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State Department Review of Cuba’s Status on Terrorism List Is Complete, Obama Says State Department Review of Cuba’s Status on Terrorism List Is Complete, Obama Says
(about 2 hours later)
KINGSTON, Jamaica — President Obama said Thursday that the State Department had completed its review of whether to remove Cuba from its list of nations that sponsor terrorism, but he added that he had not yet received a final recommendation and was not ready to announce a decision. PANAMA — President Obama is nearing a decision on removing Cuba’s three-decade-old designation as a state sponsor of terrorism, citing progress in his push to normalize relations with the island nation as he arrived here on Thursday night for a summit of Latin American leaders.
“Our emphasis has been on the facts,” Mr. Obama said of considering Cuba’s removal from the State Department’s terrorism list, where it has remained for more than 30 years. “We want to make sure that given that this is a powerful tool to isolate those countries that genuinely do support terrorism, that when we make those designations, we’ve got strong evidence that, in fact, that’s the case.” On the eve of the gathering, where he will come face to face with the Cuban president, Raul Castro, for the first time since he announced in December that he would seek to normalize relations with the country, Mr. Obama said the State Department had completed a review that he had ordered of Cuba’s status on the list of states that sponsor terrorism.
He added, “As circumstances change, then that list will change as well.” “Our emphasis has been on the facts,” Mr. Obama said earlier on Thursday in Kingston, Jamaica, where he met with Caribbean leaders on energy and security cooperation and launched a young leaders’ initiative. “We want to make sure that given that this is a powerful tool to isolate those countries that genuinely do support terrorism, that when we make those designations we’ve got strong evidence that, in fact, that’s the case.”
Removing Cuba from the list would clear a major obstacle to the re-establishment of diplomatic relations, as the two former political enemies advance toward their closest ties in half a century. “As circumstances change, then that list will change as well,” Mr. Obama said, adding that he would not make a formal announcement until he had received a final recommendation on the matter from his advisers.
The review was ordered by Mr. Obama in December, when he and President Raúl Castro of Cuba agreed to restore diplomatic ties and move toward normal relations. The State Department looked at whether Cuba had engaged in terrorism activity in the last six months — the criterion for designating a country a state sponsor of terrorism. In a sign of progress in the thaw between Cuba and the United States, Secretary of State John Kerry met here on Thursday night with Cuba’s foreign minister, Bruno Rodríguez. It was the highest level session between representatives of the two governments in more than 50 years.
Speaking after a meeting here with Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller of Jamaica, Mr. Obama said the State Department’s determination was now going through an interagency review that had not yet been finished. Mr. Obama’s comments left open the possibility that he could announce the move at the Summit of the Americas opening here on Friday, where he hopes to highlight momentum in the diplomatic opening with Cuba. At the summit, any interactions between Mr. Obama and Mr. Castro will be scrutinized for their symbolic significance.
The timing left open the possibility that he could announce a final decision at the Summit of the Americas opening in Panama on Friday. At the summit meeting, any face-to-face interactions Mr. Obama has with Mr. Castro — the first since the president announced the policy shift — will be scrutinized for their symbolic significance. Cuba is attending the summit meeting for the first time since its inception in 1994, creating the first publicly planned encounter of the American and Cuban presidents since 1958, though Mr. Obama and Mr. Castro shook hands in greeting at Nelson Mandela’s funeral in South Africa in December 2013 and President Bill Clinton and Fidel Castro shook hands and chatted briefly at a United Nations meeting in 2000.
“There’s a process involved,” Mr. Obama said. “I won’t make a formal announcement today about what those recommendations are. I’ll wait until I’ve received them.” As he basked in the balmy Jamaica temperatures and the adulation of Caribbean leaders and young people visibly thrilled to welcome him, Mr. Obama cast his decision to seek normal relations with Cuba as a way of reordering relationships in the hemisphere and pushing forward on a season of outreach over antagonism.
Mr. Obama was attending a gathering of Caribbean leaders here on his way to the summit meeting in Panama. It will be Mr. Castro’s first time attending the Summit of the Americas, from which his country had been banned because of Cuba’s 1962 expulsion from the Organization of American States at the United States’ behest. American officials have not ruled out the possibility of a one-on-one meeting between Mr. Obama and Mr. Castro. “We will continue to have differences with the Cuban government, but we don’t want to be imprisoned by the past,” Mr. Obama told young leaders in a town-hall meeting at the University of the West Indies. “Engagement is a more powerful force than isolation. I believe that we can move past some of the old debates that so often define the region, and move forward.”
Cuba’s removal from the list would allow Mr. Obama and Mr. Castro to enter the summit meeting with a significant sign of progress to show for the months of behind-the-scenes negotiations between their governments that have followed the December announcement. It would also be a milestone in Mr. Obama’s effort to turn the page on a Cold War-era grudge. The president appeared energized by his Jamaican visit, which included a tour of a museum dedicated to the reggae legend Bob Marley — which he later called “one of the more fun meetings that I’ve had since I’ve been president” — and a lengthy question-and-answer session with young people to kick off a $70 million youth initiative his administration is starting in the region.
In meetings on Thursday, Caribbean leaders praised Mr. Obama for pursuing the normalization of relations with the island nation, a move they said would be beneficial to the entire region. Ms. Simpson Miller told the president, “You’re on the right side of history,” calling the opening “a bold and courageous move.” “Greetings, massive,” he told the 350 attendees, using local vernacular and getting loud cheers in return. “I just like the vibe here,” the president added. Leaders of the Caribbean countries returned the sentiment in strikingly personal terms. Prime Minister Portia Simpson-Miller of Jamaica, who exchanged hugs throughout the day with Mr. Obama as they cycled through official events, said he was “very loved” by Jamaicans. “You’re on the right side of history,” Ms. Simpson-Miller told the president of his effort to establish normal relations with Cuba, calling it “a bold and courageous move.”
Prime Minister Perry G. Christie of the Bahamas, who was leading the Caribbean gathering, also singled out Mr. Obama’s shift in policy toward Cuba in his opening remarks, calling it “a pleasing and welcome development.” In Panama, a fistfight broke out on Thursday between dissident groups and supporters of the Cuban government. The melee began after members of the dissident groups attempted to lay flowers at a monument to José Marti, a Cuban nationalist hero.
In the hours before Mr. Obama was scheduled to arrive in Panama on Thursday evening, the State Department condemned a fistfight that broke out near the Cuban Embassy between representatives of Cuban civil society organizations that had been sent by the government and dissident groups. Mr. Obama is also likely to face other strains at the gathering here. President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela has vowed to use the summit meeting to rail against the United States.
The melee began after members of the dissident groups tried to lay flowers in a park at a monument to José Martí, the Cuban nationalist hero. A shouting match deteriorated into fighting, which was eventually broken up by the Panamanian police.