Cuba will be removed from the list of countries supporting terrorism, US President Joe Biden has decided. This decision is related to the announcement of the authorities in Havana to release approximately 500 prisoners.
As representatives of the administration explained USAdecision to delete Cuba from the list is related to, among others, with the expected release of a “significant” group of political prisoners as a result of negotiations conducted with the participation of the Church.
“We anticipate that these releases will occur very quickly and that some people will be released from Cuban detention before the end of the Biden administration,” one official told reporters. Representatives of other countries also lobbied for Biden's decision, including: Colombia, Brazil, Chile, Canada and the European Union.
Cuba removed from the list of countries supporting terrorismPAP/EPA/ERNESTO MASTRASCUSA
Announcement of the release of prisoners
The statement from the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that the president informed by letter Pope Francis on plans for the “gradual” release of 553 convicts.
When announcing these plans, Miguel Diaz-Canel made no mention of negotiations with the United States. However, in a separate entry on the X platform, he thanked “all those who contributed to the decision announced by the US to remove Cuba from the list of countries supporting terrorism.”
The president assessed this decision as correct, but added that it was made too late and on too small a scale. He noted that the trade blockade imposed by the US remained in force, as did most of the harsh sanctions imposed in 2017 by then-President Donald Trump.
Cuba will disappear from the list of countries supporting terrorism
Cuba was on the list of countries supporting terrorism from 1981 to 2015, when Barack Obama signed an agreement to normalize relations with the communist state.
However, this decision was reversed by Donald Trump, who restored some of the sanctions in 2017, and a week before the end of his presidency they again considered Cuba a sponsor of terrorism. As representatives of the current administration told reporters, the Cuba issue was one of the issues discussed with Trump's team.
Candidate for Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants, is one of the biggest critics of the regime in Havana.
Designating a country as a state supporting terrorism involves the imposition of a set of heavy sanctions. So far, other countries besides Cuba have also appeared on this list North KoreaSyria and Iran.
Main photo source: PAP/EPA/ERNESTO MASTRASCUSA