Cuba says it foiled terrorist plot hatched in the US

More than 30 individuals, said to be involved in the scheme at various levels, have been arrested and are currently being held in police detention, Cuban authorities announced in a national televised broadcast Monday night.

Officials from the offices of Cuba’s Interior Ministry and Attorney General informed the Cuban people that it has in custody Ardenys García, a Cuban national living in the US since 2014 and who illegally entered the Caribbean island last November on a jet ski with guns and ammunition.

In a series of videos played by Cuban officials during the televised broadcast, Garcia disclosed how he was recruited by La Nueva Nación Cubana en Armas leader Willy González and trained in guerilla warfare.

The intention was to recruit more people residing in Cuba and stoke civil unrest on the island by attacking military bases, reported Chinese state media Xinhua, citing two other accomplices of Garcia.

Havana says it had informed the United States of the ‘terrorist plot’ but Washington remains passive in responding to their concerns.

Desde hace tiempo venimos alertando a EEUU sobre terroristas que operan contra #Cuba desde la Florida. Sin embargo, continúan actuando impunemente. ¡Eso sí es ser un Estado patrocinador del terrorismo! Evidente cinismo imperial #NoAlTerrorismo.https://t.co/OwUT0ny0fF

— Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez (@DiazCanelB) July 9, 2024

Reacting to the development president of the communist republic Miguel Díaz-Canel wrote on his personal X (formerly Twitter) account, saying "for some time we have been alerting the United States about terrorists operating against Cuba from Florida. However, they continue to act with impunity. Now that's being a state sponsor of terrorism! Evident imperial cynicism.”

Cuba continues to be classified as a State Sponsor of Terrorism by a list unilaterally conjures up by the United States government. It is a term that Havana has repeatedly rejected.

Bruno Rodríguez, Cuba’s foreign affairs minister also blasted the US government on his X account for its inaction against La Nueva Nación Cubana en Armas.

Rodriguez says that these "terrorist operations and violent acts against Cuba are organized and financed from U.S. territory,” then added: "The government of that country knows it and tolerates it. These are actions that have the support of well-known political figures with anti-Cuban positions.”

Reuters reported that the US State Department responded to its email regarding “the most recent allegations” by the Cuban government, citing an unnamed official who stated that "U.S. law enforcement prosecutes individuals based on U.S. law and does not take direction from foreign governments.”

Both the US and Cuba have been locked in a longstanding ideological war since the Cuban Revolution that began in 1952.

Washington has since led an international embargo on the Spanish-speaking island with Havana accusing its northern neighbour of fomenting unrest to overthrow the government for its own imperialist benefit.