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October 31, 2001
Council on Foreign Relations
[Note: A transcript of this meeting is unavailable. The discussion is summarized below.]
October 31, 2001
Tom Carter, Speaker
Fulton Armstrong, Speaker
Robert Filippone, Speaker
Julia Sweig, Presider
On Wednesday, October 31, the RT on Cuba & U.S. Cuba Relations held a meeting entitled “Cuba and Terrorism Post 911” with Tom Carter/Western Hemisphere Regional Affairs Officer at State Department’s Counter Terrorism Office. Fulton Armstrong/National Intelligence Officer for Latin America and Robert Filippone/Deputy Democratic Director, Senate Select Committee on Intelligence were the discussants. Julia Sweig presided. The speakers outlined the history of U.S. terrorism policy and its relation to Cuba, as well as the difficulty of indicating clear markers of terrorist activity.
Three years after the 1979 Export Administration Act initiated the State Department’s list of state-sponsored terrorism, the U.S. identified Cuba as such because of its training of and arms sales to Latin American and African revolutionary militants. Removal from the list can occur through presidential recognition to the Congress of a country’s change in leadership and policy toward the U.S., or by confirming that no terrorist activity occurred within the preceding 6 months. Congress has 45 days to respond for removal. Unlike the drug certification list, direct indicators of terrorism, such as observables, metrics, negotiations, methodologies or definitions, do not exist to delineate the political process in identifying countries sponsoring terrorism or harboring those responsible. Ultimately, the U.S. cannot sift through these challenges without coming to a consensus on this type of terminology.
In sheer political terms, the domestic cost to removing Cuba does not seem worth the possible benefits of cooperation on border control or anti-terrorism measures.
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