Tournament: Grapevine | Round: 1 | Opponent: C E Byrd | Judge: Matt Carswell
1AC
The Advantage is State Terrorism
Cuba is on the “list of state sponsors of terrorism” and there are no plans to remove it. This designation is unjustified and being used as a thinly veiled political weapon.
Bolender, research fellow at the Council on Hemispheric Affairs, 5-31-13 Keith, “Cuba is hardly a 'state sponsor of terror'”, 31 May, http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/may/31/cuba-us-terror-sponsors-list

Cuba’s place on the list masks a long history of US violence against it – violence that by the list’s own standards should only be understood as anti-Cuban terrorism.  
Bolender, research fellow at the Council on Hemispheric Affairs, ’13 Keith, “The Terrorist List, and Terrorism as Practiced Against Cuba”, April 22nd, http://www.coha.org/22355/

Listing Cuba as a state-sponsor of terror is emblematic of continually vague and arbitrary expansions of terrorism’s meaning to serve pre-existing imperialist political goals. The “state-sponsor” label is used to obscure mass terrorism caused by western governments in the name of American exceptionalism.
Jackson, Professor in International Politics at Aberystwyth University, 2007 Richard, “Critical reflection on counter-sanctuary discourse”,  In: M. Innes, ed. Denial of sanctuary: understanding terrorist safe havens, p. 30-33

The moralistic fundamentalism endemic to this method of counter-terrorism becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Filtering the world through the dichotomy of our exceptional “innocence” and the “terrorist” enemy’s absolute “evil” simplifies political complexity and reproduces terrorism, causing endless violence.
Zulaika, director of the Center for Basque Studies at the University of Nevada, Reno, 2003 Joseba, “The Self-Fulfilling Prophecies of Counterterrorism”, Radical History Review 85 (2003) 191-199
Structural violence
Keeping Cuba on the list leads to structural violence
Bolender, research fellow at the Council on Hemispheric Affairs, ’13 Keith, “The Terrorist List, and Terrorism as Practiced Against Cuba”, April 22nd, http://www.coha.org/22355/
Cuba cannot get access to advanced medical technology because it is on the terrorism list
McKenna, Professor of Political Science at the University of Prince Edward Island, 4-17-13 Peter, “Cuba languishes on terrorism list for no good reason”, http://thechronicleherald.ca/opinion/1123835-cuba-languishes-on-terror-list-for-no-good-reason
This is genocide
Toronto Star 97, Toronto Star Newspapers, “US embargo on Cuba blamed for ‘genocide’ Poor health care killing people, doctor says”, Toronto Star Newspapers in section news A16 http://www.lexisnexis.com/hottopics/lnacademic/
Plan
The United States federal government should remove Cuba from the list of countries subject to economic penalties governed by Section 6(j) of the Export Administration Act.

Solvency
Voting affirmative means more than imagining the adoption of a simple policy – it’s an endorsement of a critical interrogation that destabilizes hegemonic knowledge about terrorism. As activist-scholars we have an obligation to uncover subjugated knowledge hidden by the War on Terror.
Jackson, Professor in International Politics at Aberystwyth University, ‘8 Richard, “State terror, terrorism research and knowledge politics”, paper presented at the British International Studies Association, http://cadair.aber.ac.uk/dspace/bitstream/handle/2160/1949/BISA-Paper-2008-Jackson-FINAL.pdf?sequence=1

Terrorism policy is performative. The process of discourse and deliberation matters more than a policy’s outcome because it frames the terms of debate.
de Graaf, Associate professor Associate Professor at the Centre for Terrorism and Counterterrorism at Leiden University, and de Graaff, history professor at Utrecht University, ’10 Beatrice, and Bob, “Bringing politics back in: the introduction of the ‘performative power’ of counterterrorism”, Critical Studies on Terrorism, 3:2, 261-275

The plan would remove Cuba from the list of terror sponsors – the EAA is the statutory authority for the list.
Peed, Editor of Duke Law Journal, 2005 Matthew, BLACKLISTING AS FOREIGN POLICY: THE POLITICS AND LAW OF LISTING TERROR STATES, DUKE LAW JOURNAL Vol. 54:1321, http://scholarship.law.duke.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1255andcontext=dljandsei-redir=1andreferer=http3A2F2Fscholar.google.com2Fscholar3Fstart3D4026q3Dcuba2Bterrorism2Blist26hl3Den26as_sdt3D02C44#search=22cuba20terrorism20list22

Cuba is a crucial starting point. First, it strikes an unnerving chord because of its persistent, decades-long confrontation with imperialism and potential to set an example of resistance for the global South.
Whitney, Cuba solidarity activist and member of Veterans for Peace, 5-8-13 W.T., “Reflections on Anti-Cuban Terror”, http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/2013/whitney080513.html

Second, persecution of Cuba in the name of fighting terror is the continuous thread between the current War on Terror and the original one started by Reagan. Cuba has consistently been portrayed as a threat throughout the modern history of American exceptionalism.
Chomksy, Professor of Philosopy and Linguistics at MIT, ‘6 Noam, “The Terrorist in the Mirror”, Counterpunch, JANUARY 24, http://www.counterpunch.org/2006/01/24/the-terrorist-in-the-mirror/

Finally, reject the try or die logic at the heart of the War on Terror. Counter-terrorists distort rational risk analysis by relying on high-magnitude impacts based on decontextualized internal-link chains.
Kessler ‘8 Oliver Kessler, Sociology at University of Bielefeld,   “From Insecurity to Uncertainty:  Risk and the Paradox of Security Politics” Alternatives  33 (2008), 211-232

