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Biden’s change in Cuban policy probably too late to make a difference (+Español)
(Editor’s Note: According to Reuters, “Newly sworn-in President Donald Trump on Monday revoked the Biden administration’s last-minute decision to remove Cuba from the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism, the White House said. Just hours after his inauguration to a second term, Trump signed a so-called “rescission” of then-President Joe Biden’s Jan. 14 move that would have lifted the Communist-ruled island’s designation as a terrorism-sponsoring nation.”)
After more than 1,400 days in office, and with less than a week before leaving the White House, President Joe Biden finally did something positive regarding his Cuban policy. Whether it will last, however, is far from certain.
In one of his last acts as president, Biden removed Cuba from the list of states that sponsor terrorism, a designation that the revolutionary government has objected to as being entirely unwarranted. The listing has resulted in substantial economic harm to Cuba.
Additionally, Biden re-instituted the waiver for Title III of the Helms-Burton Act, which allowed the original owners of Cuban properties allegedly confiscated decades ago to sue foreign companies “trafficking” in them. Biden made the move after Donald Trump, in his initial administration became the first president not to waive Title III. Every president before him had waived the 1996 law every six months.
At the same time, the Cuban foreign ministry announced that it will release 533 people who had been convicted of various crimes. The release was facilitated through the efforts of the Vatican. Havana indicated the prisoners will be gradually set free, although the specific identities of those in jail have yet to be determined.
Biden’s timing for the removal of Cuba from the terrorist list is being considered as somewhat ironic, and more than a little confusing. It was Trump who put Cuba back on the list during his final days in office in 2020 and now Biden is doing same thing in reverse. And while the removal is welcomed news to Cuba, currently undergoing severe economic difficulties, the expectation is that Trump will re-list the country when he takes over the presidency again this month. If so, many are questioning Biden’s decision and why he didn’t make these moves sooner.
The outgoing president had four years to take Cuba off the list, the justification for removal based on lack of evidence was just as valid in 2021 as it is now. Expectations were that Biden would move to improve relations with Cuba when he won the White House, a promise he made during his campaign. For him to wait this long to make any move is extremely disappointing to those who expected better. Particularly when he was vice president when Barack Obama substantially improved relations with Cuba in 2014.
Not surprisingly, the reaction to Biden’s last minute measures was overwhelmingly negative from the Republican side, as well as the majority of the Democratic representatives in Florida. The response was typical anti-Cuba condemnation against the island’s social/economic structure and supposed civil rights restrictions; criticism that has been a mainstay from American politicians since the triumph of the revolution more than 60 years ago.
Rep. Mike Waltz, Trump’s pick to serve as national security adviser, predicted that the new administration will quickly revert back to the previous U.S. policy of hostility.
“Look. anything that they’re doing right now we can do back, and no one should be under any illusion in terms of a change in Cuba policy,” Waltz told Fox News last week. “We don’t like it, but again, if people are going free, then that’s what it is for now.”
Add in Marco Rubio, rabid anti-revolutionary tapped to be secretary of state, and the chances are strong that Biden’s moves will be short lived. Which leaves the question — why now and not before? If Trump goes back to his hostile stance, Cuban will have had no benefit from Biden’s last-minute maneuvers, and U.S.-Cuba relations will remain stuck for another four years.
In its response to Biden’s announcement, the Cuban government noted that “despite its limited scope, this is a decision that points to the right direction and is in line with the sustained and firm demand by the government and the people of Cuba, as well as the broad, emphatic and reiterated call by numerous governments, particularly those of Latin America and the Caribbean; Cubans residing abroad; political, religious and social organizations and numerous political figures of the United States and other countries. The government of Cuba expresses its gratitude to all of them for their contribution and sensitivity.”
This decision puts an end to specific coercive measures which, together with many others, seriously damage the Cuban economy and have a severe impact on the population. This is, and has been, an ever-present issue in all official exchanges between Cuba and the government of the United States.”
If Trump does re-list Cuba and tosses aside Biden’s efforts, then the outgoing president’s eleventh-hour decision could be construed as a cynical political ploy that puts Cuba in Trump’s crosshairs and will have done nothing to improve the dire economic conditions Cuba faces. Biden must have calculated the high probability that Trump would not allow his measures to stand. It is unfortunate that Biden couldn’t have acted in the first week of his presidency, not the last.
And it will not take long to determine if Cuba is once again victim of America’s hypocritical dealings aimed at destroying the revolution.