Biden Removes Cuba From State Sponsors of Terrorism List, Waives Helms-Burton Title III and Rescinds 2017 Memorandum
The White House announced in Washington on January 14, 2025, that President Joe Biden had notified Congress that Cuba should no longer be designated as a state sponsor of terrorism. In a certification signed the same day, Biden stated that the government of Cuba had not provided any support for international terrorism during the preceding six months and had provided assurances that it would not support acts of international terrorism in the future. Cuba had been returned to the list by a determination dated January 12, 2021, under the first Trump administration.
Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement that the step was part of an understanding with the Catholic Church: the Church had informed the White House that the Cuban government would soon begin releasing a substantial number of political prisoners. Cuba's Foreign Ministry said the same day that Cuba would gradually release 553 convicted people.
The United States took two further steps the same day: it issued a six-month waiver for Title III of the Helms-Burton Act, also known as the Libertad Act, suspending the right of U.S. nationals to bring related suits over property confiscated by Cuba; and it rescinded the 2017 National Security Presidential Memorandum 5 on Cuba policy, eliminating the so-called restricted list and the additional regulations it had imposed on engagement by U.S. persons and entities with Cuba beyond those prescribed in U.S. legislation.
Jean-Pierre said U.S. policy toward Cuba has focused on empowering the Cuban people to freely determine their own future and advancing respect for human rights, and that the steps were taken to bolster the ongoing dialogue between the government of Cuba and the Catholic Church.
(Source: The White House)
Source: The White House
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：古巴哈瓦那 Vedado 区黄昏天际线与海滨大道。（Kuhnmi 摄，CC BY 2.0，经 Wikimedia Commons） / Photo: Dusk skyline of the Vedado neighborhood and the Malecon in Havana, Cuba. (Kuhnmi, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons)
