The Joe Biden administration appeared willing to renew its assessment that Cuba is among a handful of countries doing so “not fully cooperating” with the United States in the fight against terrorismsuch an official document.
Formal publication of the decision is scheduled for Friday, but Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez appeared to be responding to a draft notice in the Federal Register signed by Foreign Minister Antony Blinken. he condemned it as another lie from Washington.
Tensions have risen over signs that Cuba — along with Nicaragua and the government of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro — it could be excluded from the Summit of the Americas being organized by the United States next month.
“I hereby state and certify to Congress that the following countries are not fully cooperating with United States counterterrorism efforts,” Blinken wrote. Listing Cuba along with Iran, North Korea, Syria and Venezuela.
The May 11 notice was marked as “Document of Public Inspection.” A State Department spokesman did not respond to a Reuters question on whether it would be amended or released as written Friday.
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When asked to explain the US decision on Cuba, the spokesman said that “we are undertaking a review of a country’s overall level of cooperation in our counter-terrorism efforts, taking into account our counter-terrorism goals with that country and a realistic assessment of its capabilities.”
The draft assessment is almost identical to the one issued by the Biden administration a year ago in return, it stuck to the determination of Donald Trump’s mandate.
“UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. He is well aware of Cuba’s clean record in the fight against terrorism and the Cuban experience of being a victim of state terrorism. Use defamation of such a sensitive issue as an excuse to do so Continuation of the incessant economic war, which is universally opposed”Rodriguez said on Twitter.
Shortly before leaving office, Trump referred to Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism. Critics called this decision unjustified and intended to complicate Biden’s rapprochement with Havana.