The White House, while still remaining mum about the timing of the results of a State Department evaluation of whether Cuba should remain on the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism, said President Obama considers the review “a natural part” of the normalization process.
Presidential press secretary Josh Earnest for a second straight day declined to say whether the State Department would wrap up work on the review and make an announcement before or during the Summit of the Americas. The summit is set to take place Friday and Saturday in Panama.
“I’m not going to make any news in terms of the status of that ongoing review by the administration,” Earnest said. “But, you know, the president believes that reviewing their inclusion on the list is a natural part of taking the kinds of steps that the president believes is in the best interest of the United States as we seek to re-establish diplomatic ties with Cuba.”
Being removed from the U.S. state sponsors of terrorism list is a major priority for the Cuban government. As the two countries seek to open full embassies in each other’s countries, President Raul Castro has said U.S. failure to lift Cuba from the sponsors of terrorism list would be a major stumbling block.
Critics of Obama’s decision to renew diplomatic ties with Cuba, such as Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., and Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., both Cuban-Americans, say any decision to remove the island nation from the list would overlook years of collaboration with countries that either engage in terrorism or are openly hostile to the U.S.
Last year, they point out, Cuba was caught violating a United Nations Security Council resolution by working with Pyongyang to smuggle jets, missile batteries, and other weaponry into North Korea. And, just earlier this month, the Colombian government detained a Chinese ship trafficking explosives and arms to Cuba.
In addition, the Castro regime is harboring dozens of American fugitives, including cop killers, plane hijackers, bombmakers, and arms traffickers.
