Russia assails U.S. for saying Cuba fosters terrorism

In Moscow on Thursday (May 8), the press secretary of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Aleksandr K. Lukashevic, read the following official statement, translated here by Progreso Weekly:

“In the published report of the United States State Department on terrorist threats in 2013, Cuba appears again, for the 32nd consecutive year.

“We consider this decision by Washington to be groundless. It is another sign of unwillingness by the American side to establish a constructive dialogue with Havana, an attempt to put pressure, including sanctions, on a government that the U.S. finds ‘objectionable.’

“It is known that Cuba has achieved significantly positive results on the antiterrorist track. The country is a party to more than 10 international agreements in the field of antiterrorism and cooperates with the counter-terrorism committee of the United Nations Security Council, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). This cannot be ignored.

“We hope that common sense will prevail in Washington’s approach to Cuba. The U.S. administration should abandon the practice of adopting unmotivated decisions, especially in such sensitive areas as the fight against terrorism.”

[Translator’s Note: The FATF is an inter-governmental body established in 1989. Its stated objective is “combating money laundering, terrorist financing and other related threats to the integrity of the international financial system.” The U.S. and Russia are founding members; Cuba is a contributing member.]