Cuba Named a State Sponsor of Terrorism by Trump Administration

WASHINGTON—The Trump administration is placing Cuba back on the record of countries regarded as point out sponsors of terrorism, rescinding a 2015 shift by the Obama administration to thaw ties to the onetime Cold War adversary.

The redesignation, introduced Monday, could complicate President-elect Joe Biden’s endeavours to boost ties with Havana. It is the most recent in a collection of international-policy steps the administration has taken in modern days to try to lock in guidelines in advance of it leaves business.

Secretary of Point out Mike Pompeo stated in a statement that the redesignation was warranted simply because Cuba has harbored several American fugitives, including a female accused of killing a New Jersey point out trooper in 1973. He also stated that Cuba has rebuffed Colombia’s extradition request for 10 users of the Countrywide Liberation Military, which is tied to a 2019 bombing in Bogota that killed 22 men and women.

Sen. Patrick Leahy, the Vermont Democrat who played an vital purpose in improving upon relations with Cuba through the Obama administration, denounced Mr. Pompeo’s shift as a “blatantly politicized designation” that was meant to complicate the incoming Biden administration’s diplomacy.

“Of program we have variations with the Cubans around fugitives from justice, as we do with many governments,” Mr. Leahy stated in a statement. “But the secretary of point out has carried out practically nothing constructive to tackle that dilemma for four many years, and this will only make it more durable to resolve.”