The administration of Donald Trump announced, nine days before the end of his mandate, Monday, January 11, that it had again placed Cuba on the American blacklist of “States supporting terrorism”, whose island was withdrawn in 2015 by Barack Obama.
“With this measure, we will once again hold the government of Cuba accountable and send a clear message: the Castro regime must end its support for international terrorism and the subversion of American justice”, said the head of the American diplomacy, Mike Pompeo, in a statement referring to the former Cuban leaders Fidel and Raul Castro. He accuses Cuba, to justify this sanction, of having “Repeatedly supported acts of international terrorism by providing refuge to terrorists”.
Retreat after a merger under Barack Obama
This last-minute decision risks making it more difficult for President-elect Joe Biden, who will take office on January 20, to reconnect with Havana. After the spectacular rapprochement under the Obama administration – of which Mr. Biden was vice-president for eight years – Mr. Trump notably tightened restrictions on travel between Cuba and the United States and imposed sanctions on deliveries of Venezuelan oil in Havana.
The elected president has promised to reverse this policy which “Harmed the Cuban people and did nothing to advance democracy and human rights”. Cuba joins Iran, North Korea and Syria on the blacklist of states supporting terrorism. Sudan has just been withdrawn by the outgoing president.
