Letter to President Biden
29 March 2023
President Joseph R. Biden
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20500
Re: Please remove Cuba from the State Sponsors of Terrorism list
Dear President Biden,
We are concerned that your policies toward Cuba, which are so far more aligned with those of President Trump than President Obama, are hurting the well-being of the Cuban people. One positive and principled measure that you could easily implement is to remove Cuba from the U.S. list of State Sponsors of Terrorism (SSOT).
As you are aware, in the last days of the outgoing Trump administration, then Secretary of State Mike Pompeo added Cuba back onto the list of state sponsors of terrorism, after it had been removed from the list in 2015 by the Obama-Biden administration. After a significant review, the Obama-Biden White House had certified that “(i) the Government of Cuba has not provided any support for international terrorism during the preceding 6-month period; and (ii) the Government of Cuba has provided assurances that it will not support acts of international terrorism in the future.”
Trump’s re-designation of Cuba to the list was a political move to please conservative Cuban-Americans. The only "new" basis was that Cuba was supposedly providing safe haven for Colombian insurgents, but these insurgents were in Cuba because of the island’s role in facilitating the historic Peace Accords between the Colombian government and guerrilla groups, as part of peace negotiations sponsored jointly by Norway and Cuba. Colombia's president has called for removing Cuba from the SSOT.
As former Special Advisor on Cuba affairs to President Clinton, Richard Nuccio, noted, “Frankly, I don’t know anyone in or outside of government who believes in private that Cuba belongs on the terrorist list. People who defend it know it is a political calculation. It keeps a certain part of the voting public in Florida happy, and it doesn’t cost anything.” (Quoted in https://acere.org/lawyers-ask-biden-to-remove-cuba-from-the-state-sponsors-of-terrorism-list/)
However, continuing that unfounded designation does cost the Cuban people dearly. It significantly impedes both trade and travel relations with other nations, including our allies. This is largely why they have joined over 180 nations in calling for an end to over 60 years of US sanctions in annual votes in the United Nations General Assembly.
President Biden, you could remove Cuba from this terrorist list with a stroke of your pen. We call on you to do so.
Sincerely,
Steve Watrous, President
cc: Senator Tammy Baldwin
Senator Ron Johnson
Representative Gwen Moore
Representative Bryan Steil
Representative Scott Fitzgerald
The United Nations Association of Greater Milwaukee
P.O. Box 511638, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53203
