Tuesday, January 6, 2015

Yes, Cuba Is a State Sponsor of Terror

Yes, Cuba Is a State Sponsor of Terror
By Yleem Poblete & Jason I. Poblete

The most senior U.S. delegation in decades will soon be in Havana to
engage a declared enemy of the United States in discussions about
"normalizing" relations. Covering much more subject matter than routine
migration issues, these meetings stem in large measure from the December
17 return of spies to Cuba who are responsible for American deaths.

Obama sent three Cuban spies back to the island, trading them for the
release of American Alan Gross. Mr. Gross had been held hostage for five
years for the "crime" of teaching Jewish Cubans how to connect to the
Internet. As part of this lopsided deal, the Obama administration also
declared American policy a failure and offered a large basket of
potential economic and diplomatic benefits.
This was a significant ideological and political victory for the
Communist regime. And there are more rewards in the offing.
Administration officials are reportedly considering removing Cuba from
the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism — a request Raul Castro
made in May 2014 and one that the Cuban regime has made many times in
recent years. Under Section 6(j) of the Export Administration Act, a
country's designation as supporting acts of international terrorism may
be rescinded in only two ways. Cuba is not ready to come off that list.
Quite the opposite.

In the first instance, the President must certify to the Congress that
there has been a fundamental change in the leadership and policies of
the government in question, as was the case with Iraq after the removal
of Saddam Hussein. There is no legitimate way that administration
officials can make such a claim with respect to Cuba. Moreover, the
criteria for determining such a systemic transformation is clearly
defined in the LIBERTAD Act, known as the Helms-Burton law. For
starters, as stated in the law, Fidel and Raul Castro cannot be part of
the governing structure.

That leaves only the second option for removal from the list. To remove
Cuba's terrorism designation, the president would need to submit a
report to Congress, 45 days prior to the proposed removal, certifying
that 1) the regime has not provided any support for international
terrorism during the preceding six months and 2) the government has
provided assurances that it will not support acts of international
terrorism in the future. Most would agree that Cuba fails on both counts.

Cuba has supported and provided safe haven to members of the Basque
Fatherland and Liberty (ETA) and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of
Colombia (FARC). Both are U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist
Organizations (FTOs). The Obama administration would therefore need to
remove ETA and FARC from the FTO list, before removing Cuba from the
state-sponsors-of-terrorism list. Both actions are untenable at this
time. Unless Spain's foreign-policy establishment is about to make a
radical shift in thinking, ETA remains a terrorist organization and
there are ETA sympathizers in Cuba who are wanted for terrible crimes
against the Spanish people. As for FARC, despite the faux peace process
in Havana the past few months, it continues to carry out violent acts in
Colombia, has no plans to lay down arms anytime soon, and has links to
al-Qaeda in the Lands of the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).

The "April 2014 State Department Country Reports on Terrorism," however,
implied that the only role the Castro regime had with FARC was
facilitating travel for the "peace talks" between these terrorists and
the Colombian government. It further stated that the ETA presence in
Cuba is diminished. It would appear that a kinder-and-gentler Cuba
narrative is being written to accommodate a preconceived policy outcome.

Source: Yes, Cuba Is a State Sponsor of Terror | National Review Online
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http://www.nationalreview.com/article/395772/yes-cuba-state-sponsor-terror-yleem-poblete-jason-i-poblete

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