What happened
President Joe Biden informed Congress Tuesday he was removing Cuba from the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism and easing other sanctions on the island nation.
An hour after Biden’s announcement, Cuba said President Miguel Díaz-Canel had agreed to “gradually” release 553 prisoners following talks with Pope Francis. U.S. officials suggested the two decisions were linked.
Who said what
Biden’s last-minute moves are the “latest in a series of conflicting U.S. approaches to Cuba by different administrations,” The New York Times said. President-elect Donald Trump put Cuba on the terrorism blacklist “in the final hours of his first term,” Reuters said, cutting Havana off from international banking and leading to a “deep economic crisis” that “stoked a record-breaking exodus off the island” and mostly to the U.S.
Biden officials have “long acknowledged there has been little justification for Cuba’s presence on a list that will now include only North Korea, Iran and Syria,” The Washington Post said. An administration official said a recent policy review had found “no credible evidence” of “ongoing support by Cuba for international terrorism.”
What next?
Trump has “filled his team with officials hawkish on Cuba,” so Biden’s Cuba detente is “not likely to last,” CNN said.