Rubio says Cuba belongs on list of sponsors of terrorism a day after Biden removed it

Just a day after President Joe Biden took Cuba off the list of nations that sponsor terrorism in exchange for the release of political prisoners, the deal is falling apart.

During his Senate confirmation hearing to become the next secretary of state, Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio said Cuba belongs on the list, adding the incoming Trump administration, which will take office on Monday, is not bound to follow through on Biden’s last-minute agreements.

When fellow Cuban-American Republican Sen. Ted Cruz asked if he believed Cuba was a state sponsor of terrorism, Rubio answered, “Without a question,” citing Cuba’s support of terrorist groups like the Colombian guerrilla FARC, the island’s ties to Iran, the existence of “two countries’ espionage stations” on its territory and the Cuban government “friendly” relations with with Hamas and Hezbollah.

He added that Cuba is harboring fugitives from American justice.

“There is zero doubt in my mind that they meet all the qualifications for being a state sponsor of terrorism,” he said.

While he fell short of committing to reversing the Biden administration’s decision, saying it was the president’s prerogative, he mentioned that his feelings and those of President-elect Donald Trump on Cuba are widely known.

“And nothing that the Biden administration has agreed to in the last 12 or 18 hours binds the next administration, which starts on Monday,” he added.

Rubio’s comments highlight the controversial timing and effect of Biden’s eleventh-hour decision in his last week in office, just days before an administration packed with Cuba hardliners — most notably Rubio himself — takes charge.

On Tuesday, the White House announced that it was removing Cuba from the list of countries that sponsor terrorism, that it was suspending again the right to sue companies that “traffic” in confiscated property in Cuba and that it was getting rid of a list of Cuban military companies and hotels that are banned from doing any business with the U.S.

In a statement, White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said the steps were taken “to support the Cuban people as part of an understanding with the Catholic Church under the leadership of Pope Francis and improve the livelihood of Cubans.”

Jean Pierre said President Biden was also “honoring the wisdom and counsel that has been provided to him by many world leaders, especially in Latin America, who have encouraged him to take these actions, on how best to advance the human rights of the Cuban people.”

Though officials said the measures were “unilateral” and avoided saying the release of more than 500 prisoners was contingent on taking Cuba off the list of sponsors of terrorism, Cardinal Seán O’Malley, Boston’s archbishop emeritus, hinted otherwise.

“President Biden has announced that the U.S. will make significant concessions to improve the lives of the Cuban people,” he said in a Tuesday statement. “This action has resulted in the decision of the Cuban government to respond to Pope Francis’ petition on behalf of the prisoners.”

The cardinal said he played a role in carrying messages from the Pope “to the Presidents of the United States and Cuba seeking the release of prisoners in Cuba and improved relationships between the two countries for the good of the Cuban people.

“Pope Francis’ patient and persistent efforts to assist the Cuban people and to foster greater understanding between our two peoples have been an underlying force in bringing about this historic agreement,” O’Malley added.

A source who asked not to be named to speak freely about the sensitive matter said Cuba had come up in conversations between President Biden, a Catholic, and Pope Francis over the years. In recent exchanges, the source said, the Pope signaled he was closed to a deal, but a U.S. gesture would help to deliver it.

But activists, Cuba observers and Washington insiders quickly questioned if the move was politically wise or effective. They asked whether much thought was given to understanding the situation on the ground in Cuba, where during the eight years following President Obama’s historic opening, the Cuban military has consolidated its grip on power and the island’s economy, including tourism.

“There is no justification for removing the Cuban dictatorship from the list of sponsors of terrorism, not only because of its support for international terrorism and also in the Americas, but because every day that dictatorship exercises state terrorism against Cuban citizens,” Cuban activist Rosa María Payá said. “The military entities that are now no longer regulated and will access funds thanks to this United States policy are the same ones that have accounts with billions of dollars abroad, while the Cuban people are dying of hunger.”

During his confirmation hearing, Rubio also highlighted the role played by GAESA, a conglomerate of companies created and controlled by Cuba’s military. Rubio mentioned a Miami Herald “exposé” that recently showed that “while you have electrical blackouts and you have all these other problems economically, in Cuba, GAESA is sitting on billions of dollars.” As a senator, Rubio was personally involved in designing the sanctions on GAESA that Biden rolled back.

Regardless, since Biden took office, progressive groups have been urging the administration to reverse Trump policies, including the list of restricted Cuban companies, because it makes group travel more difficult, since most hotels on the island are run by the Cuban military and are on the list.

On Wednesday morning, Cuban authorities released at least 14 political prisoners, including one minor, three Yoruba religious activists, people with medical issues and a woman who was pregnant while imprisoned, all convicted for joining island-wide anti-government protests on July 11, 2021.

But some doubt the Cuban government will free 553 political prisoners, because it publicly acknowledged in a statement Tuesday that the island’s removal from the list of terror sponsors could be shortlived. In a separate statement, the Cuban government said it would gradually release people who committed “several crimes,” raising fears authorities might pardon common criminals — rather than political prisoners — as it has done in the past, especially if they see the Trump administration moving quickly to undo the Biden measures.

But previewing how he sees the situation on the island, Rubio said Cuban authorities have a bigger, more existential choice to make.

“The moment of truth is arriving,” he said. “Cuba is literally collapsing, both generationally, in terms of all the young people leaving, but it’s also collapsing economically. They’re going to have a choice to make. Do they open up to the world? Do they allow the individual Cuban to have control over their economic and political destiny, even though it threatens the security and stability of the regime? Or do they triple down and just say we’d rather be the owners and controllers of a fourth world country that’s falling apart and has lost 10% of its population in the last two years?”