Colombian President Asks US to Remove Cuba From Terrorist List

Colombian President Asks US to Remove Cuba From Terrorist List
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4 October 2022
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President Petro and Anthony Blinken also spoke about regularization of migrants and cooperation in the fight against climate change, drugs, and corruption.

During a meeting in Bogota on Monday, Colombian President Gustavo Petro asked U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken that Cuba be removed from the list of "State Sponsors of Terrorism."

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"What has happened with Cuba is an injustice," Petro said, recalling that, at the request of President Juan Manuel Santos and during the administration of President Barack Obama, Cuba hosted peace negotiations between the Colombian state, the National Liberation Army (ELN), and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).

Later, however, Colombian President Ivan Duque asked President Donald Trump to declare Cuba a country that encourages terrorist activities because the FARC and ELN were in its territory.

"That is an injustice and, therefore, in my opinion, although it does not depend on us, it should be corrected," Petro told Blinken, who ratified that President Joe Biden's administration will keep Cuba on the "State Sponsors of Terrorism" list.

Petro and Blinken also spoke about regularization of Colombian migrants in the U.S. and cooperation in the fight against climate change, drugs, and corruption.

“We will strengthen the relationship between the United States and Colombia in these comprehensive projects,” Petro tweeted.

Blinken supported Petro's proposal to fight drugs, which is characterized by fighting "the real drug traffickers" who are in the cities instead of going after the poor who grow coca.

"With Secretary Blinken we talked about drug trafficking, a traditional issue on the binational agenda. On this occasion, however, we did it from a different perspective. We did it with a more flexible and comprehensive vision of the problem of drug consumption and production in the continent," the Colombian president said.

"We want to make substantial changes. Until very recently, the repressive policy on drug trafficking consisted of fumigating all farmers with glyphosate. This will no longer happen because the Colombian Constitutional Court prohibited it," he added.

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