President Trump has re-listed Cuba as a “state sponsor of terrorism” in one of the first foreign policy moves of his new administration.
The move was included in an executive order Trump signed on Monday that rescinded 78 of President Biden’s executive actions. Biden only removed Cuba from the list last week.
It was essentially guaranteed that Trump would reverse the move since his new secretary of state, Marco Rubio, is very hawkish on Cuba and previously introduced legislation that would have prohibited the president from removing Havana from the list.
US officials in the Biden administration said they decided to lift the designation as part of a deal brokered by the Catholic Church to release Cuban political prisoners. Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel said he was freeing 553 prisoners in the spirit of the Vatican’s celebration of a “Jubilee Year” in 2025 and did not specifically tie the releases to the US lifting the designation.
In response to Trump relisting Cuba, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez called the designation a “tool of political coercion.” Iran, North Korea, and Syria are the only other countries listed by the US as “state sponsors of terrorism,” and the designation ensures harsh sanctions will remain.
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.
While Obama took steps toward normalization with Cuba, he never fully lifted the decades-old trade embargo on the Caribbean country, allowing the previous Trump administration to easily reverse the policies.
It is so lame.
We, the United States of Atrocities, is the maximum terrorist of the world, by orders of magnitude.
By volume. I still say Israel is number one per capita.
Finally I can sleep again at night without fear of Cuba…
So for six days it was legal to sell a variety of products to Cuba. I wonder what deals went down in that time period.
At least they did get one item on the State Sponsor of Terrorism list right, Syria is now being run by terrorists.
Bought and paid for by the U.S. of A.
I don't believe sanctions were removed by Biden…!
A lot of things weren’t sanctioned, but it was just illegal to sell/buy anything to/from Cuba.
I wrote a screenplay called Cuba Libre about my husband's life history, which is fascinating.
Is it published?
The US constant excuse of "State Sponsor of Terrorism" is analogous to constant use of "Israel Has the Right to Defend Itself" slogan…!
Shocking! Who would have predicted that other than anyone with a functioning brain.
Trump likes pretty palces. He was already dreaming about the beautiful beaches in Gaza. Why not add Cuba to the terrorist list and excuse to invade and start building Trump vacation paradise.
Remember he said that America will be number ONE in the world again -meaning will rule the world again as if it had ever stopped.
It means it’s open season to indiscriminate drone strikes without declaring war and toppling their government.
May be Biden and Democrat Company's 11th hour attempt to soften the 'accomplice in genocide' verdict – not personally, but for near-term political gain:
In the Responsible Statecraft poll, Gaza topped the 'why voters stayed home or did not vote Democrat' list. (Breaking Points parses the limits of the poll re explaining election outcome.)
And though Trump will take up the mantle of Genocidaire-in-Chief, guessing antiwar opinion will – as with Vietnam – continue to correctly see Gaza as a bipartisan high war crime.
Upshot. Prediction: You haven't heard the last on Cuba:
Next election, Dem's going after the antiwar vote will gesture at 'What Biden did as he tried to continue the humane (sniffle, choke) Obama legacy.' Versus Trump, who – that bad man! – reversed the good works of Biden-Spiritual-Son-of-blubber-sob-sob-sob-Obama…
…to argue 'Vote Democrat OR ELSE, YOU FILTHY STUPID REPUBLICAN & TERORIST LOVERS for a gentler, kinder US foreign policy.'
One thing that Democrats can now claim is that the GOP is no longer a friend of the police as they pardon 100s of people convicted of attacking the police.
"Democrats can now claim-"
Who cares what moral scum claim?
Blaming mothers for the mass murder of their children? Get out of my sight, you disgust me.
Trump is a conman, he will govern the way he managed his business, 6 bankruptcies included, including casinos where the house always wins.
So we do know what to expect of him. Did he ever read a book?
The USA are a pariah state, no adult in the mad house, just inmates on the lose with no supervision.