For more than six decades, Cuba has suffered the consequences of terrorist acts, generally organized and financed from the United States. Among the numerous criminal acts of this nature are the explosion of the steamship La Coubre, the fire at the El Encanto department store and the Le Van Tan daycare center, several machine-gun attacks and hijackings of fishing boats, bombings of Cuban hotels, and the bombing of a Cubana de Aviación airliner, which killed 73 people.
In most cases, despite providing public information and evidence regarding the organizers and sponsors residing outside of Cuba, impunity has prevailed in the responses to our country.
The United Nations has adopted some twenty legal instruments aimed at preventing terrorist acts, punishing their perpetrators and masterminds, and strengthening international legal cooperation, most of which have been signed and ratified by Cuba.
Article 8 of the Constitution establishes that "The provisions of international treaties in force for the Republic of Cuba form part of, or are integrated into, as appropriate, the national legal system." Given the priority that the Cuban State and society place on the prevention of and fight against terrorism, the principles and recommendations of international treaties have been incorporated into Cuban legislation.
The country designed and implemented the Comprehensive National Strategy against Terrorism, which establishes, among other aspects, the strategic guidelines, the action plan for its prevention and fight, and Cuba’s cooperation in the fight against terrorism. Criminal law has also been amended for this same purpose.
CRIMINAL CODE
The Criminal Code, approved in 2022, amended Law 93 of 2001 and regulated terrorism offenses, maintaining and reinforcing the severe penalties established in the Law against Acts of Terrorism. For these offenses, the law provides for penalties of temporary imprisonment for ten to thirty years; life imprisonment; and the death penalty for the most serious forms.
It defines as terrorist acts those which, by the form of execution, means and methods employed, demonstrate the purpose of intimidating or forcing a government, or an international organization, to perform an act or refrain from performing it or, likewise, to provoke states of alarm, fear or terror in the population.
In accordance with international conventions signed by the Cuban State, it regulates other forms of terrorism, such as: Hostage-taking; Acts against internationally protected persons; Acts against the safety of maritime navigation, civil aviation and airports; Against the safety of fixed platforms located on the continental or insular shelf; Against the use of computer means and techniques.
A specific analysis in the current circumstances requires examining the crime of financing terrorism, which has been used by terrorist organizations based abroad. The Code punishes anyone who collects, transports, provides, or possesses funds or financial or material resources with the purpose of using them in any of the aforementioned crimes.
To determine the appropriate sentence in these cases, the Penal Code establishes specific rules, such as the court's power to stipulate in the sentence that the convicted person must serve two-thirds or more of the imposed prison term before being considered for parole in terrorism-related offenses.
Regarding the statute of limitations for criminal prosecution, it stipulates that it does not apply to crimes punishable by death, life imprisonment, crimes against humanity, or those crimes defined in international treaties in force for the country. The automatic expungement of criminal records does not apply to those convicted of terrorism offenses.
The financing, organization, and execution of terrorist acts against Cuba continue to this day, given the country's current circumstances.
In accordance with United Nations Security Council Resolution 1373, Cuba prepared and published the National List of Persons and Entities that have been subject to criminal investigations and are wanted by Cuban authorities. This list was updated in Resolution 13 of 2025, published in Extraordinary Official Gazette No. 34, on July 9 of that year. It names 62 individuals and 20 criminal entities or organizations based in the United States that promote, organize, finance, and incite terrorist acts against Cuba.
Cuba, as a victim of terrorist acts, and in accordance with the policy established by the Revolution, has reaffirmed its commitment to preventing and confronting terrorism in all its forms, including state terrorism. In this regard, there will be no impunity for those involved in these criminal acts.
*Chief Prosecutor of the Department of the Directorate for Combating and Preventing Corruption and Illegal Activities
