Biden removes Cuba from terror blacklist – A diplomatic olive branch?

In a surprising yet significant move, outgoing US President Joe Biden’s administration has announced that they will be removing Cuba from its terrorism blacklist. Cuba, an hour later, announced that it would release over 500 prisoners from jail, following talks with Pope Francis.

Both moves are seen as significant steps in improving bilateral ties between the two countries — after years of diplomatic stagnation and increasing international calls for Washington to ease its stance on Havana.

Uncertainty looms over Biden’s decision as the announcement was made less than a week before US President-elect Donald Trump takes over the Oval Office. Trump is known for his hardline policies on Cuba.

In addition to delisting Cuba, the Biden administration also revealed plans to suspend a provision of the Helms-Burton Act, which has allowed Cuban exiles in the US to seek compensation for assets confiscated after the 1959 Cuban Revolution. Furthermore, it plans to remove restrictions on Cuban entities banned from financial transactions during Trump’s first term.

Why now?

This might look sudden, but Biden’s administration has been working on this for a while. The Biden administration has been waiting for Cuba to release hundreds of political prisoners who were arrested following mass pro-democracy protests back in July 2021 in response to persistent blackouts and an economic slowdown.

In addition to this, in the last two years, more than half a million Cubans have entered the United States in the last two years because of the ongoing economic crisis.

In an earlier press statement, Biden had said: “We stand with the Cuban people and their clarion call for freedom and relief from the tragic grip of the pandemic and from the decades of repression and economic suffering to which they have been subjected by Cuba’s authoritarian regime. The Cuban people are bravely asserting fundamental and universal rights. Those rights, including the right to peaceful protest and the right to freely determine their own future, must be respected. The United States calls on the Cuban regime to hear their people and serve their needs at this vital moment rather than enriching themselves.”

The Catholic Church had been leading negotiations for the release of political prisoners in Cuba. The Pope was informed about this decision earlier in the month in a letter from Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel, who indicated that the release of prisoners was made “in the spirit of the Ordinary Jubilee of 2025.”

The White House acknowledged the Church’s efforts in a press statement. “In taking these steps to bolster the ongoing dialogue between the government of Cuba and the Catholic Church, President Biden is also honouring the wisdom and counsel that has been provided to him by many world leaders, especially in Latin America, who have encouraged him to take these actions, on how best to advance the human rights of the Cuban people. We take these steps in appreciation of the Catholic Church’s efforts to facilitate Cuba to take its own, constructive measures to restore liberty to its citizens and enable conditions that improve the livelihood of Cubans.”

Trump vs Biden

Biden’s announcements effectively roll back many of the sanctions put in place by President-elect Trump during his previous term ending in 2021. If they endure, they will represent the most significant advance in US-Cuba relations since the Obama-era detente.

In his first term as President, Trump put Cuba on the state sponsor of terrorism list, and his administration restored sanctions and restrictions on travel to Cuba.

Trump’s tough approach to Latin America, particularly on issues like migration and trade, resonated with his conservative base and positioned him as a staunch opponent of socialism in the region. His critics, however, argue that these policies have done little to promote democracy or improve conditions on the ground in countries like Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua.

For his second term, he has nominated critics of the Cuban government to key roles in his administration, including former Inter-American Development Bank chief Mauricio Claver-Carone to be special envoy for Latin America and Senator Marco Rubio, who is the son of Cuban immigrants to be secretary of State. Interesting to note that Rubio, who is a senator from Florida has built his political base in heavily Cuban Miami.

What next?

While delisting Cuba from the terrorism blacklist list is a positive development, it does not automatically lift longstanding economic sanctions imposed on the country. The embargo, codified in US law, remains firmly in place and can only be fully removed by Congress.

However, the delisting could pave the way for incremental easing of restrictions, such as allowing more remittances, travel, and trade between the two countries.

In a press release issued on Tuesday, Director of International Policy Alex Main at the Centre for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) said: “Experts agree that the sanctions imposed by the first Trump administration as part of a ‘total pressure’ strategy, in particular the SSOT designation, contributed to the country’s economic collapse and a large increase in the number of people leaving Cuba for other countries — primarily the US.”

He added that unfortunately, this unjustified and counterproductive Cuba policy — driven by notorious neoconservatives like former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, former National Security Advisor John Bolton and current Trump Secretary of State nominee Marco Rubio — was left in place by the Biden administration, until now.

Main’s colleague and CEPR’s Senior Research and Outreach Associate Michael Galant explained that if the Republicans want to address the root causes of immigration, they should support this decision to ease sanctions on Cuba.

“Research shows that economic sanctions, like those the US has imposed on Cuba for decades, mostly harm the populations of the targeted countries, and some of these people will invariably leave their countries in the hopes of going somewhere where they can survive and perhaps lead a dignified life,” he said.

“While this decision, which comes years after 80 members of Congress urged Biden to reverse Trump’s ‘total pressure’ approach, should have been made long ago, it is better late than never,” Main said.

“Sixty years of failed policy should be more than enough, and hopefully the new administration will have the wisdom and the courage to pursue a new course, one that’s in the best interest of both the US and the Cuban people,” he concluded.