Amid strong criticism for his approach to the Castro regime, Biden decides to keep Cuba on the list of states that sponsor terrorism

The Biden administration, amid strong criticism for its approach to the Castro regime, clarified this Thursday that Cuba still remains on the list of countries that sponsor terrorism.

“You can be a cooperator on counterterrorism, but we still believe that there are actions that they are undertaking that of the support of terrorist activities,” said the deputy spokesperson of the State Department, Vedant Patel, in a press conference this Thursday, just one day after the United States announced that Cuba is no longer among the countries that “do not fully cooperate with anti-terrorist efforts” (NFCC, in English).

The contradictory decision provoked numerous criticisms of the Biden administration, especially from Republican legislators who questioned the Democratic president for his policy of rapprochement towards Cuba and his decision to remove the Castro regime from the NFCC list.

“Biden’s State Dept. announced the removal of Cuba from list of countries that don’t fully cooperate against terrorism,” wrote Senator Rick Scott (R-FL ). “This is an INSULT to everyone fighting for freedom in Cuba.”

The Cuban-American senator, Marco Rubio, one of the highest-profile Republican members in the Upper House, also strongly questioned the Biden government’s decision.

“President Biden is making it very clear that he wants to remove the Cuban dictatorship from the list of state sponsors of terrorism. The criminal and illegitimate regime in Havana supports foreign terrorist organizations in Colombia and harbors ETA terrorists as well as fugitives wanted by courts in the United States,” Rubio said.

The Biden administration’s decision to remove Cuba from the NFCC list comes after Washington and Havana resumed their police cooperation in 2023, supposedly including the matter of mutual support in the fight against terrorism.

However, just as Republicans opposed the Biden administration’s decision, the Cuban regime launched a threat to the United States, requesting the definitive elimination of Cuba from the list of state sponsors of terrorism.

“The United States has just admitted what is known to everyone: that Cuba collaborates fully with efforts against terrorism. All political manipulation of the issue should cease and our arbitrary and unjust inclusion on the list of countries sponsoring terrorism should end,” Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez said in X.

However, when the press asked what steps were needed for the Cuban dictatorship to be removed from this list, State Department spokesperson Patel dodged the question.