The inclusion of Cuba on the U.S. list of countries that allegedly sponsor terrorism today generates countless difficulties for the island's families, denounced two prominent U.S. political figures.
This was endorsed in an opinion article published in The Boston Globe, a Massachusetts newspaper, by Democratic Representative Jim McGovern and Patrick Leahy, former president pro tempore of the Senate, who was a member of that legislative body from 1975 to January of this year.
According to the signatories of the article, almost all intelligence officials and diplomats of the Democratic and Republican administrations agree that the designation given to the Caribbean country during the last days of Donald Trump's term (2017-2021) lacks any merit.
That is why President Barack Obama (2009-2017) removed it from the list in 2015, however, more than half of President Joe Biden's first administration having passed, the island remains in that category, they alleged.
They remarked that this means that private industry, religious groups, non-governmental organizations, universities and even foreign governments are at risk of U.S. retaliation for almost any kind of aid, business, investment or trade with Cuban citizens.
While ending the 60-year economic, financial and trade embargo - a Cold War anachronism that has achieved none of its objectives - requires an act of Congress, there are intermediate steps that should be taken immediately, McGovern and Leahy said.
First, the White House should take Cuba off the list of sponsors of terrorism. It is an open secret in Washington that the Caribbean country does not belong on the list and that the Trump administration's previous false justification was politically motivated, they said.
Second, Biden should eliminate Title III of the Helms-Burton Act which, they added, is a misguided attempt to intimidate other countries into unwittingly joining efforts to punish the island's people and businessmen, exacerbating their hardship by impeding trade and investment.
Third, they argued that the current administration should expand diplomatic dialogue with Cuba on issues such as migration, maritime security and environmental protection, as well as facilitate the export of U.S. agricultural products and strengthen collaboration on health issues.
Finally, the U.S. president should allow more of his nationals to travel to the island, said the signatories in the article entitled "Biden should take Cuba off the list of state sponsors of terrorism".