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- The United States has put Cuba back on the blacklist of “states that support terrorism.”
- The State Department of the administration of US President Donald Trump announced the decision nine days before the end of his term.
- Former President Barack Obama removed Cuba from the terrorist list in 2015.
“With this measure, we will once again hold the Cuban government accountable and send a clear message that the Castro regime must end its support for international terrorism and the infiltration of the US judiciary,” US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement. .
The Foreign Ministry added that the Cuban leadership had “a series of malicious behaviors in the region” that day, particularly with a view to Venezuela. The government supported President Nicolás Maduro there and created a “permissive” environment for international terrorists.
The rapprochement took place in 2015 through Obama
Putting Cuba back on the list is a setback in the alleged relaxation of bilateral relations. The decision of then-US President Barack Obama to formally remove Cuba from the terrorism list in 2015 was an important step in re-establishing diplomatic relations.
After taking office in 2017, Trump tightened restrictions on travel and money transfers to Cuba and threatened sanctions against Venezuelan oil deliveries to the island.
Trump’s harsh Cuban policies were popular with large sections of the South Florida Cuban-American population. Not least, this helped Trump win the state of Florida in the November presidential election.
Stones in the road for Joe Biden
“We took note of this decision at the last minute,” said a representative of Joe Biden’s transition team.
Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy, a staunch defender of the rapprochement, also condemned Pompeo for a “blatantly politicized label” and said “domestic terrorism in the United States poses a much greater threat” to Americans.
In the final phase of Trump’s term, his administration has already made several important foreign policy decisions, presenting future President Biden with a fait accompli.
