WASHINGTON (AP) – The U.S. has taken Cuba off its list of state sponsors of terrorism.
Secretary of State John Kerry has signed an order removing Cuba from the U.S. terrorism blacklist as part of the process of normalizing relations between the Cold War foes.
Kerry acted 45 days after the Obama administration informed Congress of its intent to do so. Lawmakers had that much time to weigh in and try to block the move, but did not do so.
The step comes as officials from the countries continue to hash out details of restoring full diplomatic relations, including opening embassies in Washington and Havana and returning ambassadors to the two countries. Friday’s removal of Cuba from the terrorism list had been a key Cuban demand.
Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
About time.
I won’t know what to think about this until Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz weigh in. I wonder what they will think about this…ohwaitaminute, no, I DON’T. Kudos to the President and Secretary Kerry for doing the right thing. It’s long past time we stop treating Cuba like a miniature USSR and normalize relations.
Which just goes to show that the “war against terrorism” is (and always has been) a political fiction and the classification of countries as terrorist is entirely political, a way to try to isolate political opponents. Same in the U.S., with prosecutions of activists under anti-terror laws.
Pres Obama just lost the Cuban votes for 2016…
We put them on it in '82, while at the same time we were supporting the terrorist Contras.