Cuba said it will release 553 political prisoners after the Biden administration announced Tuesday it is removing Cuba from the list of state sponsors of terrorism and taking other “goodwill” actions.
The Catholic Church had been negotiating with the communist-run government over the release of the prisoners. Most of them were jailed following unprecedented islandwide protests in July 2021. A brutal crackdown initially led to the arrests of more than 1,000 people. Many faced prison sentences of up to 30 years.
“I thank all those who contributed to the decision announced today by the United States to remove Cuba from the list of state sponsors of terrorism, where it should never have been,” Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel wrote on X. “Together with two other measures adopted, they have had a high cost for the country and Cuban families.”
Before Cuba’s announcement, a senior administration official told reporters that to support the Catholic Church and facilitate the agreement, Biden would notify Congress that he seeks to remove Cuba from the terrorism list, as well as to take other actions.
“An assessment has been completed, and we do not have information that supports Cuba’s designation as being a state sponsor of terrorism,” the Biden official said.
President-elect Donald Trump designated Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism shortly before he left office in January 2021, five years after President Barack Obama removed it. Trump can reverse Biden’s actions as soon as he takes office next week.
Three Cuban American Republican members of Congress from Florida, Mario Díaz Balart, Maria Elvira Salazár and Carlos Gimenez, posted a video on X, rejecting Biden’s moves and calling them “pathetic.”
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, whose father is Cuban, criticized Biden’s actions. “Today’s decision is unacceptable on its merits,” he wrote in a statement. “The terrorism advanced by the Cuban regime has not ceased. I will work with President Trump and my colleagues to immediately reverse and limit the damage from the decision.”
In Cuba, Havana residents welcomed the news about Biden’s actions.
“This is definitely good for our country, because we would have more possibilities, more resources. It’s an advancement. One step at a time,” said Dainerys Hernández, a bartender.
Joel Rivera, a public worker, agreed. “I think it’s a good decision. It’s true that we need to be taken off that list, because we shouldn’t be there in the first place,” he said.
In addition to removing Cuba from the list, the Biden administration will issue a waiver for Title III of the Helms Burton Act, which allows the original owners of Cuban properties confiscated decades ago to sue foreign companies “trafficking” in them.
In 2019, Trump was the first president not to waive Title III. Every president before him had waived the 1996 law, officially called the Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity Act, every six months, fearing it could harm U.S. trade.
“We expect and anticipate that these measures announced today will bring very quick relief to the many dozens of Cubans who were arrested in conjunction with the July 2021 protests, as well as bring relief to their family members,” the Biden official said.
Biden is also easing some economic pressure on Cuba by rescinding National Security Presidential Memorandum 5, which was originally established on June 16, 2017.
“Today’s actions demonstrate that President Biden’s Cuba policy, which is focused on achieving practical results with respect to human rights in Cuba, will pay dividends for the Cuban people,” the senior administration official said.
Speculation over Trump’s foreign policy has swirled, particularly because of the potential influence of Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., a Cuban American who is Trump’s pick for secretary of state. Rubio, a foreign policy hawk, has always advocated for a hard-line policy toward Cuba.
Mauricio Claver-Carone, the architect of some of Trump’s tough Latin America policies during his first administration, was chosen as special envoy for Latin America.
CORRECTION (Jan. 14, 2025, 9:36 p.m. ET): A previous version of this article misstated the status of political prisoners in Cuba. They will be released; they have not been released.
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