President Barack Obama could be close to removing Cuba from the U.S. state sponsors of terrorism list, even as critics say the Castro regime has not been punished for illegal arms transfers with rogue regimes and U.S. adversaries.
Obama said on Thursday that he would make a decision soon on whether to revoke Cuba’s designation as a state sponsor of terrorism. The State Department recommended Cuba’s removal from the list on Wednesday and asserted that its government had not supported terrorist groups in the last six months.
The potential move comes as Obama is seeking a rapprochement with the longtime U.S. adversary. Cuban President Raul Castro has demanded his country’s removal from the U.S.sponsors of terrorism list as one of the preconditions to restoring diplomatic ties.
Critics say that rescinding the Castro regime’s designation as a sponsor of terrorism would fail to penalize it for illicit weapons shipments. The terrorism designation includes a ban on defense exports and sales as well as other financial sanctions.
Despite the seizure of a North Korean ship in 2013 that was attempting to smuggle Cuban weapons concealed under bags of sugar into the hermetic rogue state, Cuba managed to avoid sanctions from both the United Nations Security Council and the U.S. Treasury Department. The illegal cargo included surface-to-air missile systems and launchers and MiG-21 jet fighters parts and engines—representing the largest violation to date of the U.N. arms embargo on North Korea. "This activity points to a clear and conscious attempt to circumvent U.S. and U.N. sanctions," Treasury said last year. Both the U.N. Security Council and Treasury sanctioned North Korean shipping companies but omitted the Cuban entities that were involved.
Last month, Columbian authorities interdicted a Hong Kong-based ship that was reportedly bound for Cuba. While the vessel’s crew said they were only carrying chemicals and spare parts, the ship’s cargo included 100 tons of gunpowder and 3,000 artillery shells.
Jose Cardenas, a former National Security Council staffer who focused on Latin America for the George W. Bush administration, said in an email that no longer listing Cuba as a sponsor of terrorism would be a "travesty" and "politically motivated."
"If Cuba doesn't belong on the list of state sponsors of terrorism then they may as well do away with the list," he said. "Not only do they continue their destabilizing activities to this very day but they have never once expressed any remorse for their spreading of terrorist violence in Latin America and other parts of the world."
Supporters of delisting Cuba have noted that the island government is already subject to sanctions from the longstanding U.S. trade embargo. But the Castro regime also has Russia and China on the U.N. Security Council as powerful allies that can neutralize calls for further restrictions, and U.S. officials could administratively rescind trade sanctions on Cuba as their diplomatic relations improve.
Obama must still send a report to Congress if he decides to lift Cuba’s terrorism designation. Members would then have 45 days to allow the removal to happen or attempt to prevent it with a joint resolution. Some lawmakers are likely to remain skeptical.
"The Obama administration chose to look the other way in both cases," said Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R., Fla.) on Tuesday in a reference to the illegal Cuban arms shipments on the North Korean and Chinese ships. "We should not reward the criminal behavior of a repressive regime that insists on continuing to abuse human rights."
Cuba was originally added to the sponsors of terrorism list in 1982 for supporting terrorist groups such as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia (FARC). While Havana has hosted peace talks between the Columbian government and FARC in recent years, the militant group has continued to attack civilians and complete arms purchases during the negotiations.
Obama is preparing to attend the Organization of American States’ (OAS) Summit of the Americas on Friday and Saturday in Panama, which Castro will attend for the first time. Cuba was previously banned from the OAS in the 1960s but accepted an invitation to this year’s summit with the blessing of the United States. Critics noted that Castro’s presence violates the OAS’ Inter-American Democratic Charter—a 2001 resolution that called for suspending non-democratic, unelected regimes such as Castro’s.
The summit has already evoked negative headlines. Prominent Cuban dissident Rosa Maria Paya was immediately arrested and held for four hours when she arrived in Panama on Sunday. Pro-Castro groups also harassed government opponents on Wednesday during a civil society forum.
Sen. Marco Rubio (R., Fla.) wrote in National Review on Thursday that Obama should press the Cuban leader on his government’s continued human rights violations and meet with Cuban dissidents in Panama.
"While I am under no illusions about President Obama’s being more interested in a photo op with Raúl Castro that his team can sell to the public as progress, I nonetheless believe it is a mistake to give a brutal dictator such legitimacy," he said. "The president should challenge Castro on all the recent arrests as well as on Cuba’s ongoing flagrant violations of international restrictions on weapons trafficking."