The Biden administration is set to lift Cuba’s designation as a state sponsor of terrorism, The Associated Press reported on Monday.
The decision, however, is likely to be reversed as early as next week as Donald Trump, a fierce critic of Cuba’s communist regime, takes office. Trump’s nominee for Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, a Cuban-American himself, shares the view.
Rubio is set to be one of many prominent Cuban-American who are now in position to take on significant roles in U.S. foreign policy under the incoming Trump administration, with a likely focus on the Caribbean island and the rest of Latin America. U.S. Representative Mario Diaz-Balart is also rumored to be in line to become the next lead the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and former U.S. Ambassador to the Organization of American States Carlos Trujillo is expected to be nominated for a key role in Latin American affairs.
Together, these three figures have consistently advocated for strict policies targeting the Cuban government, which has faced increased economic hardship from U.S. sanctions, as The Miami Herald reported in November. During the Obama administration’s efforts to restore diplomatic relations with Havana, Rubio staunchly opposed engagement policies, viewing them as concessions to a repressive regime:
“The President’s decision to reward the Castro regime and begin the path toward the normalization of relations with Cuba is inexplicable,” Rubio said at the time. “Cuba, like Syria, Iran, and Sudan, remains a state sponsor of terrorism…. Appeasing the Castro brothers will only cause other tyrants from Caracas to Tehran to Pyongyang to see that they can take advantage of President Obama’s naiveté during his final two years in office. As a result, America will be less safe.”
For the Cuban government, Trump’s victory and Rubio’s nomination come at an extremely difficult moment. Besides going through the most severe economic crisis in decades, the island has been rattled by a recent hurricane and back-to-back earthquakes which have left its already precarious infrastructure in shambles.
Originally published on Latin Times
