President Biden will remove Cuba from his list of state sponsors of terrorism in 2021 as part of a deal to free protesters jailed during the communist government’s crackdown on dissent, U.S. officials announced Tuesday.
Removing Cuba from the list generally raises hopes for improved relations between Washington and Havana and new hopes for economic investment in Cuba.
But Mr. Biden’s decision is only the latest in a series of conflicting U.S. approaches to Cuba under various administrations. The Obama administration decided to lift the terrorism designation for Cuba as part of a broader effort to normalize relations with the country. But just days before President Donald J. Trump leaves office in 2021, his administration put Cuba back on the list.
Mr. Biden’s decision was prompted by “the wisdom and advice provided to him by many world leaders, especially those in Latin America, who encouraged him to take this action on how best to promote the human rights of the Cuban people.” It is respect. According to a statement from White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.
Florida Senator Marco Rubio, whom President Trump nominated as Secretary of State for the new term, is likely to oppose President Biden’s 11th-hour action against Cuba. Mr. Rubio’s family left the island for the United States before Fidel Castro’s revolution seized power in 1959, and he has long been one of the Republican Party’s leading advocates of a hard-line stance on Cuba.
Mauricio Claver-Carone, recently appointed President Trump’s special envoy for Latin America, scoffed at the announcement. “Whether it was Venezuela last year or Cuba now, the Biden administration seems to like sham deals that favor authoritarian, anti-American regimes,” he said, referring to the 2023 prisoner exchange with Venezuela.
Asked whether the Trump administration would immediately rescind the decision, he said, “There’s a process and it will take time, but in the meantime, we can take other steps that will have a much bigger impact.”
Biden’s decision is the latest in a number of environmental, immigration and foreign policy actions taken in Trump’s final weeks in office before he returns to the White House.
If supported, Mr. Biden’s measure could help Cuba’s battered economy. According to the State Department, being placed on the terrorist list subjects a country to economic penalties, including limited access to U.S. assistance and a ban on the export and sale of defense products. Major banks stopped doing business with Cuba. This is because it has been so difficult to ensure that Cuba meets all the requirements for doing business legally. But even without being designated a terrorist, Cuba must fight the trade embargo imposed by the United States.
John S. Kabulich, president of the U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council, a business group, said U.S. companies will not change their stance on Cuba because they know the fragility of the relationship. He said these measures would be reversed as soon as Rubio “hands President Trump his pen.”
“Any money the Biden-Harris administration gets is not worth it,” he said.
If we exclude Cuba from the list, only North Korea, Iran, and Syria remain.
The Biden administration’s announcement included measures to ease economic penalties against Cuba. U.S. officials said they would waive a provision of a 1996 law that allowed people to sue in U.S. courts for property confiscated by the Cuban government. The Biden administration also plans to lift a Trump-era national security memorandum that imposed sanctions on the Cuban military agency that oversees the hotel industry and made it difficult for U.S. travel agencies to host large groups.
U.S. officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to preview Biden’s decision, said the U.S. was taking the move as part of an effort promoted by the Catholic Church to release political prisoners.
Hundreds of protesters were detained in July 2021 following one of the largest protests in Cuba since the communist government took power nearly 60 years ago. Protesters were angry about the country’s lack of freedoms and severe economic decline.
Human rights groups say some of those arrested during and after the protests were tortured, and many were sentenced to long prison terms after unfair trials. There are about 1,000 political prisoners serving sentences in Cuba, about half of whom are linked to the July 2021 protests, the human rights group said.
Cuba’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that President Miguel Díaz Canel Bermudez had decided to “progressively” release 553 people “convicted in accordance with due process of various crimes punishable by law.” Pope Francis. The move comes in commemoration of the Catholic Church’s Jubilee, a special year of mercy and forgiveness.
Alejandro González Laga, a dissident released under the 2008 agreement and sent to Spain, said at least four of Cuba’s main opposition leaders were still imprisoned and that they and all remaining political prisoners should be released without conditions or by force. exile.
But some in Cuba have expressed doubts about the prospects.
Eloy Pedroso, whose son is also known as Eloy, was sentenced to five years in prison when he was 18 after appearing on national television and throwing a rock at police.
In a social media post, Ms Díaz-Canel thanked everyone who contributed to the decision to remove Cuba from the list, which “comes at a high cost to Cuban families”.
“We will continue to confront and condemn economic warfare, interference with U.S. federal funds, disinformation, and mistrust,” he said.
Many experts have long criticized Cuba’s inclusion on the list of state sponsors of terrorism, blaming its status for creating a dire financial situation that has triggered the country’s humanitarian and migration crisis. The Cuban government has struggled to keep electricity running and stores stocked in recent months.
“The statutes that create the terrorism list specify that it provides material support to terrorists or harbors terrorists who are actively participating in terrorism, while harboring them,” said William M. Leogrande, a Cuba expert at American University. “Cuba didn’t do that.”
Although several American fugitives are living in Cuba, they should not be included because they are Americans involved in politically motivated violence in the United States, not international terrorists, Mr. Leogrande said.
Another reason for keeping Cuba on the list was its refusal to extradite members of the Colombian rebel group, the National Liberation Army (ELN). The rebels were given safe passage to Cuba to participate in peace talks, which later broke down. However, U.S. officials said that Colombian President Gustavo Petro’s recent request for the Biden administration to remove Cuba from the list was one of the key factors that led to the Biden administration’s decision to do so.
Juan Pappier, deputy director of the Americas division at Human Rights Watch, said Biden’s move was too late.
“Biden made the mistake of putting Cuba on the back burner and failing to reverse the harmful policies of the Trump administration,” Prime Minister Papier said.
He said Prime Minister Biden delayed the decision because he was concerned that Florida voters would be alienated ahead of the U.S. presidential election.
Migdalia Gutiérrez’s son, Brusnelvis Cabrera Gutiérrez, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for throwing stones at the age of 20, a charge he denied.
“It’s the best thing that could have happened. “It’s really great!” She spoke about the expected release of prisoners. “I want that person to be liberated. I have hope. “How could there be no hope?”
ed agustin Contributing reporting from Havana.
