Biden administration will remove Cuba’s designation as a state sponsor of terrorism

The Biden administration will remove Cuba from the state sponsor of terrorism list on Tuesday and take other goodwill actions toward the island, according to a senior Biden administration official. The Catholic Church will also advance an agreement with the communist-run government to release political prisoners.

The church’s agreement with Cuba will “undertake a set of actions that will allow for the humanitarian release of a significant number of political prisoners in Cuba and those who have been detained unjustly,” the administration official said.

President-elect Donald Trump designated Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism shortly before he left office in January 2021, five years after it had been removed from the list by President Barack Obama. Biden’s actions can be reversed as soon as Trump takes office next week.

“An assessment has been completed and we do not have information that supports Cuba’s designation as being a state sponsor of terrorism,” the Biden official said.

The administration official said in order to support the Catholic Church and facilitate the agreement, Biden is taking other actions toward Cuba as a gesture of goodwill.

The administration will be issuing a waiver for Title Three of the Helms Burton Act, which allows the original owners of Cuban properties confiscated decades ago to sue foreign companies “trafficking” in them.

In 2019, Trump was the first president to not waive Title III, but every president before him had waived the 1996 law, officially called the Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity Act, every six months, fearing it could be harmful to U.S. trade.

“We expect and anticipate that these measures announced today will bring very quick relief to the many dozens of Cubans who were arrested in conjunction with the July 2021 protests as well as bring relief to their family members,” the Biden official said. “Today’s actions demonstrate that President Biden’s Cuba policy, which is focused on achieving practical results with respect to human rights in Cuba, will pay dividends for the Cuban people.”

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, a Republican, criticized Biden’s actions. “Today’s decision is unacceptable on its merits,” he wrote in a statement. “The terrorism advanced by the Cuban regime has not ceased. I will work with President Trump and my colleagues to immediately reverse and limit the damage from the decision.”

Speculation has swirled over Trump’s foreign policy, particularly because of the potential influence of Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., a Cuban American who is Trump’s pick for secretary of state. Rubio has always advocated for a hard-line policy toward Cuba.

Mauricio Claver-Carone, the architect of some of Trump’s tough Latin America policies during his first administration, was chosen as special envoy for Latin America.