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May 13 (UPI) -- The Trump administration said Wednesday it has added Cuba to the list of countries that do not cooperate with the United States' counterterrorism efforts. In a statement, the State Department announced it had notified Congress Tuesday of Cuba's recertification under the Arms Export Control Act for "not cooperating fully" with the U.S. efforts last year. It was Cuba's first time being added to the list since 2015.
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The State Department explained the move was in response to Cuba's refusal to extradite members of the National Liberation Army known as ELN living in Havana to Colombia after the group claimed responsibility for the January 2019 bombing of a Bogata police academy that killed 22 people and injured more than 60 others.
"As the United States maintains an enduring security partnership with Colombia and shares with Colombia the important counterterrorism objective of combating organizations like the ELN, Cuba's refusal to productively engage with the Colombian government demonstrates that it is not cooperating with the U.S. work to support Colombia's efforts to secure a just and lasting peace, security and opportunity for its people," the State Department said.
Ten leaders of the group had traveled to Havana to conduct peace talks with the government in 2017 and have remained there since.
The State Department added Havana also harbors several U.S. fugitives wanted on charges of political violence, some who have been sought for decades including Joanne Chesimard, also known as Assata Shakur, who was convicted with killing New Jersey State Trooper Werner Foerster in 1973.
Chesimard, a member of the Black Liberation Amry, has been sought by the Federal Burea of Investigation since she escaped from a New Jersey while serving a life sentence for murder.
Carlos F. de Cossio, the Cuban Foreign Ministry's general director for U.S. affairs, rejected the listing and claimed Cuba has been a victim of U.S. terrorism.
"There is a long history of terrorist acts committed by the U.S. government vs. Cuba and complicity of U.S. authorities with individuals and organizations that have organized, financed and executed such actions from U.S. territory," he tweeted.
The listing comes in the wake of a shooting at the Cuba Embassy in Washington, D.C. A suspect has been taken into custody, but Havana has balked at the silence from the Trump administration over the incident.
Foreign Affairs Minister Bruno Rodriguez held a press conference to denounce "the complicit silence" of the U.S. government on the attack, stating the shooting could have been avoided if the United States had shared with it information it had on the matter.
On Wednesday, Rodriguez rejected Cuba's inclusion on the "spurious" list while failing to condemn the shooting.
"It conceals its own history of state terrorism vs. Cuba & impunity of violence groups in the U.S.," he tweeted.
The State Department also said Iran, North Korea, Syria and Venezuela were recertified on the list, which prohibits them the sale or license for export of defense articles and services.
