U.S. President Joe Biden is expected to revoke Cuba’s designation as a “state sponsor of terrorism” with less than a week left in his term, according to anonymous sources familiar with his plans.

The Associated Press reported the news on Tuesday, citing U.S. officials. But the move is likely to be a symbolic measure rather than a lasting policy.

With President-elect Donald Trump set to be inaugurated on January 20, the decision could be reversed quickly under the incoming administration. Still, the Biden administration moved forward, notifying Congress of its intentions.

“The assessment has been completed and we have no information to support designation of Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism,” a White House official told AFP.

Meanwhile, Cuban officials claimed the news was long overdue. Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez called Biden’s actions “positive” on social media but had “limited” effects.

“Cuba should never be included in any arbitrary list of countries that sponsor terrorism,” he wrote. “This is an arbitrary and politically motivated designation that has had a very serious impact on the Cuban population, harming the economy, creating scarcity, and encouraging immigration to the United States.”

However, this is not the first time sanctions against Cuba have been lifted and reassigned. Republicans quickly announced their intention to oppose the change.

“Today’s decision is unacceptable on its merits,” Cuban-American Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas said in a statement to the media.

“The terrorism perpetrated by the Cuban regime has not stopped. I will work with President Trump and my colleagues to immediately reverse and limit the damage caused by this decision.”

cold war policy

Cuba was first designated a “state sponsor of terrorism” in 1982, during the presidency of conservative leader Ronald Reagan.

The U.S. State Department explains on its website that Cuba is sanctioned for its “long history of providing advice, haven, communications, training, and financial support to guerrillas and individual terrorists.”

The designation was developed during the final decade of the Cold War. Diplomatic ties between the two countries had long since been severed by then, due in large part to Cuba’s close ties with America’s Cold War rival, the Soviet Union.

At that time, Cuba also withstood a decades-long U.S. trade embargo.

However, being labeled a “state sponsor of terrorism” further isolates the Caribbean nation, limiting its ability to engage in financial transactions with U.S. institutions and barring it from receiving U.S. aid.

Before Tuesday’s announcement, only three countries, besides Cuba, had been designated by the United States as “state sponsors of terrorism.” These include North Korea, Iran and Syria.

back and forth

However, Biden’s decision echoes that of his close Democratic ally, former President barack obama.

Biden served as vice president during both Obama terms, including in 2015, when his administration pursued “thaw” in U.S.-Cuba relations.

In April of the same year, Obama announced that Cuba would be removed from the list of “state sponsors of terrorism.” Meeting With then-Cuban President Raul Castro.

At the time, Obama assured Congress that Cuba “has pledged not to support acts of international terrorism in the future.”

A few months later, in July 2015, Obama went a step further and announced that the United States would re-establish formal diplomatic relations Cooperation with Cuba for the first time since the 1960s.

“Despite our best intentions, our efforts to isolate Cuba, instead of supporting democracy and opportunity for the Cuban people, increasingly have the opposite effect: entrenching the status quo and isolating the United States from our hemispheric neighbors,” Obama said at the time. relationship.” “We don’t have to be imprisoned by the past.”

He pointed out that Cuba is less than 150 kilometers (90 miles) from the Florida coastline.

But when Trump succeeded Obama as president in 2017, he took a tougher approach to foreign policy, including sanctions About Cuban products.

January 12, 2021 at Days of decline Trump during his first term Restore Cuba to list “State sponsors of terrorism.”

“With this action, we will once again hold the Cuban government accountable and send a clear message: The Castro regime must end its support of international terrorism and subversion of American justice,” Trump’s then-Secretary of State Mike Mike Pompeo said in a statement. statement.

He accused Cuba of providing food, housing and medical care to murderers, bomb-makers and hijackers for decades.

At the same time, the Cuban government cursed This change is “hypocrisy” and “political opportunism.”

a political group

After Trump was re-elected in November, there was speculation that Biden himself might take similar steps and use the final days of his presidency to reverse Trump’s decisions.

For example, on November 15, a group of Democratic representatives, led by outgoing Congresswoman Barbara Lee, sent a letter to the Biden White House urging “immediate action” to address the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Cuba.

The letter mentioned the death toll Hurricane Rafael The island’s crumbling energy infrastructure leads to frequent power failure. Since 2021, Cuba has also appeared Number of records of citizens are leaving the border due to economic instability.

“This situation is not only causing tremendous suffering to the Cuban people, but also poses a serious risk to U.S. national security interests,” the letter said. “If left unaddressed, this crisis will almost certainly exacerbate an increase in migration and impose strain on the U.S. border management system.” pressure and completely destabilize an already tense Caribbean region.”

By removing Cuba’s status as a “state sponsor of terrorism,” the letter writers said more oil resources could reach the island, thereby “facilitating access to energy and economic relief for the Cuban people.”

But Florida Republican Sen. Rick Scott denounced the proposal as an “unacceptable risk.”

His state has a large population of Cuban refugees who fled repression and economic instability in Cuba in the second half of the 20th century and formed a powerful Republican-leaning voting bloc.

In a statement to The Florida Phoenix, Scott said: “Democratic communist sympathizers calling on President Biden in the 11th hour of the Biden administration to remove Cuba from the list of state sponsors of terrorism are not only Ignorant and dangerous.”

Trump’s nominee for secretary of state, Sen. Marco Rubio, a descendant of Cuban immigrants, has similarly criticized efforts to lift government restrictions on the island.

He has previously called Obama’s efforts to normalize relations “one-sided concession“.