Trump Administration to Designate Cuba a State Sponsor of Terror [View all]
The Trump administration will place Cuba back on the list of state sponsors of terrorism on Monday, according to two senior State Department officials, reversing an Obama-era decision and making it harder for President-elect Joe Biden to quickly revive diplomatic ties with Havana.
Secretary of State Michael Pompeo is expected to indicate he’s designating Cuba because the country continues to harbor American fugitives including Joanne Chesimard, convicted of killing a New Jersey state trooper in 1973, and refuses a Colombian extradition request for National Liberation Army members linked to a 2019 bombing that killed 22.
Cuba joins only Syria, Iran and North Korea -- nations more widely condemned for fomenting terrorism -- on the U.S. list. Cuba had originally been put on the list in 1982 but was removed by President Barack Obama in 2015 as he sought to improve economic and diplomatic relations with the Caribbean nation.
Biden has indicated he wants to revive the Obama-era policy of easing economic and travel restrictions in hopes that closer ties and more capitalism will pave the way for democratic change in Cuba. That strategy could include reducing restrictions on travel, investment and remittances for the island nation that are perceived to disproportionately hurt Americans and ordinary Cubans.
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