Obama removes Cuba from list of terror sponsors
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President Obama has decided to lift the U.S. designation of Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism, a decision that removes a principal impediment to the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries and accepts that Havana’s role as an agent of revolution has long since slipped into history.
The long-awaited action, which was announced by the White House in a message to Congress on Tuesday, follows a pledge made by Obama and Cuban President Raúl Castro last December to move toward normalized relations.
Congress has 45 days to consider Cuba’s removal from the list before it takes effect, but it cannot interfere with Obama’s decision without voting on separate legislation, a measure that the White House has deemed unlikely.
In a news conference Saturday, Obama cited public opinion polls indicating that a majority of the American people approves of his opening to Cuba.
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