State Terrorism is an Institution in Cuba, Venezuela, Bolivia and Nicaragua

(Interamerican Institute for Democracy) Numerous press articles and international reports have already proven that in Cuba, Venezuela, Bolivia and Nicaragua human rights violations have become a matter of national policy. There’s no rule of law or separation and independence of public powers. And they use the Judiciary to persecute opponents, while the number of political prisoners and exiles are increasing.

It’s called “State Terrorism”, the essence of dictatorships of 21st Century Socialism, that “use illegitimate means to instill fear and terror among civilian population with the purpose of indefinitely hold to power.”

They even have made the world forget that “state terrorism is made up of crimes against humanity.”
“State terrorism” consist of “the use of illegitimate methods by a government to generate fear or terror in the civilian population, in order to achieve its goals or promote behavior that otherwise would not occur by itself.”

Article 7 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court establishes that “it shall be understood as crime against humanity the following: a) Murder .. c) Deportation or forced transfer of people .. c) Slavery .. e) Imprisonment or other deprivation of physical freedom in violation of fundamental norms of international law .. f) Torture .. h) Persecution of a group or community with its own identity, based on political motives…. or other grounds universally recognized as unacceptable under international law… k) Other inhuman acts of a criminal nature that intentionally cause great suffering or seriously threaten physical integrity and mental or physical health.”

The regimes of Cuba, Venezuela, Bolivia, and Nicaragua hold to power based on State terrorism. There’s enough evidence to prove that they murder, deport, imprison, torture, persecute and with premeditation and, using common techniques to them, subject political opponents, civil and regional leaders and public in general to inhumane acts of a criminal nature.

State terrorism exists “when rulers or holders of power systematically repress the population in order to dominate it through fear, overcoming any act of resistance to this oppression.”

The Cuban dictatorship has been exercising state terrorism for 62 years. But in the 21st century, the application of this “methodology” has expanded. Now, Cuba advises in its execution in Venezuela, Bolivia and Nicaragua.

Cuba also practices “slavery” as the United Nations has certified in the report on “slave doctors”, the same the dictatorship calls “internationalists”.

After the massive protests of 11th of July (11-J), the Cuban regime has intensified state terrorism with official approval of dictator Díaz-Canel and the repression, deaths, imprisonment, torture and crimes that keep repeating all over again until now.

Hundreds of political prisoners, millions of exiles, thousands of reports, testimonies, denunciations and facts prove it.

Venezuela is the largest accomplishment of the Cuban criminal enterprise of state terrorism. The judicialization of political persecution, repeated in Bolivia, Ecuador and Nicaragua, was implemented very early in the 21st century in Venezuela.

Murder of defenseless civilians, arrests, torture, political prisoners, the intervention of Cuban torturers and more, are widely documented, reported by the United Nations and await the opening of a case in the International Criminal Court. Almost six million exiles definitively certify state terrorism as a Castro-Chavista institution.

Bolivia, which continues to present itself as a fake democracy, holds 45 political prisoners that include youth and civic leaders, military officers, police agents, former ministers and even former president Jeanine Añez, all of which have denounced and demonstrated torture.

In the Bolivian Justice system, prosecutors and judges performs exactly as in the dictatorships of Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua. The so-called “functional opposition” has been reduced to the status of “hostages”, because all of them are on trial and have their freedom threatened. There are more than 1,700 exiles and the number is growing.

Nicaragua is currently suffering an imposed criminal event the regime calls “national elections”, which will take place next November, 7th. Those elections are the clearest proof of how “state terrorism commits crimes against humanity.” Opposition candidates have been imprisoned, persecuted, exiled or prevented from participating in elections during the dictatorship. There are political prisoners that have been tortured since 2018 and before. There are more than 120,000 Nicaraguans in exile and the Castro’s methodology of the 20th century, perfected as Castro-Chavism in the 21st century -in the hands of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo-, exercises state terrorism on a daily basis.

The migration crisis in the region is largely caused by state terrorism.

(*) Lawyer and Political Scientist. Director of the Interamerican Institute for Democracy

Translated from Spanish by; Edgar L. Terrazas, member of the American Translators Association, ATA # 234680.