U.S. State Department Says U.S. Policies Support Cuban Democracy

At the December 14 U.S. State Department press conference the subject of the recent repeated U.S. inclusion of Cuba on the list of state sponsors of terrorism was addressed.[1]

It was prompted by this reporter’s question:

• “At the end of the Trump administration, they designated Cuba as a State Sponsor of Terror. Last week in a briefing with Congress, the State Department told members of Congress that they have not even begun a review of whether Cuba should be removed from the State Sponsor of Terror list. As you know, there’s been 450,000 migrants that have flown out of Cuba over the last two years. The economy has been decimated as a result of this designation. Why hasn’t the review begun?”

The response by the Department’s Spokesperson, Matthew Miller, [2] was the following:

• “As we have said previously, should there be any rescission of the State Sponsor of Terrorism status, it would need to be consistent with a specific statutory criteria for rescinding that determination. Any review of Cuba’s status on the list, should one ever happen, would be based on the law and the criteria established by Congress, but the President and Secretary Blinken remain committed to the policies that we have advanced that will advance the democratic aspirations of the Cuban people.”

Conclusion

The most recent inclusion of Cuba on the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism occurred on November 30, 2023. As that report indicated, “Cuba’s designation was rescinded in 2015 [by the Obama Administration] after a thorough review found that the country met the statutory criteria for rescission.” And this blog stated that “is still the proper conclusion.”[3]

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[1] U.S. State Dep’t, Department Press Briefing—December 14, 2023; USA: ‘the policies adopted are to support the democratic aspirations of the people of Cuba,’ Diario de Cuba (Dec. 15, 2023).

[2] “Matthew Miller is the Spokesperson for the U.S. Department of State. He previously served as a special advisor to the National Security Council at the White House, leading the U.S. government’s communications and legislative affairs on the war in Ukraine. During the Biden transition, he ran Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s confirmation. Miller served as the Director of the Office of Public Affairs at the Department of Justice during the Obama administration and has worked in leadership positions in both the U.S. House and Senate, serving as communications director for the House Democratic Caucus and for Senator Charles Schumer at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. Miller has also worked for Senator Robert Menendez and for numerous political campaigns, including the 2004 Kerry presidential campaign and the 2012 Obama campaign. He is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin.”(U.S. State Department, Matthew Miller, Department Spokesperson (April 24, 2023—Present).)

[3] Cuba Still on U.S. List of State Sponsors of Terrorism, dwkcommentaries.com (Dec. 1, 2023).