Biden administration delists Cuba as state sponsor of terrorism

U.S. President Joe Biden notified Congress on Tuesday that his administration would remove the designation of Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism, the White House said, as part of a deal to free political prisoners in the Caribbean island country and those determined by Washington as being unjustly detained by the government in Havana.

Senior Biden administration officials previewing the president's decision for reporters said during a press call that the move was made after the administration completed an assessment and concluded there was "no credible evidence" showing Cuba is currently supporting international terrorism.

In doing so, Biden revoked the move by his predecessor, former President Donald Trump, in January 2021 to re-include Cuba in the list of state sponsors of terrorism. Trump did so in the waning days of his first presidential term to reverse the efforts seeking rapprochement with Cuba by former President Barack Obama, during whose second term in office the United States lifted Cuba's terror designation.

Senior Biden administration officials expected Cuba to release "many dozens" of prisoners by the time Trump would be inaugurated again as president on January 20.

Also on Tuesday, Biden signed a national security memorandum to rescind a 2017 Cuba sanction policy by then-President Trump known as "National Security Presidential Memorandum 5," effectively ending the restrictions on certain Cuban persons and entities conducting financial transactions with U.S. persons and entities.

To further incentivize the Cuban government to release prisoners, the Biden administration issued a waiver for Title III of the Helms Burton Act for a period of six months, according to a statement by White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.

The move, as a result, would block U.S. nationals or other individuals to bring claims in U.S. courts over property confiscated by Cuban authorities after the 1959 Cuban Revolution.

The senior administration officials and Jean-Pierre also alluded to the contribution to the Cuban prisoner release deal from the Catholic Church led by Pope Francis, whom Biden awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom on Saturday.