In the wake of President Obama’s meeting with Cuban President Raul Castro during a regional summit in Panama, he has decided to remove Cuba from the state sponsor of terrorism list. Presidents from the two nations haven’t met for talks in nearly 50 years.
Yahoo! News reports that the State Department reviewed Cuba’s presence on the list before deciding to remove them.
Cuba “has not provided any support for international terrorism” within the last six months, and the nation “has provided assurances that it will not support acts of international terrorism in the future,” according to President Obama’s message to Congress.
This has been a known barrier for Cuba’s attitude towards the U.S., so its reversal should continue to pave the way for more open relations with the U.S.
Cuba was first added to the list in 1982.
This is just one in a long line of “differences” that the U.S. still has with Cuba’s government, though.
“Our concerns over a wide range of Cuba’s policies and actions fall outside the criteria that is relevant to whether to rescind Cuba’s designation as a state sponsor of terrorism,” White House press secretary Josh Earnest said.