PLANS have been drawn up by officials to name Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism.
If approved, the final-hour foreign policy move would hinder potential plans by president-elect Joe Biden for diplomacy with the island and to relax increasing American pressure on the capital, Havana.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo now has just three weeks until inauguration day to sign off plans, the New York Times has reported, citing two US officials.
According to the State Department, designation as a state sponsor of terrorism can trigger sanctions against its government, including “restrictions on US foreign assistance, a ban on defense exports and sales; certain controls over exports of dual use items; and miscellaneous financial and other restrictions.”
Three nations are on the list currently – Iran, Syria and North Korea.
According to the NY Times, the proposal to redesignate Cuba to the terrorism list came from the State Department’s Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, rather than its Counter-terrorism Bureau.
The renewed designation by the Trump administration would serve as a thank-you to Cuban Americans and other voters who strongly supported Trump in the election, despite him ultimately losing to Biden.
Back in 2015, the US officially removed Cuba from its list of countries that sponsor terrorism while Barack Obama was president after the relationship between the neighboring countries ebbed and flowed for decades.
The pair established diplomatic relations that year after relations had severed during the Cold War, with the US easing a five-decade trade embargo.
But since the Trump administration took over in 2017, ties between the US and Cuba have deteriorated, with economic sanctions and travel restrictions to the island imposed.
Meanwhile, this month Miguel Diaz-Canel – president of Cuba – announced that the government would be adopting economic reforms, including scrapping the dual currency system.
The incoming Biden administration has suggested it wants to rebuild relations by easing such restrictions.
If Mr Pompeo decides to rubber stamp plans to name Cuba as a state sponsor of Cuba, however, this could take many months to reverse.
