Cuba was on this restricted list of countries designated as state sponsors of terrorism, alongside Iran, Syria, and North Korea.
Biden administration
In the latest announcements of his presidential term, the Biden administration expressed its intention to once again remove Cuba from the list of state sponsors of terrorism.
Obama
Cuba was re-listed on this list in 2021, after being removed from it for the first time in 2015 by the Obama administration.
An assessment
The conclusions leading to this announcement are based on an assessment conducted by the Biden administration.
The designation
The latter concluded that it did not have information justifying the designation of Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism.
From several allied countries
Cuba also received support from several U.S. allied countries in this process, including the European Union, Spain, Colombia, Chile, Brazil, Canada, and many others.
A rapprochement
Recall that in 2015, Barack Obama removed Cuba from the list of state sponsors of terrorism, symbolizing a rapprochement between the two countries.
A few days
However, in January 2021, just days before the end of his term, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo re-listed Cuba on this list by designating it again as a state sponsor of terrorism.
The decision
Mike Pompeo reacted to this announcement on X by stating: “We designated Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism because that’s what it is. The Biden administration’s decision to aid this brutal communist regime is shameful and dishonest.”
The Cuban revolution
Tensions between Cuba and the United States date back to the Cuban revolution of 1959, which established a communist regime.
The missile crisis
The economic embargo imposed in 1960, the missile crisis of 1962, and U.S. support for Cuban dissidents have worsened relations. Temporary rapprochements, like in 2015, remain rare.
This restricted list
Cuba was on this restricted list of countries designated as state sponsors of terrorism, alongside Iran, Syria, and North Korea.