The US does not plan to remove Cuba from the list of countries that sponsor terrorism, says Antony Blinken

The United States government “does not foresee” removing Cuba from the list of countries that sponsor terrorism, the Secretary of State said on Thursday Anthony Blinken in Congress.

“We do not anticipate removing them from the list”, Blinken answered a question from the Cuban-born congresswoman Maria Elvira Salazar during a hearing before the Foreign Relations Committee of the House of Representatives.

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“There is no automatic or mandatory review (…) The law provides very clear criteria for rescinding designations, there is an extremely high bar for doing so”, pointed out the head of Joe Biden’s government diplomacy.

Salazar asked him if Cuba had reached the bar, to which Blinken replied: “Clearly not.”

In January 2021, Blinken’s predecessor, the Republican Mike Pompeo, reintroduced to Cuba on the list of States that promote terrorism, which hinders foreign investment due to the legal consequences that could be incurred in USA.

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Pompeo did not link Cuba to any recent terrorist action, but condemned its refusal to extradite leaders of Colombia’s National Liberation Army (ELN) guerilla to the government of then-right-wing Colombian President Iván Duque.

Colombia, now led by the leftist president Gustavo Petrohas resumed negotiations with the ELN.

the former republican president donald trump (2017-2021) put an end to the rapprochement promoted by Democrat Barack Obama (2009-2017), of whom Biden was vice president, following the reestablishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

In 2022, Washington and Havana resumed negotiations on the immigration issue, in a context of a record exodus of Cubans, mainly to the United States.

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And in January 2023, the US embassy in Havana restarted issuing visas for Cubans who wish to settle in the United States.

However, normalizing relations with the communist island does not seem to be on Biden’s agenda, especially since the repression of the protests in July 2021.

Washington not only kept Cuba on the list of countries that sponsor terrorism, which also includes Iran, North Korea and Syria, but also included it in another list of nations that do not respect religious freedom.

Source: Elcomercio

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I am Jack Morton and I work in 24 News Recorder. I mostly cover world news and I have also authored 24 news recorder. I find this work highly interesting and it allows me to keep up with current events happening around the world.