THE U.S. THINKS REVOLUTIONARIES ARE TERRORISTS

On 14 January 2025, outgoing US president Joe Biden announced that he would remove Cuba from the State Sponsors of Terrorism list. On 21 January, just one week later, newly inaugurated president Donald Trump reversed the decision, adding Cuba back to the list. But why was Cuba ever considered a sponsor of terrorism in the first place?

According to the US State Department’s website, “Cuba was designated as a State Sponsor of Terrorism in 1982 because of its long history of providing advice, safe haven, communications, training and financial support to guerrilla groups and individual terrorists.” But who were these terrorists that Cuba was helping? Well, it turns out they were revolutionary anti-colonial freedom fighters from Latin America and Africa.

Beginning in 1975, Cuba sent soldiers to Angola to assist the revolutionary Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) in its fight against apartheid South African forces and CIA-backed death squads. 10,000 Cubans are reported to have died fighting to liberate Angola from neo-colonial, pro-apartheid forces. Cuba’s intervention in Angola was so significant that it brought the apartheid system to its knees.

Cuban revolutionaries also fought for Africa’s freedom in the Congo, where they backed pro-Lumumba forces in their battle against CIA-installed Mobutu Sese Seko. Cubans contributed to the liberation of Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde, fighting alongside the great pan-African, Amílcar Cabral.

Cuba fought for Africa, and Cuba has paid a price.

When the United States talks about a history of “Cuban support for terrorism,” what they are actually saying is that our African freedom fighters - from Agostinho Neto and the MPLA, to Amílcar Cabral and the PAIGC - are terrorists. This is not just an insult to Cuba, it’s a major insult to us!

Africans must stand unequivocally with Cubans as they face economic attack due to their solidarity with our people.

Sources:

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c17e0k92g41o

https://www.aa.com.tr/en/americas/trump-reinstates-cuba-as-state-sponsor-of-terrorism/3456711#

https://www.state.gov/reports/country-reports-on-terrorism-2019/cuba/

https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-06-16-mn-7734-story.html