Cuba shares this category with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), Iran and Syria, which, according to Washington’s standards, provide “repeated support for acts of international terrorism.”
The report on the fight against terrorism in 2023 recalled that the State Department again included Cuba on that list on January 12, 2021, at the end of the first administration of Donald Trump.
The report was published a day after Secretary of State Antony Blinken ruled out any change in Cuba policy before January 20th, 2025.
Blinken said Thursday during an appearance before a congressional committee that he “does not anticipate” any change in Cuba policy before President Joe Biden concludes his term next month.
Blinken repeated the same when asked if the Biden administration would be considering removing Cuba from the list of countries sponsoring terrorism. “As I have said, I do not anticipate any change,” Blinken stressed.
Cuba was first designated on the list of sponsors of terrorism in 1982 during the term of Ronald Reagan, which remained until 2015, when Cuba was removed from the list by then-President Barack Obama, who attempted a process of rapprochement with Cuba in the last stage of his government.
However, in January 2021, just days after leaving the White House, Trump included Cuba again on that list.
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