WASHINGTON | The administration of Donald Trump announced Monday, nine days before the end of his mandate, that it had again placed Cuba in the American blacklist of “States supporting terrorism”, from which the island had been withdrawn in 2015 by Barack Obama.
“With this measure, we will again hold the government of Cuba responsible and send a clear message: the Castro regime must end its support for international terrorism and the subversion of American justice,” said the head of the government. US diplomacy Mike Pompeo in a statement referring to former Cuban leaders Fidel and Raul Castro.
He accuses Cuba, to justify this sanction, of having “repeatedly supported acts of international terrorism by providing refuge to terrorists”.
This last-minute decision risks making it more difficult for President-elect Joe Biden, who will take office on January 20, to reconnect with Havana. After the spectacular rapprochement under the Obama administration, the Trump administration has only hardened its positions with regard to communist power.
Cuba joins Iran, North Korea and Syria on the blacklist of states supporting terrorism. Sudan has just been withdrawn by Donald Trump.