Biden will remove Cuba from the list of state sponsors of terrorism

President Biden will remove Cuba from the list of state sponsors of terrorism, US officials announced Tuesday, as part of a deal expected to lead to the release of protesters jailed during a widespread 2021 crackdown on dissent by the communist government.

Removing Cuba from the list would raise expectations for improved relations between Washington and Havana and renew hope for economic investment in Cuba.

But Biden’s decision is only the latest in a series of conflicting US approaches to Cuba by different administrations. The Obama administration made the decision to remove Cuba’s terrorism designation as part of a broader effort to normalize relations with the nation. But days before President Donald J. Trump leaves office in 2021, his administration relisted Cuba back on the list.

Mr. Biden’s decision honors “the wisdom and advice provided to him by many world leaders, especially in Latin America, who encouraged him to take these actions, on how best to advance the human rights of the Cuban people.” According to a statement by White House Press Secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre.

Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, Trump’s pick for secretary of state in his new term, is likely to oppose Biden’s eleventh-hour actions on Cuba. Mr. Rubio’s family fled the island for the United States before Fidel Castro’s revolution seized power in 1959, and he has long been one of the most prominent advocates of a Republican Party that takes a hard line against Cuba.

Mauricio Claver-Caronewho was recently appointed as Mr. Trump’s envoy for Latin America, mocked the announcement. He said: “Whether in Venezuela last year or Cuba now, the Biden administration seems to like fictitious deals that favor anti-American authoritarian regimes,” referring to a prisoner exchange deal with Venezuela in 2023.

In response to a question about whether the Trump administration would immediately rescind the decision, he said: “There is a process, so it will take time, but in the meantime we can take other measures that will have a greater impact.”

Mr. Biden’s decision is the latest in a number of decisions Environmental, Immigration and Foreign policy actions It was taken in the final weeks of his presidency before Mr. Trump returned to the White House.

If Biden’s move is upheld, it could help Cuba’s battered economy. Being listed on the terrorism list exposes the country to economic sanctions, including restricting access to US aid and banning defense exports and sales. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Major banks stopped doing business with Cuba because it was too difficult to ensure that the country met all the requirements necessary to do business legally there. However, even without the terrorist designation, Cuba would still need to deal with a trade embargo imposed by the United States.

John S. said: Kavulich, president of the Cuban American Trade and Economic Council, a business group, said American companies would not make any changes to their position on Cuba, because they know the fragility of the relationship between the two countries. He said the move would likely be reversed once Mr. Rubio “hands a pen to President Trump.”

He said: “Any compensation received by the Biden-Harris administration is not worth the status quo.”

By removing Cuba from the list, only North Korea, Iran and Syria remain on it.

The Biden administration’s announcement included measures that would ease economic sanctions imposed on Cuba. US officials said they would waive a provision in a 1996 law that allows people to file lawsuits in US courts over property confiscated by the Cuban government. The Biden administration will also lift a Trump-era national security memorandum that imposed sanctions on Cuban military entities — which oversee the hotel industry — and made it difficult for American tour operators to bring in large groups.

The US officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to preview Biden’s decision, said the United States is taking this action as part of an effort, pushed by the Catholic Church, to release political prisoners.

Hundreds of protesters were arrested in July 2021 in a brutal crackdown following one of the largest demonstrations in Cuba since the communist government seized power nearly six decades ago. The demonstrators were angry at the country’s lack of freedom and severe economic decline.

Human rights groups say some of those detained during and after the protests have been arrested They were tortured, and many of them were sentenced to long prison terms after unfair trials. There are about 1,000 political prisoners serving their sentences in Cuba, and about half of their cases are linked to the July 2021 protests, human rights groups said.

In a statementCuba’s Foreign Ministry said President Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermudez made the decision to “gradually” release 553 people “convicted, in accordance with due process, of several punishable crimes” after his meeting with Pope Francis. This step came in recognition of the Jubilee of the Catholic Church, which is a special year of mercy and forgiveness.

Alejandro Gonzalez Raja, a dissident who was released under the 2008 deal and sent to Spain, stressed that at least four of Cuba’s main opposition leaders also remain imprisoned, and that they and all remaining political prisoners should be released without any conditions or forced into detention. Exile.

But some in Cuba have expressed doubts about that possibility.

“I’ll believe it when I see it,” said Eloy Pedroso, whose son, also named Eloy, was sentenced to five years in prison after he appeared on national television at age 18 throwing rocks at police.

In a post on social media, Mr. Díaz-Canel thanked all those who contributed to the decision to remove Cuba from the list on which he said it should never have been included, and which “has a huge cost to Cuban families.”

He said: “We will continue to confront and condemn economic warfare and acts of interference, disinformation and defamation financed with US federal funds.”

Many experts have long criticized Cuba’s inclusion in the list of state sponsors of terrorism, blaming this situation for causing a dire financial situation that has led to a humanitarian and migration crisis on the island. The Cuban government has struggled in recent months to keep electricity running and stores stocked.

“The law creating the terrorist list provides for providing material support to terrorists or harboring terrorists who actively participate in terrorism while harboring them,” said William M. Leogrande, an expert on Cuba at American University. “Cuba did not do these things.”

Leo Grande said that many American fugitives reside in Cuba, but they should not be counted, because they are Americans who participated in politically motivated violence in the United States, not international terrorists.

Another reason he mentioned The reason Cuba remains on the list is because it refuses to extradite members of a Colombian rebel group, the National Liberation Army, also known as the ELN. The rebels were given safe passage to Cuba to participate in peace talks, which later collapsed. But Colombia’s President, Gustavo Petro, recently asked the Biden administration to remove Cuba from the list, which was one of the main factors motivating the Biden administration, according to a US official.

Juan Baber, deputy director of the Americas division at Human Rights Watch, said Biden’s move came too late.

“Biden made a mistake by putting Cuba in the backseat and failing to reverse the harmful policies of the Trump administration,” Mr. Baber said.

He said that Biden delayed the decision for fear of alienating voters in Florida before the US presidential elections.

Migdalia Gutierrez’s son, Brucenelvis Cabrera Gutierrez, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for sedition when he was 20 for throwing rocks, a charge he denies.

“It’s the best thing that could happen. It’s amazing!” she said of the expected prisoner release. “I want him to be free. I have hope. How could I not have hope?

Ed Augustine He contributed reporting from Havana.