President Barack Obama will remove Cuba from the list of state sponsors of terrorism, the White House announced Tuesday, a key step in his bid to normalize relations between the two countries.
Obama made the final decision following a State Department review of Cuba's presence on the list. The terror designation has been a stain on Cuba's pride and a major stumbling block for efforts to mend ties between Washington and Havana.
In a message to Congress, Obama said the government of Cuba "has not provided any support for international terrorism" over the last six months. He also told lawmakers that Cuba "has provided assurances that it will not support acts of international terrorism in the future."
Tuesday's announcement comes days after Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro met on the sidelines of a regional summit in Panama. The talks marked the first formal meeting between the leaders of their countries in a half-century.
The U.S. has long since stopped actively accusing Cuba of supporting terrorism. When Obama and Castro announced a thaw in relations in December, the U.S. president expressed his willingness to remove Cuba from that list.
However, he held off on making a final decision amid indications that the White House was reluctant to grant Cuba's request until other thorny issues — such as restrictions on U.S. diplomats in Havana — were resolved.
Removing Cuba from the terror list could pave the way for the opening of a U.S. Embassy in Havana and other steps.
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It's a move some leaders and locals staunchly oppose.
Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen said, "It's obscene to remove Cuba from the list, Cuba earned a place there by giving refuge to terrorists and others who elude justice."
Republican Sen. Marco Rubio, a Cuban-American from Miami, said it was a "terrible" move.
"The decision made by the White House today is a terrible one but not surprising unfortunately," Rubio said in a statement. "Cuba is a state sponsor of terrorism, they harbor fugitives of American justice including someone who killed a police officer in New Jersey over 30 years ago, it's also the country that's helping North Korea evade weapons sanctions by the United Nations. They should have remained on the list of state sponsors or terrorism and it sends a chilling message to our enemies abroad that this White House is no longer serious about calling terrorism by its proper name."
Cuba was designated a state sponsor of terror in 1982 because of what the White House said was its efforts "to promote armed revolution by organizations that used terrorism."
White House press secretary Josh Earnest said that taking Cuba off the terror list does not change the fact that the U.S. has difference with the island nation's government.
"Our concerns over a wide range of Cuba's policies and actions fall outside the criteria that is relevant to whether to rescind Cuba's designation as a state sponsor of terrorism," Earnest said.
Andy Gomez, an expert on Cuba questions the move, but says it is a bold one.
"This is the first American president that takes the high road and said well, 'lets try to do something with Cuba,' so I will give the Obama Administration that much credit, but my point is I haven't seen anything behind it to support the first step."
Others in South Florida agree with the move.
"We just cut them off, America goes out and helps other countries, why not help a country 90 miles away," said Joshua Garcia of Miami
President Obama's move isn't final. It's needs to be approved by Congress and local Republicans are already setup to fight.
"We're going to file a bill to try to stop it, we've got the votes to do it I'm very optimistic," said Ros-Lehtinen.
It remains to be seen if Raul Castro now makes a move, maybe a concession after this major step by the Obama Administration.
Until Tuesday, the communist island nation remained one of four countries on the U.S. list of nations accused of repeatedly supporting global terrorism. The countries still on the list are Iran, Sudan and Syria.
