A senior Cuban official responded by saying that the United States was being hypocritical.
The Trump administration’s decision comes days before the inauguration of Biden, who has promised to revive Obama’s efforts to reconnect between the two enemies of the Cold War.
Cuba joins just three other countries on the list of sponsors of terrorism – Iran, North Korea and Syria. Sudan was recently removed as part of its agreement to normalize ties with Israel.
Pompeo said that “(f) or decades, the Cuban government has fed, housed and provided medical assistance to murderers, bomb makers and kidnappers, while many Cubans are starving, homeless and without basic medicines”.
“Cuba is also home to a number of American fugitives from justice, wanted or convicted on charges of political violence, many of whom have lived in Cuba for decades,” he said.
The government has provided no evidence that Cuba has sponsored terrorist attacks. His justification for adding Cuba to the list contains rekindled claims that Cuba is home to radicals from the 1970s, most of whom are now elderly citizens, and ignores the fact that Cuban played a crucial role in ending the civil war in Colombia; something for which the Obama administration applauded the communist island.
The designation is the culmination of Trump’s hard-line position on Cuba – a position that was welcomed by Cuban-Americans and other voters in Florida, but which hampered Obama’s efforts to overcome 20th century tensions in both nations .
The measure imposes restrictions on US foreign aid, a ban on defense exports and sales and defines certain controls on exports and various financial restrictions. It can also result in a penalty against any people and countries that participate in certain commercial activities with Cuba.
Movement criticized by diplomats
Cuba was removed from the list of sponsors of terrorism in 2015 amid Obama’s efforts to restore ties between Washington and Havana. The Reagan government appointed Cuba in 1982, accusing the Castro government of sponsoring communist groups in Latin America and Africa.
Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla tweeted on Monday: “We condemn the hypocritical and cynical designation of #Cuba as a state sponsoring terrorism, announced by the United States. The political opportunism of this action is recognized by all who have an honest concern about the scourge of terrorism and its victims. “
Although the designation is likely to be overturned by the next Biden government, the diplomat said it could “do real damage to our credibility in state sponsorship of terrorism”.
William LeoGrande, a specialist in Latin America and a professor at American University, said that upon entering the White House, Biden could quickly begin the process of removing Cuba from the list of terrorism and that the designation would have little practical impact, as Cuba is subject to sanctions. comprehensive US financial statements.
“Almost all the sanctions that a country suffers for being on the terrorism list have already been imposed on Cuba as part of the broader embargo,” he said.
“The only real difference is that being on the terrorism list makes a state vulnerable to private prosecution for the consequences of so-called acts of terrorism. You lose sovereign immunity if you are on the terrorism list.”