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<b>Senior U.S. administration officials, who previewed the
announcement on the condition of anonymity, said ”many dozens” of
political prisoners and others considered by the U.S. to be
unjustly detained would be released by the end of the Biden
administration at noon on Jan. 20. </b>
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<p><b>The U.S. would also ease some economic pressure on Cuba,
as well as a 2017 memorandum issued by then-President
Donald Trump toughening <span><a
href="https://apnews.com/article/b7b38b001b354e7785997ade76e4d9be"
moz-do-not-send="true">U.S. posture toward Cuba</a></span>.
</b></p>
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<div><a
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<h1 class="gmail-reader-title">Certification of
Rescission of Cuba’s Designation as a State Sponsor of
Terrorism | The White House</h1>
<div class="gmail-credits gmail-reader-credits">The
White House</div>
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<div class="gmail-reader-estimated-time">January 14,
2025<br>
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<p>Certification of Rescission of Cuba’s
Designation as a State Sponsor of Terrorism</p>
<p>Pursuant to the Constitution and the laws of
the United States, and consistent with
sections 1754(c) and 1768(c) of the National
Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019
(50 U.S.C. 4813(c) and 4826(c)), I hereby
certify with respect to the rescission of the
determination of January 12, 2021, regarding
Cuba that:</p>
<p> (i) The Government of Cuba has not
provided any support for international
terrorism during the preceding 6-month period;
and</p>
<p> (ii) The Government of Cuba has
provided assurances that it will not support
acts of international terrorism in the future.</p>
<p>This certification shall also satisfy the
provisions of section 620A(c)(2) of the
Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C.
2371(c)(2)), section 40(f)(1)(B) of the Arms
Export Control Act, Public Law 90-629, as
amended (22 U.S.C. 2780 (f)(1)(B)), and, to
the extent applicable, section 6(j)(4)(B) of
the Export Administration Act of 1979, Public
Law 96-72, as amended (50 U.S.C. App.2405(j)),
and as continued in effect by Executive Order
13222 of August 17, 2001.</p>
<p> JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR.</p>
<p> </p>
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<h1 class="gmail-reader-title">Biden moves
to lift state sponsor of terrorism
designation for Cuba, part of deal to free
prisoners</h1>
<div
class="gmail-credits gmail-reader-credits">By
MATTHEW LEE, AAMER MADHANI, COLLEEN LONG
and ZEKE MILLER</div>
<div
class="gmail-credits gmail-reader-credits">January
14, 2025<br>
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<p> <span>Updated 12:01 PM PST,
January 14, 2025</span> </p>
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<p>WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden
administration on Tuesday is
notifying Congress of its intent to
lift the U.S. designation of <span><a
href="https://apnews.com/hub/cuba" moz-do-not-send="true">Cuba</a></span>
as a state sponsor of terrorism, the
White House announced, as part of a
deal facilitated by the Catholic
Church to free political prisoners
on the island.</p>
<p>Senior U.S. administration
officials, who previewed the
announcement on the condition of
anonymity, said ”many dozens” of
political prisoners and others
considered by the U.S. to be
unjustly detained would be released
by the end of the Biden
administration at noon on Jan. 20. </p>
<p>The U.S. would also ease some
economic pressure on Cuba, as well
as a 2017 memorandum issued by
then-President Donald Trump
toughening <span><a
href="https://apnews.com/article/b7b38b001b354e7785997ade76e4d9be"
moz-do-not-send="true">U.S.
posture toward Cuba</a></span>.
</p>
<p>The determination by the outgoing
one-term Democrat is likely to be
reversed as early as next week after
Trump, the Republican who is now
president-elect, takes office and
Secretary of State-designate <span><a
href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-marco-rubio-secretary-of-state-25664371f80dcf3332838352165e4d48"
moz-do-not-send="true">Marco
Rubio</a></span> assumes the
position of America’s top diplomat.
</p>
<p>Rubio, whose family left Cuba in
the 1950s before the communist
revolution that brought <span><a
href="https://apnews.com/article/cuba-florida-obituaries-5ef60f67cefb46869c5b6e5814588dec"
moz-do-not-send="true">Fidel
Castro</a></span> to power, has
long been a proponent of sanctions
on the communist island. Rubio will
appear before the Senate Foreign
Relations Committee on Wednesday for
his confirmation hearing and is
expected to address his Cuban roots
in his testimony.</p>
<p>In the final days of Trump’s first
administration, on Jan. 11, 2021,
the White House <span><a
href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-mike-pompeo-cuba-venezuela-foreign-policy-41ddf75b0c13d290cd539d90e6227b0a"
moz-do-not-send="true">reinstated
the designation</a></span>,
which had been reversed during the
period of rapprochement between Cuba
and the United States during
President Barack Obama’s second term
in office. In doing so, the Trump
administration cited Cuba’s support
for Venezuela’s leader, Nicolas
Maduro, and its refusal to extradite
Colombian rebels to Colombia, among
other issues, including its
continued harboring of wanted
Americans.</p>
<p>The move to designate Cuba by Trump
was one of several foreign policy
moves he made in the final days of
his first term.</p>
<p>Human rights groups and activists,
including the U.S. Conference of
Catholic Bishops, have been pressing
the Biden administration to lift the
designation.</p>
<p>Congress and the incoming Trump
administration will have the
opportunity to review and
potentially reverse Biden’s actions,
though the senior U.S.
administration officials said the
Biden administration had determined
there was “no credible evidence”
that Cuba was currently engaged in
supporting international terrorism.</p>
<p>There was no immediate comment from
the Trump transition team or from
Rubio or his office, but one of his
Republican colleagues on the Senate
Foreign Relations Committee, Texas
Sen. Ted Cruz, quickly denounced the
Biden administration move.</p>
<p>“Today’s decision is unacceptable
on its merits,” Cruz said 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.”
</p>
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