http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=92521

Finally, Cuba Is Harboring a Terrorist!May 4, 2013 | | [image:
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*Dawn Gable*

Assata Shakur

HAVANA TIMES — After 40 years, the FBI has arbitrarily labeled Assata
Shakur a terrorist. The former Black Panther was convicted of murder in
1973, for her involvement in an altercation with New Jersey police that
left one officer dead.

She was sentenced to life plus 30 years, but subsequently escaped prison.
Nearly a decade later, she was granted asylum in Cuba, where she is
suspected to still reside.

It seems unlikely that the announcement of her transformation from criminal
to terrorist coincidently occurred the day after the State Department was
supposed to release its annual report “justifying” the continued inclusion
of Cuba on its list of countries that “provide critical support to
non-state terrorist groups and repeatedly provides support for acts of
international terrorism.”

The publication of this report has been delayed; perhaps to update it with
this new information.

What does Assata’s new status have to do with Cuba being designated a State
Sponsor of terrorism?

In the past several years, the State Department’s stated reasons for
keeping Cuba on the list have dwindled. The most recent reports seem more
like attempts to demonstrate why Cuba should be taken off the list. The
rationale last year was reduced to: members of the ETA and the FARC, as
well as fugitives from U.S. justice reside in Cuba.

Because these arguments were easily discredited, it was widely believed
that Cuba’s days on the list were quickly coming to an end. For example, it
is well know that the presence of Basque ETA members in Cuba is the result
of a 1984 agreement with the Spanish and Panamanian governments and that
Cuba is currently hosting peace talks between the FARC and the Colombian
government, at the behest of the later.

Regarding the fugitives from U.S. justice, many have pointed out that
Mexico harbors dangerous U.S. fugitives partially due to its refusal to
extradite any individual who may face the death penalty, yet it is not
labeled a supporter of terrorism. Moreover, the fugitives referred to were
wanted on criminal charges, not terrorist charges, and so these cases
should not bear upon the listing.

Well, not any more. Since Cuba refuses to support real terrorists, the FBI,
with or without the State Department’s collusion, has taken it upon itself
to invent one! With no new evidence, no retrial, and indeed no change to
the FBI’s description of her crimes and convictions, Assata Shakur was
upgraded to terrorist at the agency’s whim, just in the nick of time. The
anti-Castro, Cuba lobby has just won an enormous victory and one can hardly
keep from admiring such deviously effective maneuvering.


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



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