The incoming administration of U.S. President Joe Biden plans to re-establish relations between the United States and Cuba, but Trump’s move days before he leaves office will make it more difficult.
The Trump administration will return Cuba to the list of terrorist state supporters Monday, according to two senior state department officials, rejecting an Obama-era decision and making it more difficult for President Joe Biden to link diplomatic rapid recovery by Havana.
Secretary of State Michael Pompeo is expected to succeed in planning Cuba as the country continues to harbor American refugees including Joanne Chesimard, who was convicted of killing a state soldier in New Jersey in 1973, and rejected Colombia ‘s expulsion request for members of the National Liberation Army linked to the 2019 bombing that killed 22.
Cuba joins only Syria, Iran and North Korea – countries more widely condemned for fomenting terrorism – on the U.S. list. Cuba was first added to the list in 1982 but was removed by President Barack Obama in 2015 while trying to develop economic and diplomatic relations with the Caribbean country.
Biden has stated that he wants to revive Obama-era policy to alleviate economic and travel barriers in the hope that closer ties and more capitalism will be the key to democratic change in Cuba. That strategy could include a reduction in travel, investment and compensation for the island nation that is seen to be hurting ordinary Americans and Cubans unfairly.
Under President Donald Trump, the United States named Cuba as part of the “Troika of Tyranny” with Nicaragua and Venezuela. His moves were popular with Cuban Americans in Florida, a state that Trump won in his re-election bid with the help of Cuban-American refugees, Venezuelan Americans and Latino voters against Communism.
His administration had been repealing the terrorist-backed movement for months. Two senior state department officials, who asked not to be identified considering internal deliberations, said politics had no role in the decision to rename Cuba and they said several administrations – Obama included – had made policy decisions about the island late in their presidents.
Officials said the process of getting Cuba back on the list was a long one and that if the U.S. had wanted to play politics, it would have renamed Cuba before the primary school election. Halloween, not after.
The administration had indicated as far back as May that it could restore the assignment to Cuba. It was then that officials announced that Cuba was back on a separate list of countries that were not fully cooperating with anti-U.S. efforts to deny members of the National Liberation Army a take out.
According to the Department of State, state terrorist supporters are countries that have “reaffirmed their support for international acts of terrorism.” One of the officials said that a legal precedent goes back to the leadership of George HW Bush to keep a country on the list for harboring terrorists even though he does not actively support acts rebellion.
Cuba and the US, enemies after the late Fidel Castro in 1959, established diplomatic ties in 2015 when Obama was president and Biden vice president. The U.S. eased a five-year trade embargo and took further steps toward normalization, although a complete cessation of U.S. restrictions would require an act of Congress.
Despite nascent openings and increased foreign investment since the 1990s, the Cuban economy remains largely under government and military control.
During Trump’s term, he opened the door for a lawsuit against companies that were benefiting from government-seized funds in Cuba, banning educational trips and cruises there and trips- direct confined air. Biden could move to remove Cuba from the terrorist list, but a formal review could delay the process for several months and resume discussions about Cuban Communist leaders.