Antony Blinken, the US Secretary of State said on Thursday there were no intentions to withdraw Cuba from a list of state supporters of terrorism, a movement made by his predecessor days before leaving.
We are not planning to remove them from the list. If there is to be such a review, it will be based on the law and based on the criteria in the law established by Congress. It’s a very high bar.”
Blinken said at the House Foreign Affairs Committee after a question from a lawmaker of the rival Republican Party.
Blinken’s Republican predecessor Mike Pompeo January 2021 suddenly returned Cuba to the state sponsor of terrorism list, which severely interferes with foreign investment as organizations risk lawful consequences in the United States.
The action limited efforts by then-president Donald Trump to switch a normalization bid with the communist island and longtime adversary established by his predecessor Barack Obama.
President Joe Biden, who was Obama’s vice president, has mostly kept in place Trump’s policies on Cuba and took further action after a crackdown on irregular protests.
Some analysts have attributed his perspective to concerns about the Republicans’ inroads among Hispanic voters, especially in the key electoral state of Florida.
Iran, North Korea, and Syria are the only other countries on the terror list.
In making his decision, Pompeo did not connect Cuba to any current terrorist activities but indicated Havana’s denial to extradite leaders of Colombia’s National Liberation Army (ELN) to the then right-wing government in Bogota.
Colombia, now ruled by its first leftist president, Gustavo Petro, has continued talks with the ELN and agreed to recognize the group as a political organization.
