The terror
designation has been a stain on Cuba's pride and a major stumbling block
for efforts to mend ties between Washington and Havana.
In
a message to Congress, Obama said the government of Cuba "has not
provided any support for international terrorism" over the last six
months. He also told lawmakers that Cuba "has provided assurances that
it will not support acts of international terrorism in the future."
Cuba
will officially be removed from the terror list 45 days after the
president's message was sent to Congress. Lawmakers could vote to block
the move during that window, though Obama would be all-but-certain to
veto such a measure.
Cuba's
top diplomat for U.S. affairs hailed Obama's action. "The Cuban
government recognizes the president of the United States' just decision
to take Cuba off a list in which it should never have been included,"
Josefina Vidal said Tuesday night. "As the Cuban government has said on
many occasions, Cuba rejects and condemns all acts of terrorism, in
every form, as well as any action aimed at encouraging, supporting,
financing or concealing terrorism."
Tuesday's
announcement comes days after Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro met
on the sidelines of a regional summit in Panama. The historic talks
marked the first formal meeting between the leaders of their countries
in a half-century.
The U.S. has long since
stopped actively accusing Cuba of supporting terrorism. When Obama and
Castro announced a thaw in relations in December, the U.S. president
expressed his willingness to remove Cuba from that list.
However,
he held off on making a final decision amid indications that the White
House was reluctant to grant Cuba's request until other thorny issues —
such as restrictions on U.S. diplomats in Havana — were resolved.
The president's final decision followed a State Department review of Cuba's presence on the list.
Removing
Cuba from the terror list could pave the way for the opening of a U.S.
Embassy in Havana and other steps. Administration officials said they
were optimistic about the prospects of opening the embassy, but did not
provide any specific updates in timing.
Cuba
was designated a state sponsor of terror in 1982 because of what the
White House said was its efforts "to promote armed revolution by
organizations that used terrorism."
Those efforts included
support for leftist guerrilla groups in Central and South America that
carried out attacks on civilians in their efforts to overthrow
U.S.-backed governments.
State
Department reports on the terror list specifically mention Cuba
sheltering members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or
FARC, and the Spanish Basque separatist group ETA. Cuba has also given
shelter to black and Puerto Rican militants who fled to the island after
carrying out attacks in the United States.
Cuba
renounced its direct support for foreign militants years ago, and is
sponsoring peace talks between the FARC and Colombian government.
Most
of the terror list's direct legal impact is on relatively narrow issues
that don't affect Cuba due to the longstanding trade embargo on the
island and deep historical enmity between the two nations. For example,
the listing bars U.S. arms sales and other aid to Cuba, an issue that's
been moot for more than a half-century.
However,
Cubans say the listing has badly damaged their ability to conduct
international financial transactions by frightening banks away from
doing business with the communist government. Those who do businesses
with state sponsors of terror are vulnerable to lawsuits in U.S. courts.
Cuba's removal from the
terror list will likely make it easier to get credit from non-U.S.
banks, transfer funds between countries and conduct a host of other
international financial transactions.
White
House press secretary Josh Earnest said that taking Cuba off the terror
list does not change the fact that the U.S. has differences with the
island nation's government.
"Our
concerns over a wide range of Cuba's policies and actions fall outside
the criteria that is relevant to whether to rescind Cuba's designation
as a state sponsor of terrorism," Earnest said.
The
terror list has been a particularly charged issue for Cuba because of
what the government there sees as the U.S. history of supporting exile
groups responsible for attacks on the island, including the 1976 bombing
of a Cuban passenger flight from Barbados that killed 73 people aboard.
The
attack was linked to Cuban exiles with ties to U.S.-backed anti-Castro
groups. Both men accused of masterminding the crime took shelter in
Florida, where one, Luis Posada Carriles, lives to this day.
Iraida
Malberti, the 78-year-old widow of Carlos Alberto Cremata Trujillo, a
member of the flight's crew, said Cuba's removal from the list was "a
joy."
"Cuba never should have
been on the list," she said, minutes after the decision was announced.
"No decision will bring the victims back to life, or erase the
humiliation, suffering and pain that this has caused us."
Until
Tuesday, the communist island nation remained one of four countries on
the U.S. list of nations accused of repeatedly supporting global
terrorism. The others are Iran, Sudan and Syria.
Source:AP
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