NEW YORK, January 15. /TASS/. The US President Joe Biden administration is planning to lift the US designation of Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism, Associated Press said, citing US officials familiar with the matter.
According to them, the administration may make a relevant announcement soon.
That said, the news agency pointed out that this determination is likely to be reversed as early as next week after US President-elect Donald Trump takes office and Secretary of State-designate Marco Rubio, who has long been a proponent of sanctions on Cuba, assumes the position of top US diplomat.
The United States severed diplomatic relations with Cuba in 1961 in response to the nationalization of US property on the island, after which it announced a trade and economic embargo. In December 2014, then-President Barack Obama acknowledged that Washington’s previous policy towards Havana was not working and announced a move toward normalizing bilateral relations and easing sanctions. In 2015, the Obama administration announced the removal of Cuba from the US list of state sponsors of terrorism.
The rapprochement between the two countries stalled after Republican Donald Trump took office in January 2017. He tightened travel rules for Americans to the republic and imposed a ban on doing business with organizations controlled by the Cuban military. The Trump administration also reinstated Cuba on the list of states sponsoring terrorism. The Biden administration then said it will review the policy toward Cuba, but has yet to remove the country from the list.