Bruno Rodríguez boasts of a “clean record” on terrorism that doesn’t hold up to a look at the archives
14ymedio, Madrid Yunior García Aguilera, September 11, 2026 / This September 11, as the 25th anniversary is marked of the attacks that left nearly 3,000 dead in the United States, Cuba’s official press once again practiced one of its specialties, the “me too, but worse.” The choreography, repeated to the point of exhaustion, begins with condolences, is quickly followed by a “but,” and within a few paragraphs Cuba is already competing for first place among the greatest victims of terrorism since the days of Cain and Abel.
Prensa Latina recalled the Twin Towers, but quickly jumped to Salvador Allende, to Cuban diplomat Félix García Rodríguez, murdered in New York on September 11, 1980, and to Washington’s guilt. Cuba’s official state newspaper Granma spoke of “the long shadow of terrorism against Cuba,” while Miguel Díaz-Canel took advantage of the date to call U.S. sanctions “state terrorism.”
Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla contributed the diplomatic version of the same exercise. The foreign minister recalled the “tragic and regrettable terrorist acts” of 2001 and, in the following paragraph, turned his gaze toward the island. Cuba, he wrote, has been “a victim of terrorism for more than six decades” and maintains a “firm and unwavering” rejection of all its forms. Months earlier he had gone even further, proclaiming that the country has “a clean record when it comes to terrorism, organized international crime and violence.” The phrase deserves to be framed.
In 1958, when the Revolution had not yet come to power, there already existed within the 26th of July Movement a structure called, without much concern for euphemisms, Action and Sabotage
Six years ago, Granma had already drafted another headline without its cursor trembling. “Cuba, the country that has suffered the most terrorist attacks for the longest time.” They did not even use the typical “modesty aside” to present themselves as “one of the most” punished. No. They are the absolute champions, the gold medal of historical suffering. One expects the rest of the standings to follow – Afghanistan in second place, Iraq with the bronze, perhaps Colombia fighting for an Olympic diploma. But the comparative study never appears. Not a single international statistic, not a table that would allow the superlative to be verified. The final had already been fixed by the Central Committee’s scriptwriters.
The figures used by Havana come from its own accounting and lump together under the heading of terrorism very different phenomena, ranging from bombings and sabotage to armed incursions and episodes of military confrontation. Cuba has suffered real terrorism and its victims need no exaggeration to exist. What is hard to sustain is the claim that no other country has suffered it more, or for longer, especially when international databases have for decades placed Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Nigeria or Syria at magnitudes that make the competition organized by Granma look rather provincial.
But let us accept, for a moment, Havana’s generous definition, and apply it retroactively as well. In 1958, when the Revolution had not yet come to power, there already existed within the 26th of July Movement a structure called, without much concern for euphemisms, Action and Sabotage. There were bombs, attacks and kidnappings. On June 26 of that year, troops under Raúl Castro held ten Americans and two Canadians from a mining company in Oriente. The following day they kidnapped another 24 American servicemen who were on leave outside the Guantánamo Naval Base. The operation ended up involving dozens of foreigners.
On July 13, 1994, state vessels chased and rammed the tugboat 13 de Marzo in Havana Bay, on which dozens of people were trying to flee Cuba. Forty-one people died, among them ten children
There was also the so-called Night of the Hundred Bombs, in November 1957, when the clandestine apparatus of the 26th of July Movement set off numerous devices in Havana. Decades later, similar methods used against the new regime would receive a far less romantic name.
The record then has a chapter written directly by the State. On July 13, 1994, state vessels chased and rammed the 13 de Marzo tugboat in Havana Bay, on which dozens of people were trying to flee Cuba. Forty-one people died, among them ten children. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights attributed responsibility to the Cuban State.
Less than two years later, on February 24, 1996, MiG fighter jets of the Cuban Air Force shot down two civilian light aircraft belonging to Brothers to the Rescue. Carlos Costa, Armando Alejandre, Mario de la Peña and Pablo Morales were killed. The International Civil Aviation Organization concluded that the aircraft were shot down outside Cuban airspace. It is hard to fit either episode into the impeccable anti-terrorist biography that Bruno Rodríguez now claims.
Outside the island, the record does not remain spotless either. In May 1967, four Cuban military personnel landed near Machurucuto, Venezuela, alongside guerrillas seeking to bolster the insurgency against a democratically elected government. Declassified U.S. documents described the episode as further proof of Havana’s sponsorship of subversion. Fidel Castro, far from hiding his sympathy for such operations, publicly claimed the “revolutionary moral duty” to help Latin American guerrillas.
For decades, Joanne Chesimard, known as Assata Shakur, lived in Cuba; convicted of the murder of New Jersey police officer Werner Foerster, she became the first woman included by the FBI on its list of most wanted terrorists
Now let us swap the flags for a moment. Imagine four American military personnel landing clandestinely on a Cuban beach with weapons and guerrillas ready to overthrow Fidel Castro. There is no need to even write Granma’s headline. We all know what the main word would have been.
Colombia offers another chapter. The M-19, which in 1980 seized the Dominican Republic’s embassy in Bogotá and held numerous diplomats hostage for 61 days, had a documented relationship with Cuba. U.S. intelligence reports estimated that around 200 members of the organization received training on the island before returning to Colombia. There are also documents linking Cuban officials to operations to transfer weapons intended for the group.
The dictionary worked its wonders once again. When Havana’s enemies kidnapped people, they were terrorists. When friendly guerrillas did the same, they could be revolutionary fighters.
And then there is the matter of refuge. For decades, Joanne Chesimard, known as Assata Shakur, lived in Cuba; convicted of the murder of New Jersey police officer Werner Foerster, she became the first woman included by the FBI on its list of most wanted terrorists. Fidel Castro granted her asylum, and she remained there until her death in Havana, in September 2025.
“If we devoted ourselves to terrorism, we would certainly be efficient at it”
William Morales, an explosives maker for the Puerto Rican FALN, also found refuge on the island. And other fugitives wanted in the United States for murders, kidnappings or political violence were sheltered for years by a Government that denounces as complicity any American protection of violent enemies of the Castro regime.
None of this makes imaginary the bombings of Cuban hotels, the destruction of Cubana Flight 455 – still not entirely clarified – or the murder of Félix García. These were acts of terrorism and their victims deserve to be remembered without self-serving nuances. What proves harder is keeping that “clean record” intact.
Perhaps that is why, among all the quotes the Revolution has produced on the subject, none proves as useful as one from Fidel Castro himself. He said it on June 6, 1976, during an event marking the anniversary of the Ministry of the Interior. “If we devoted ourselves to terrorism, we would certainly be efficient at it.” He then assured, with a mischievous smile, that the Revolution had never practiced it. And he added, “That doesn’t mean we’re giving it up – consider yourselves warned!”
Translated by GH.
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