by Admin
Jan 15, 2025
As President Biden prepares to leave office on January 20 he gave his final foreign policy speech on Tuesday afternoon where he announced the removal of Cuba from its list of state sponsors of terrorism.
A move that counters the incoming President Donald Trump’s foreign policy plan during his first term as president of the United States added Cuba to the list of state sponsors of terrorism.
After removing Cuba from the list in 2015, President Barack Obama, and Trump reinstated it due to the communist country’s support of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro..
President Biden’s decree to remove Cuba from the United States list of state sponsors of terrorism was facilitated by the Roman Catholic Church which in return Cuba has agreed to release 553 prisoners.
Mike Waltz, Donald Trump’s nominee for national security adviser, said, “Anything they [the Biden Administration] are doing right now we can reverse, and no one should be under any illusion in terms of a change in Cuba policy.”
An official from the Biden administration who chose to remain anonymous revealed that Cuba would “gradually” release 553 prisoners who have been unjustly detained in exchange for its removal.
However, Cuba’s foreign ministry stated that the agreement ends certain coercive measures that have harmed the nation’s economy.
Cuba has not revealed any details regarding whom it may free, but relatives of those imprisoned after the anti-government protests in 2021 expressed hope that their loved ones would be among them.
Cuba currently sits with North Korea, Syria, and Iran on the United States’ list of state sponsors of terrorism, indicating that it has “repeatedly provided support for acts of international terrorism.”
Prodesq, political analyst Temitope Oladeji gives an insight into how President Joe Biden’s decision to remove Cuba from the United States’ list of state sponsors of terrorism, Oladeji said “The prisoner’s release is a decision that is significant and marks a step towards normalization of relations between Cuba and the United States,”
He further hinted that the religious part of the Roman Catholic Church played an important role in the finalization of the deal, as President Joe Biden is a devoted Roman Catholic Christian, which shows the power religion plays in world policies.
It however remains uncertain if Donald Trump will revert President Biden’s decision and add Cuba back to the state sponsor terrorism list of the United States like he did in 2015 after President Obama removed Cuba from the list but Trump added the Caribbean country back.