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Trump returns Cuba to the list of state sponsors of terrorism

Díaz-Canel criticizes Trump's move and calls it "an act of arrogance and disregard for the truth."

Cuban political prisoners get out of jailAFP

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Less than a week. That's how long Cuba has been off the state sponsors of terrorism list. Donald Trump succeeded Biden as president and has not even taken 24 hours to reverse the controversial measure that the outgoing president took in the last days of his term.

This was made official by the White House through a statement made public just a few hours after the inauguration. The note pointed out, among a long series of executive orders, that Trump was annulling his predecessor's decision on Cuba.

Diaz-Canel accuses Trump of ‘arrogance and disregard for the truth’

In Havana, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel lamented the move and called the decision an "act of arrogance and disregard for the truth": "President Trump, in an act of arrogance and disregard for the truth, has just restated the fraudulent designation of Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism."

Díaz Canel charged that Trump's measures against the island during his first term resulted in "provoking shortcomings in our people and a significant increase in the migratory flow from Cuba to the United States."

Biden had last week removed the island from the list of countries sponsoring terrorism to encourage the release of political prisoners, a decision that was applauded by Havana.

Immediately, the island's government responded with a promise to release 553 prisoners "for various offenses." In fact, the dictatorship hurried to release a first batch of 127 prisoners under certain conditions shortly after the announcement as a show of goodwill and as a measure of pressure in the face of Trump's imminent arrival.

The release of more than 400 prisoners still up in the air

Those released are overwhelmingly protesters who were detained for participating in the protests of July 11 and 12, 2021, known as 11-J. Cynically, the Castro dictatorship has always denied the existence of political prisoners and accuses the opponents of being "mercenaries" of the United States. Following Trump's move, it is unknown whether the regime will go ahead with the promised releases.

Trump toughened the country’s stance during his first term (2017-2021) by putting the island back on his blacklist of sponsors of terrorism, a move that obstructs transactions and investments because companies are exposed to U.S. sanctions, AFP reports.

The island is going through a serious crisis that pushed hundreds of thousands of people to emigrate to the United States in the last two years, both irregularly and legally, according to official data.

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