EFE (via 14ymedio) Miami, 21 February 2023 — The Assembly of Cuban Resistance (ARC), which consists of 35 civil entities on and off the Island, sent a letter to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken this Tuesday, asking that Cuban Government institutions be included on the list of terrorist organizations.
The coordinator of the ARC, Orlando Gutiérrez Boronat, announced at a press conference that the letter was sent to Blinken to “unmask” organizations that include: the Cuban Institute for Friendship with the Peoples (Icap); the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution (CDR); the Federation of Cuban Women (FMC); the National Association of Small Farmers (ANAP); and the Workers’ Central Union of Cuba (CTC).
Gutiérrez Boronat told EFE that these organizations are dedicated to “promoting subversion in Latin America,” in addition to noting that “it is internationally documented” that they promote terrorism.
The letter details that in 2021, the US already sanctioned officials of the Cuban Ministry of the Interior and the Prevention Troops (TDP) of the Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces Ministry.
On July 30, 2021, President Joe Biden, the letter continues, declared that new sanctions would be imposed against repressive Cuban institutions if they “continued to violate human rights.”
The ARC emphasizes in the letter that since the protests of July 11, 2021, “the regime has used local nuclei of the CDR, FMC, ANAP and CTC to identify and repress protesters” in Cuba.
The letter highlights that the role of these organizations “in the recent waves of repression” extends to the trials against the protesters of July 11, 2021, since their members, along with law enforcement officers, are the only citizens who have been allowed to be witnesses for the prosecution. And the ARC denounces that hundreds of peaceful demonstrators have been sentenced by virtue of false testimonies.
In addition, the letter states that Gerardo Hernández Nordelo, who served a 16-year sentence in the US for espionage, is the current coordinator of the CDRs, while ICAP is led by Fernando González Llort, sentenced to 15 years for the same charge.
It denounces that ICAP often organizes meetings with representatives of the Syrian, Iranian and Russian governments and coordinates activities with organizations from these countries.
“We are concerned about the growing presence of Russia in Cuba, which threatens the security of the United States and Cuban citizens. Since 2014, the Castro regime and the Russian Security Council have maintained a Security Cooperation Memorandum,” it says.
It recalls that “the Castro regime” has supported the war in Ukraine and has renegotiated a debt of 2.3 billion dollars with Russia.
Gutiérrez Boronat also announced the celebration, next Saturday, of the ARC National Convention in which a National Salvation Program will be announced that will lead to a political transition within 2 years.
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