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U.S. Removes Cuba From State-Sponsored Terrorism List U.S. Removes Cuba From State-Sponsored Terrorism List
(about 7 hours later)
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration on Friday removed Cuba from a list of state sponsors of terrorism, a crucial step in normalizing ties between Washington and Havana and the latest progress in President Obama’s push to thaw relations between the United States and the island nation. WASHINGTON — The Obama administration on Friday removed Cuba from a list of state sponsors of terrorism, a crucial step in President Obama’s push to normalize ties between Washington and Havana.
Secretary of State John F. Kerry rescinded Cuba’s designation as a terrorism sponsor at the end of a 45-day congressional notification period, which began on April 14 when Mr. Obama announced his intention to remove Cuba from the list. Secretary of State John Kerry rescinded Cuba’s designation at the end of a 45-day congressional notification period, which began on April 14 when Mr. Obama announced his intention to remove Cuba from the list.
The move “reflects our assessment that Cuba meets the statutory criteria for rescission,” Jeff Rathke, the State Department spokesman, said in a statement. “While the United States has significant concerns and disagreements with a wide range of Cuba’s policies and actions, these fall outside the criteria relevant to the rescission of a state sponsor of terrorism designation,” Jeff Rathke, the State Department spokesman, said in a statement.
“While the United States has significant concerns and disagreements with a wide range of Cuba’s policies and actions,” Mr. Rathke said, “these fall outside the criteria relevant to the rescission of a State Sponsor of Terrorism designation.” The action came amid signs of difficulty in the negotiations between American and Cuban officials to carry out the historic reopening that Mr. Obama announced in December. Despite widespread optimism, officials failed in talks last week to reach an accord on re-establishing diplomatic relations and opening embassies.
The action comes amid signs of difficulty in the negotiations between American and Cuban officials to bring about the historic reopening Mr. Obama announced in December. Despite widespread optimism, officials failed last week to reach an accord on re-establishing diplomatic relations and opening embassies. Cuba’s removal from the terrorism list was harshly criticized by several declared or prospective Republican presidential candidates and members of Congress, a sign that the détente may become an issue in the 2016 campaign.
Still, Cuba’s removal from the list – now confined to Iran, Sudan and Syria – is an important step in Mr. Obama’s effort to move past the Cold War-era hostility that long marked the relationship between the United States and Cuba. The president met with President Raúl Castro of Cuba last month in Panama at the Summit of the Americas in the first such encounter in a half-century. Former Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida, who is widely expected to run, called the decision “further evidence that President Obama seems more interested in capitulating to our adversaries than in confronting them.”
Cubans saw their nation’s designation as a sponsor of terrorism, in effect since 1982 when their government was backing leftist insurgencies, as a blemish on their image and a practical hindrance that had hampered their ability to gain access to American banks. The House speaker, John A. Boehner, Republican of Ohio, said the administration had “handed the Castro regime a significant political win in return for nothing.” He vowed that the House would ensure that sanctions on Cuba would stay in place.
Mr. Obama asked the State Department to review Cuba’s designation late last year, when he and Mr. Castro announced they would work to re-establish ties. A State Department review concluded last month that Cuba no longer deserved to be on the list. It said that the nation had not sponsored international terrorism recently and that it had promised not to do so. But the ease with which the administration removed Cuba from the list — a step that Cuban-American lawmakers had promised to try to block through congressional action, but ultimately did nothing to stop — reflected the degree to which Mr. Obama’s new policy has shifted the debate over Cuba.
Cuban-Americans in Congress who initially vowed to try and block the change in designation quickly said they had concluded they had no legal means of doing so, and made no attempts to oppose it. Critics of lifting longstanding travel, trade and financial restrictions on Cuba are increasingly finding their efforts overtaken by events. Although Mr. Obama would need Congress to lift the trade embargo and tourism ban, his move last year to relax some travel strictures and trade regulations has paved the way for direct flights and ferry rides, as well as business ventures between the United States and Cuba.
Even with the issue of the terrorism list now resolved, American and Cuban officials face challenges in pressing forward with the rapprochement. Talks last week, the fourth round since the normalization process was announced, broke off without resolution of a checklist of issues standing in the way of converting the diplomatic outposts known as “interests sections” into full-fledged embassies. “When people get more freedom, they want even more of it,” said Senator Jeff Flake, Republican of Arizona, who has pressed for the lifting of remaining sanctions. “Time has gotten away from those who favor the old policy. It’s so yesterday.”
United States negotiators want assurances from the Cubans that American diplomats at a new embassy in Havana would be able to move freely around the country and speak with whomever they wished, including opponents of the government. Cuban officials, who have frequently charged that the United States was working to undermine the government by helping dissidents, have resisted the request. Cuba’s removal from the list — which now includes only Iran, Sudan and Syria — is an important step in Mr. Obama’s effort to move past the Cold War-era hostility that has characterized the United States-Cuba relationship. Mr. Obama met with President Raúl Castro of Cuba last month in Panama at the Summit of the Americas in the first such encounter in a half-century.
Americans have also sought guarantees that Cubans visiting an American embassy in Havana would not be harassed by the police. The reaction from Cuba on Friday was muted. The state news media took note of the move in brief articles, but without comment from government leaders. Cubans, however, had viewed the nation’s terrorism designation, in effect since 1982, when the government was sponsoring leftist insurgences, as a blemish on its image and a hindrance to its access to American banks.
The White House has remained publicly upbeat about the prospects of bridging the divides and reaching a point where it would be possible for the president to visit Havana before he leaves office. Even with the terrorism issue now resolved, American and Cuban officials face challenges in pressing forward on the rapprochement. The talks last week, the fourth round since the normalization process was announced, broke off without resolution of issues holding up the conversion of the diplomatic outposts known as interests sections into full-fledged embassies.
“I know that there’s one person in particular that hopes President Obama will be in Havana at some point in the relatively recent future, and that’s President Obama himself,” said Josh Earnest, the White House press secretary. United States negotiators want assurances from the Cubans that American diplomats at an embassy in Havana would be able to move freely around the country and speak with anyone, including opponents of the government. Cuban officials, who have frequently accused the United States of working to undermine the government by aiding dissidents, have resisted the request.
American officials have also sought guarantees that Cubans visiting an American embassy in Havana would not be harassed by the police.