The United States Government announced the withdrawal of Cuba from its list of State sponsors of terrorism this Tuesday, where the first Administration of Donald Trump had included the Caribbean country during its mandate. The measure, as stated by a senior official from Joe Biden’s Government who has spoken on condition of anonymity, is adopted as support for the dialogue between the Government of the island and the Vatican for the release of political prisoners. But Trump’s return to the White House next week could cancel the step.
In addition, Washington has suspended a clause, included in the Helms-Burton law on the US embargo on the island, that allows Cuban-Americans to claim compensation from Cuba for assets that were seized from them in the Castro era. This suspension, the Government alleges, “is necessary for the interests of national security and to accelerate the transition to democracy in Cuba.” Likewise, it will eliminate a list that restricts certain Cuban entities from carrying out a series of financial transactions.
“It is a step taken in the national interest of the United States, but also with the understanding that it will facilitate the important dialogue that the Catholic Church develops with respect to human rights defenders in Cuba,” said the senior official to defend the extent. Washington hopes that the Government of Miguel Díaz-Canel will release a “large” number of prisoners after the White House has made a move, he added. Havana had pointed to inclusion on the list as one of the great obstacles to bringing positions closer together.
Regarding the possibility that the incoming Administration decides to cancel it, he stressed that “that people in Cuba are not detained unjustly” is “an issue of great importance for the United States, which has broad support from both parties and, of course, of the two Administrations.”
The candidate that Trump has proposed to head his foreign policy, Senator Marco Rubio, has always been a firm defender of sanctions against Cuba. This son of Cuban exiles who emigrated to the United States before Fidel Castro came to power on the island is scheduled to appear this Wednesday before the Foreign Relations Committee for his confirmation hearing.
“The incoming Administration will certainly have the opportunity to review the position,” he admitted. But they will work with the same information that the current Administration has, which shows that “there is no credible evidence at this time that Cuba is supporting international terrorism,” nor has it done so in the last six months, the requirement contemplated by the national legislation to allow the removal of a country from the blacklist.
The Trump White House once again included Cuba in the list of countries sponsoring terrorism in the last days of its mandate, on January 11, 2021, when it was preparing to cede power to the Democratic Biden Administration. The Republican Government alleged Havana’s support for the Nicolás Maduro regime in Venezuela and its refusal to extradite Colombian guerrilla leaders to Bogotá, among other arguments, to justify the step. President Barack Obama had removed the island from the list during his second term, when Washington and Havana began a phase of thaw.
Throughout the four years of Democratic rule, various human rights organizations, including the American Catholic Bishops’ Conference, and foreign governments have asked Biden to remove Cuba from the list.
In October of last year, the Colombian Government sent a diplomatic note to Washington to request this step and highlight how Havana had contributed to facilitating the development of peace negotiations. “Other allies, including the European Union, Spain, Canada, Colombia, Chile and many others had also asked to withdraw Cuba’s designation as a country that promotes terrorism,” explained the senior official.
Immediately after information about the Biden Administration’s move began to circulate, Republican Senator Ted Cruz, of the Foreign Relations Committee, attacked the decision, which he considered “unacceptable.” “The terrorism promoted by the Cuban regime has not stopped. “I will work with President Trump and my colleagues to immediately reverse the decision and limit the damage caused by it,” he said in a statement.
