President Joe Biden has notified Congress of his intention to remove Cuba's designation as a state sponsor of terrorism, the White House said. The move is part of a deal brokered by the Catholic Church to release political prisoners in Cuba. Senior administration officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said "dozens" of political prisoners and others the United States considers unjustly detained will be released by noon on Jan. 20. The United States will also ease some economic sanctions on Cuba and rescind a 2017 memorandum issued by then-President Donald Trump that toughened the United States' stance on Cuba.
The decision of the Democratic President, whose term ends next week, is likely to be overturned as early as next week after Republican Trump takes office and Marco Rubio takes the post of Secretary of State.
Rubio, whose family fled Cuba in the 1950s before the communist revolution that brought Fidel Castro to power, has long been a supporter of sanctions against the communist country.
Rubio will appear before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday for his confirmation hearing and is expected to talk about his family's arrival from Cuba to America.
Mr. Trump appointed Mauricio Claver-Carone, a former White House National Security Council aide and strong supporter of sanctions against Cuba, to the post of his special envoy for Latin America.
In the final days of the first Republican Trump administration, on January 11, 2021, the White House restored Cuba's status as a state sponsor of terrorism, which had been removed during the rapprochement between Cuba and the United States during President Barack Obama's second term. In its decision, the previous Trump administration cited Cuba's support for Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, its refusal to extradite Colombian rebels to Colombia, and its sheltering of Americans wanted by authorities in the United States.
Human rights groups and activists, including the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, have pressured President Biden's administration to make this decision to alleviate the suffering of the Cuban people as a result of Cuba's economic isolation.
Congress and the incoming Trump administration will have the opportunity to review and reverse Biden's decisions, although senior administration officials said the Biden administration had determined there was "no credible evidence" that Cuba is currently engaged in supporting international terrorism. /VOA (A2 Televizion)
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