Obama plans to remove Cuba from terrorism list
President Barack Obama told Congress on April 15 he intends to remove Cuba from a US list of state sponsors of terrorism, clearing the main obstacle to restoring diplomatic relations and reopening embassies shut for more than half a century.
Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro sat down at a Western Hemisphere summit in Panama on April 11 for the first meeting of its kind between US and Cuban leaders in nearly 60 years.
Foreign investors in Cuba said delisting the country would prove positive for the Caribbean island's economy. Banks could legally do business with Cuba while it was on the list but the regulations proved onerous, leading 20 banks to stop doing business with the Cuban government or Cuban interests in third countries over the past 18 months, Cuba said.
"The Cuban government recognizes the fair decision made by the president of the United States to eliminate Cuba from a list that it never should have been included on," Josefina Vidal, the Cuban foreign ministry's chief of US affairs, said in a statement.
US Secretary of State John Kerry said in a statement welcoming Obama's decision that "circumstances have changed since 1982,” when Cuba was listed “because of its efforts to promote armed revolution by forces in Latin America."
In his report to Congress, Obama certified that “the government of Cuba has not provided any support for international terrorism during the preceding six-month period,” and “has provided assurances that it will not support acts of international terrorism in the future.”
Congress has 45 days to consider Obama's decision before it takes effect.