US Officially Takes Cuba Off State-Sponsored Terrorism List

US President Barack Obama waves to the photographers as he returns to the South Lawn of the White House in Washington DC, USA, 28 May 2015, after touring the National Hurricane Center in Miami. EPA/BGNES

The United States has formally dropped Cuba from its list of countries sponsoring terrorism, opening the way for a full renewal of diplomatic relations.

“The rescission of Cuba’s designation as a State Sponsor of Terrorism reflects our assessment that Cuba meets the statutory criteria for rescission,” the State Department said in a statement on Friday.

"While the United States has significant concerns and disagreements with a wide range of Cuba's policies and actions, these fall outside the criteria relevant to the rescission of a State Sponsor of Terrorism designation," the statement read.

The removal will give Cuba greater access to sources of international financing that were previously denied, the BBC commented in its coverage of the news.

The announcement comes 45 days after US President Barack Obama said in Congress that he intends to remove Cuba from the list of state sponsors of terrorism. Congress could have blocked the move during that period.

 

 

 

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