Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez thanked Colombian congressmen on Wednesday who asked the US to remove the island from the list of state sponsors of terrorism.
“Deep gratitude to the more than 80 Colombian congressmen for this initiative,” the foreign minister wrote on Twitter from the UN where he is to participate in the General Assembly.
Rodríguez ratified his country’s commitment to peace in Colombia and added that Cuba “should never have been” on that list, to which it returned in 2021 under the administration of Republican Donald Trump (2017-2021).
At that time, Washington alluded to Havana’s refusal to extradite members of the National Liberation Army (ELN) guerrillas, who traveled to the island to hold negotiations with the Colombian government.
The government of Democrat Joe Biden kept Cuba -along with Venezuela- on the list.
Now, the group of Colombian politicians from the Parliamentary Friendship Group with Cuba has asked the US Vice President, Kamala Harris, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, to remove the Caribbean island from the countries that promote terrorism.
Both the Colombian government and the ELN have rejected this designation as a country sponsor of terrorism for Cuba.
Both parties announced the resumption of peace negotiations after a meeting in Havana last August.
The arrival of Gustavo Petro to the Presidency of Colombia reactivated the peace negotiations with the ELN, which could formally begin in “weeks”, according to alias “Pablo Beltrán”, one of the leaders of the guerrilla group.
EFE
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