Tournament: Heritage Hall | Round: 6 | Opponent: West Des Moines | Judge:
Advantage 1 is State Terrorism
Cuba’s place on the State Sponsors of Terror list masks a long history of US violence against it – violence that by the list’s own standards should only be understood as anti-Cuban terrorism.  
Bolender, research fellow at the Council on Hemispheric Affairs, ’13 Keith, “The Terrorist List, and Terrorism as Practiced Against Cuba”, April 22nd, http://www.coha.org/22355/

Listing Cuba as a state-sponsor of terror is emblematic of continually vague and arbitrary expansions of terrorism’s meaning to serve pre-existing imperialist political goals. The “state-sponsor” label is used to obscure mass terrorism caused by western governments in the name of American exceptionalism.
Jackson, Professor in International Politics at Aberystwyth University, 2007 Richard, “Critical reflection on counter-sanctuary discourse”,  In: M. Innes, ed. Denial of sanctuary: understanding terrorist safe havens, p. 30-33

The moralistic fundamentalism endemic to this method of counter-terrorism becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Filtering the world through the dichotomy of our exceptional “innocence” and the “terrorist” enemy’s absolute “evil” simplifies political complexity and reproduces terrorism, causing endless violence.
Zulaika, director of the Center for Basque Studies at the University of Nevada, Reno, 2003 Joseba, “The Self-Fulfilling Prophecies of Counterterrorism”, Radical History Review 85 (2003) 191-199

This reproduction of insecurity necessitates escalation – the endpoints of the exceptionalist violence at the heart of the war on terror are total wars of annihilation and mass imperialist violence.
Lifton, professor of psychiatry, 2003 Robert Jay, “American Apocalypse”, The Nation, Dec 22nd, http://www.thenation.com/article/american-apocalypse

Advantage 2 is Assata Shakur

The “war on terror” has been used to justify the targeting or revolutionary militants who continue to resist U.S. imperialism. All of our resources continue to go in to keeping Cuba and Assata on the most wanted terrorist list in order to provide the pretext to continue the blockade of Cuba.
Puryear, American Activist, 2013
Eugene; Vice Presidential nominee of the Party for Socialism and Liberation in 2008, “Assata Shakur: Understanding the politics behind the FBI's new attack”

We need to begin questioning the ideological and systematic significance of labeling both Assata and Cuba as terrorist in order to get to the heart of racism and imperialism within the United States and abroad. This act serves as a metaphor for all that economic and political elites regard as a threat, reinforcing the linkage between terrorism and people of color bolstering anti- blackness Keeping Assata and Cuba on the most wanted terrorist list provides necessary cover for the U.S. to continue its blockade against Cuba at best and a future military drone strikes at worse.
Targ 13 , Professor of Foreign Policy @ Purdue University, 2013
Harry; “The continued attack on Assata Shakur is an attack on the African-American community, all progressives, and Cuba”

Plan

The United States federal government should remove Cuba from the list of countries on the state sponsors of terror list by removing them from the penalties in section 6(j) of the Export Administration Act, section 40 of the Arms Export Control Act, and section 620A of the Foreign Assistance Act without requiring Assata Shakur to extradited back to the United States.

Solvency

Cuba is a crucial starting point. First, it strikes an unnerving chord because of its persistent, decades-long confrontation with imperialism and potential to set an example of resistance for the global South.
Whitney, Cuba solidarity activist and member of Veterans for Peace, 5-8-13 W.T., “Reflections on Anti-Cuban Terror”, http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/2013/whitney080513.html

Second, persecution of Cuba in the name of fighting terror is the continuous thread between the current War on Terror and the original one started by Reagan. Cuba has consistently been portrayed as a threat throughout the modern history of American exceptionalism.
Chomksy, Professor of Philosopy and Linguistics at MIT, ‘6 Noam, “The Terrorist in the Mirror”, Counterpunch, JANUARY 24, http://www.counterpunch.org/2006/01/24/the-terrorist-in-the-mirror/

Voting affirmative means more than imagining the adoption of a simple policy – it’s an endorsement of a critical interrogation that destabilizes hegemonic knowledge about terrorism. As activist-scholars we have an obligation to uncover subjugated knowledge hidden by the War on Terror.
Jackson, Professor in International Politics at Aberystwyth University, ‘8 Richard, “State terror, terrorism research and knowledge politics”, paper presented at the British International Studies Association, http://cadair.aber.ac.uk/dspace/bitstream/handle/2160/1949/BISA-Paper-2008-Jackson-FINAL.pdf?sequence=1

Tournament: Heritage Hall | Round: 2 | Opponent: Jenks IB | Judge: Cristoph Thomas
Keeping Cuba on the list leads to structural violence
Bolender, research fellow at the Council on Hemispheric Affairs, ’13 Keith, “The Terrorist List, and Terrorism as Practiced Against Cuba”, April 22nd, http://www.coha.org/22355/

Cuba cannot get access to advanced medical technology because it is on the terrorism list
McKenna, Professor of Political Science at the University of Prince Edward Island, 4-17-13 Peter, “Cuba languishes on terrorism list for no good reason”, http://thechronicleherald.ca/opinion/1123835-cuba-languishes-on-terror-list-for-no-good-

This is genocide
Toronto Star 97, Toronto Star Newspapers, “US embargo on Cuba blamed for ‘genocide’ Poor health care killing people, doctor says”, Toronto Star Newspapers in section news A16 http://www.lexisnexis.com/hottopics/lnacademic/