Cuba aggravated over inclusion on terror list

Cuba is angry at the decision of the U.S to keep it on the list of ‘state sponsors of terrorism,’ accusing Washington of using the issue to achieve political ends.

In a Foreign Ministry statement, Cuba said the U.S. had no right to judge Cuba, adding that the island nation had an "unblemished" record fighting terrorism, the Associated Press reports. Cuba's inclusion on the terror blacklist since 1982 has been a major source of concern for the government which continues to endure foreign aid restrictions as part of the price to pay for being on the terror list. In 2010, Cuba summoned a United States' top diplomat in Havana to complain over its presence on the list, calling it a "hostile action" aimed at justifying the U.S. trade embargo imposed against the island since 1962. But the U.S. has said, listing Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism is justified on grounds that the island nation shelters members of ETA, the Basque separatist movement in Spain, in addition to supporting violent leftist rebels in Colombia. In response, Cuba says the small number of ETA members in the country under an accord with the Spanish government had conducted no terrorist activity while on the island. And on the issue of supporting Colombian leftist rebels, it said it took part in a formal peace process on request by all sides in Colombia.