The Biden administration announced Tuesday that it will remove Cuba from the “state sponsor of terrorism” list, a move that will likely be reversed by the incoming Trump administration.
According to US officials, the move is the result of a deal brokered by the Catholic Church that will see Cuba release political prisoners. Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel announced Tuesday that Cuba will free 553 people and said that he informed Pope Francis.
Removing Cuba from the list will ease sanctions slightly, though the country remains under a decades-old trade embargo. “This decision puts an end to specific coercive measures which, together with many others, seriously damage the Cuban economy and have a severe impact on the population,” the Cuban Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
The only other countries listed by the US as state sponsors of terrorism are Iran, North Korea, and Syria. Cuba was first put on the list under the Reagan administration in 1982. The Obama administration removed Cuba in 2015 as part of its steps toward normalization with Havana but it was relisted in January 2021 by then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo as one of the first Trump administration’s final foreign policy moves.
Trump’s incoming secretary of state, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), is staunchly opposed to lifting sanctions on Cuba. Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants, has previously introduced legislation that would prohibit the removal of Cuba from the state sponsor of terrorism list.
Trump’s incoming envoy for Latin America, Mauricio Claver-Carone, was asked by The New York Times if the move would be reversed by the next administration. “There’s a process, so it will take time, but in the meantime, we can take other measures that will have even greater impact,” he said.
yay!
Why wait until the end of his term?
If Biden removed Cuba from the list before the election, that could have cost the Democrats votes.
Another question is why do it at all at this point. Removing Cuba from the list when Trump will predictably put Cuba back on is ridicules.
Makes Trump look bad maybe.
“why do it at all at this point”
According to the article, it gets some political prisoners released. Maybe they’ll be allowed to emigrate. If they’re not, and if they’re re-arrested when Trump reverses the policy, that will probably cost the GOP some Cuban votes in Florida next time around.
I don't understand why US Cubans seem to enjoy the sanctions put on their old country?
The political class among the Cuban exile community has been living large on those sanctions — especially the price effect of the embargo on sugar — and delivering that community’s vote to whoever most convincingly caters to it — more than half a century now.
That refers only to the Batista Cubans, the US proxy Cuban families who lost the civil war and were kicked out by Castro.
Like most Biden “gestures”, they are symbolic or a thorny gift for Trump. An earlier act might’ve helped them recover from sanctions.
The biggest state sponsors of Terrorism are the United States of America and Israel.
Nonsense.
Biden cramming to leave some sort of legacy for himself…!
The degradation of quality in the American political class continues unabated.
Need to put the U.S.A. and Israel on the terror sponsor list.
How carelessly politicians treat people.
How can elected officials act so irresponsible, without any remorse about the killings and suffering they bring to people.
In this case a bunch of Batista Cubans decide just for a few votes. "Elected" officials are as ruthless as any other officials.
Why bother to vote?