mainstream economy, and the blockade of the free flow of goods to and from Cuba, which continues to subject the people of Cuba to abject poverty,” she said.

She said that Cuba is part of a global community and fully compliant with international legal instruments and institutions such as the United Nations, which advocate for the independence of sovereign nations, as envisioned in the UN Charter.

“We therefore appeal to the moral judgment of the US government, to unequivocally end all sabotage efforts against the Republic of Cuba and its people,” Shaningwa said.