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State Department Officially Removes Cuba from Terror Sponsor List

The State Department formally dropped Cuba from its State Sponsors of Terrorism List on May 29, in another step towards normalization of bilateral trade and diplomatic ties. “While the United States has significant concerns and disagreements with a wide range…

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of Cuba’s policies and actions, these fall outside the criteria relevant to the rescission of a State Sponsor of Terrorism designation,” said a State spokesman (here). The Obama administration launched the process to remove Cuba from the list in mid-April (see 1504140039). That move began a 45-day period for Congress to act to prevent the removal, but lawmakers allowed the window to lapse without any action. Lifting the terror label is critical to normalizing ties, but likely won’t lead to immediate sanctions relief, sanctions experts have said (see 1504090066).