President Donald Trump, in the first hours of his administration, revoked former President Joe Biden’s decision to remove Cuba from the United States’ list of state sponsors of terrorism (SST).
Cuba’s redesignation as a state sponsor of terrorism is part of a list of 78 executive actions signed by Biden that were revoked by President Trump on Monday evening.
In the final week of his administration, former President Biden had Cuba removed from the SST list, a designation the communist-ruled nation first receiving in 1982 and held until 2015. At that time, former President Barack Obama removed Cuba from the list as part of a broad list of concessions granted to the communist Castro regime commonly known as the “Cuban thaw.”
President Trump reintroduced Cuba to the SST list in January 2021 due to the Castro regime’s lengthy track record of support and deep ties with international terrorist organizations such as Hamas, Hezbollah, Colombia’s FARC and ELN Marxist terrorist groups, and the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Former President Biden justified his decision on the grounds that the Castro regime allegedly “had not sponsored terrorism” for the past six months. Presently, the SST list features Iran, Syria, and North Korea in addition to Cuba.
The Castro regime’s figurehead President Miguel Díaz-Canel responded to Cuba’s re-designation as a state sponsor of terrorism through a social media post shortly after Trump’s decision, accusing the president of strengthening a “cruel economic war” against Cuba.
“President Trump, in an act of arrogance and disregard for the truth, just reinstated the fraudulent designation of Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism. Not surprisingly. His goal is to continue strengthening the cruel economic war against Cuba for the purpose of domination,” Díaz-Canel’s message read.
“The result of the extreme economic siege measures imposed by Trump has been to provoke shortages among our people and a significant increase in the migratory flow from Cuba to the United States,” he continued. “This act of mockery and abuse confirms the discredit of the listings and unilateral coercive mechanisms of the U.S. government. The legitimate and noble cause of our people will prevail and once again prevail.”
Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla responded in a similar fashion, accusing President Trump of being “drunk with arrogance.”
Ebrio de arrogancia, el Pdte #Trump decide sin razones que #Cuba patrocina el terrorismo. Sabe que MIENTE. Su empeño es incrementar el castigo y la guerra económica contra las familias cubanas. Causará daño, pero no doblegará la firme determinación de nuestro pueblo. Venceremos.
— Bruno Rodríguez P (@BrunoRguezP) January 21, 2025
“Drunk with arrogance, Pres. Trump decides without reason that Cuba sponsors terrorism. He knows he is LYING,” Rodríguez Parrilla’s message read.
“His determination is to increase the punishment and the economic war against Cuban families. It will cause damage, but it will not bend the firm determination of our people. We will win,” the message continued.
The Cuban Foreign Ministry has not published a formal statement on President Trump’s decision at press time. The Foreign Ministry’s Twitter account was allegedly hacked on Monday, prompting Cuban state-affiliated outlets to denounce any information published on the Foreign Ministry’s account as “false.”
Countries designated state sponsors of terrorism are subject to additional hefty sanctions and diplomatic limitations. The designation confers restrictions on U.S. foreign assistance, a ban on defense exports and sales, and other financial restrictions.
Former President Biden’s decision to remove Cuba from the list of state sponsors of terrorism, while widely praised by international leftist heads of state and activists, was deemed “insufficient” by the Castro regime, who insisted that the United States lift its “embargo” on Cuba.
The short-lived removal of Cuba from the list of state sponsors of terrorism reportedly followed negotiations that featured the intervention of the Vatican that led to the “ex-incarceration” of 553 prisoners.
Javier Larrondo, president of the Cuban human rights organization Prisoners Defender explained last week that an “ex-incarceration,” as defined in Cuba by the Castro regime, does not translate into a full “release” and it means that the individuals retain their intact convictions. The “released” individuals, of which only “a few dozen” are actual political prisoners according to Larrondo, are subjected to constant harassment, repression, and are denied the ability to freely work, study by state officials, who can revoke their “ex-incarceration” at any given time.
Cuban state officials reportedly confirmed last week that the released individuals were subject to an “ex-incarceration” and were not granted an actual amnesty or a pardon.
Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.
