Cuba criticized on Wednesday the attempts by the United States to put the island back on its list of countries supporting terrorism, a measure currently being considered by the Trump administration according to American media, and which could complicate the diplomacy of President-elect Joe Biden .
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Secretary of State Mike Pompeo plans to take this measure, which is very penalizing in terms of foreign investment, before the end of Donald Trump's term on January 20, 2021, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The
New York Times
was the first to report this information, followed by CNN, which says Mike Pompeo is expected to take the step "in the next few days", citing an anonymous official.
“I denounce Secretary of State Pompeo's maneuvers to include #Cuba on the list of states supporting terrorism to please Florida's anti-Cuban minority,”
Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez tweeted.
This weapon pass comes a few days before the 60th anniversary, on January 3, of the breakdown of diplomatic relations between the two countries after the Castro revolution.
Under the leadership of Presidents Barack Obama and Raul Castro, the United States and Cuba had made a historic rapprochement which in 2015 enabled the re-establishment of diplomatic relations and the removal from the blacklist.
But after Donald Trump arrived at the White House in 2017, his administration tightened the embargo imposed on Cuba since 1962, citing human rights violations in Cuba and Havana's support for Venezuela's Chavista government.
Joe Biden, former vice president of Barack Obama, announced during the campaign that he would move swiftly to
"remove Trump's restrictions on money transfers and travel"
that hurt Cubans and separate families.
If Mike Pompeo were to put the island back on the blacklist, Joe Biden could remove it again, but his ministry would then have to undertake a formal analysis so that it can declare that the country has not had any terrorist links during for the past six months.
A spokesperson said the State Department
"is not discussing any deliberations or potential deliberations regarding the placement"
of a country on this list.
Only three countries are still listed after Sudan's withdrawal last month: Iran, North Korea and Syria.