Socialist Cuba Slams US-Style Support for Global Terrorism

Cuba’s socialist government criticized countries that finance, arm, and train extremist groups across the world during a United Nations Security Council meeting Monday.

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While not mentioning countries by name, the Cuban government made reference to those that have supported terrorism-linked Syrian opposition groups. The U.S., for example, has provided over US$500 million worth of weapons, food, and medical supplies to extremist groups fighting against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad since 2013, the New York Times reported. Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Qatar, and other U.S. allies have also supported the same groups.

Most of the groups fighting against Assad have since been exposed for their connections to terrorist groups Jabhat Fateh al-Sham (formerly al-Nusra Front) and the Islamic State group.

The Cuban government also slammed unilateral actions taken by countries like the U.S. to use the fight against terrorism as a justification to expand its global military presence.

“We reject and condemn double standards and selective treatment regarding this issue,” Cuban permanent representative to the U.N. Anayansi Rodriguez said on Monday, Granma reported.

“The fight against terrorism cannot be used as a pretext for intervention and interference, aggression, or international and human rights violations.”

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Following discussions centered around multilateral approaches to combatting terrorism, participants unanimously adopted Resolution 2341, a new agreement that aims to strengthen global terrorism prevention mechanisms while reducing the impact of terrorist attacks on civil infrastructure, Granma reported.

Stressing Cuba’s commitment to fighting terrorism, Rodriguez reminded the international body that her country has also been victim to terrorist attacks financed by powerful foreign countries. In 1976, for example, U.S.-backed right-wing Cuban terrorists bombed a Cuban airplane flying to Jamaica, killing 73 people.

“Cuba has never, nor will it ever, allow its territory to be used to carry out, plan, support, conceal, or finance such actions against any other country,” Rodriguez said at the U.N. Security Council.