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American president Joe Biden informed congress of his intention to lift the American designation Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorismthe White House announced, as part of a deal facilitated by the Catholic Church to free political prisoners on the island.
Senior US administration officials, who reviewed the announcement on condition of anonymity, said “many dozens” of political prisoners and others deemed by the US to be unjustly detained would be released to the end of the Biden administration at noon on January 20.
The US would also ease some economic pressure on Cuba, as per a 2017 memorandum issued by then-President Donald Trump strengthening the US position towards Cuba.
“In taking these steps to strengthen the ongoing dialogue between the government of Cuba and the Catholic Church, President Biden also honored the wisdom and counsel provided to him by many world leaders, particularly in Latin America, who’ t have encouraged him to take these actions, on how best to promote the human rights of the Cuban people,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement.
The Cuban Foreign Ministry said Tuesday that the government has informed Pope Francis that it will release 553 people convicted of various crimes. It said they will be released gradually as the authorities analyze the legal and humanitarian ways to make it happen.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not link the release of the prisoners to the decision of the United States to lift the designation as a state sponsor of terrorism, but “in the spirit of the Ordinary Jubilee of the year 2025 declared by His Holiness .”
The Cuban authorities have not said who is among the 553 people who will be released.
The determination by the outgoing one-term Democrat is expected to be reversed as early as next week after Trump, the Republican who is now president-elect, takes office and Secretary of State-designate Marco Rubio assumes the position of America’s top diplomat.
Rubio, whose family left Cuba in the 1950s before the communist revolution that brought Fidel Castro to power, has long been a supporter of sanctions on the communist island. Rubio will appear before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for his confirmation hearing on Wednesday and is expected to address his Cuban roots in his testimony.
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Trump has also appointed Mauricio Claver-Carone, a former White House National Security Council aide and strong supporter of sanctions against Cuba, to be his special envoy to Latin America.
In the last days of Trump’s first administration, on January 11, 2021, the White House reinstated the designation, which during the period of rapprochement between Cuba and the United States in the second term of office of President Barack Obama was overthrown. In doing so, the Trump administration cited Cuba’s support for Venezuela’s leader, Nicolas Maduro, and his refusal to extradite Colombian rebels to Colombia, among other issues, including the continued housing of wanted Americans.
The move to designate Cuba by Trump was one of several foreign policy moves he made in the final days of his first term.
About six months after Trump designated Cuba as a terror sponsor, the Biden administration imposed new sanctions on island officials and the National Revolutionary Police after hundreds of Cubans were arrested during demonstrations in Havana and other cities to protest shortages, power outages and government policies. They were the first such protests since the 1990s.
Human rights groups and activists, including the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, have pressured the Biden administration to lift the appointment to ease the suffering of Cuban people who feel the impact of Cuba’s economic isolation.
The government of Cuba acknowledged the announcement and expressed its gratitude, although it considered it “limited”.
“Despite its limited scope, this is a decision that points in the right direction and is in line with the persistent and firm demand of the government and people of Cuba,” the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a press release.
“The decision announced today by the United States corrects, in a very limited way, some aspects of a cruel and unjust policy,” it added.
Congress and the incoming Trump administration will have the opportunity to review and possibly reverse Biden’s actions, although senior US administration officials said the Biden administration had determined there was “no credible evidence” that Cuba was currently engaged in supporting international terrorism.
The Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the government is aware that the incoming government in the US could reverse the decision, but that it “will remain ready to develop a respectful relationship with that country, based on dialogue and non-interference in the internal affairs of both countries, despite the differences.”
There was no immediate comment from the Trump transition team or from Rubio or his office, but one of his Republican colleagues on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, condemned the move by Biden- administration quickly.
“Today’s decision is unacceptable on its merits,” Cruz said in a statement. “The terrorism perpetrated by the Cuban regime has not stopped. I will work with President Trump and my colleagues to immediately reverse and limit the damage of the decision.
Rep. Carlos Gimenez, a Florida Republican, criticized the move and predicted that Trump would quickly reverse Biden’s decision.
“President Biden is a pathetic coward,” Gimenez posted on X. “Come January 20th, there will be a NEW SHERIFF in town and President Trump alongside Secretary of State @SenMarcoRubio will not only put #Cuba AGAIN on the list, but PULVERIZE the regime once and for all!”
Biden in a national security memorandum issued Tuesday certified that Cuba has not provided support for international terrorism in the last six months and the administration provided assurances that it would not support terrorism in the future.
The move comes after the administration in May removed Cuba from the State Department’s short list of countries it deems less than fully cooperative against violent groups.
AP writer Andrea Rodríguez in Havana, Cuba, contributed reporting.
