On October 18, 2024, in downtown Havana, Cuba, a man with a tattoo of the late revolutionary hero Ernesto Che Guevara wore a T-shirt printed with the colors of the American flag.
Norris Perez | Reuters
The Biden administration is expected to lift the U.S. designation of Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism on Tuesday, according to U.S. officials familiar with the matter. The officials were not authorized to comment and insisted on anonymity to discuss the move, which has not yet been publicly announced.
White House National Security Council officials declined to comment.
The decision could be overturned as early as next week after President-elect Donald Trump is inaugurated and incoming Secretary of State-designate Marco Rubio takes over as the nation’s top diplomat.
Rubio, whose family fled Cuba before the communist revolution brought Fidel Castro to power in the 1950s, has long supported sanctions on the communist island. Rubio will appear before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for a confirmation hearing on Wednesday and is expected to discuss his Cuban heritage in testimony.
On January 11, 2021, in the final days of Trump’s first administration, the White House reinstated the designation, which had been revoked during Cuba’s rapprochement with the United States during President Barack Obama’s second term.
In the process, the Trump administration cited Cuba’s support for Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and its refusal to extradite Colombian rebels to Colombia, including continuing to harbor wanted Americans.
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