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US President Joe Biden’s administration will remove Cuba from the list of state sponsors of terrorism, just days before President-elect Donald Trump takes office.
US officials said the decision was part of a deal facilitated by the Catholic Church that will see Havana release scores of political prisoners. One senior Biden administration official projected that a “significant” number of people detained in Cuba during July 2021 human rights protests would be released as part of the agreement.
The official described the move and two other relaxations of restrictions as a “gesture of good will” toward Cuba, adding that the US government has “no credible evidence at this time of ongoing support by Cuba to support international terrorism.”
A second senior administration official cited requests from multiple countries, including Brazil and Colombia, that Cuba be taken off the list.
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The Biden administration is also waiving Title III of the LIBERTAD Act of 1996, which will prevent individuals from bringing claims in US court regarding property expropriated by the Cuban government, and will also rescind a 2017 national security memorandum that enables sanctions on Cuban entities, officials said.
The announcement comes on the eve of the confirmation hearing for Trump’s secretary of state pick Marco Rubio, a Republican senator and the son of Cuban immigrants who has long been a fierce critic of the Cuban government.
A Biden administration official acknowledged that the outgoing president’s team has been in touch with the incoming Trump administration about Cuba, among other policy matters.
Biden is expected to notify Congress of the change on Tuesday. The Trump administration could reverse the decision by placing Cuba back on the list, however. One of the Biden officials who briefed reporters indicated that at least some of the prisoners would be released by Cuba before Trump takes office on Jan. 20.
In his first administration, Trump designated Cuba a state sponsor of terror in Jan. 2021, shortly before leaving office. At the time, the US State Department accused Cuba of “repeatedly providing support for acts of international terrorism in granting safe harbor to terrorists,” and cited Havana’s support for Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro.