Pompeo weighs plan to place Cuba on US terrorism sponsor list
The New York Times
30th December, 2020 11:04:23
State Department officials have drawn up a proposal to designate Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism, a final-hour foreign policy move that would complicate plans by the incoming Biden administration to relax increased American pressure on Havana.
With three weeks left until Inauguration Day, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo must decide whether to sign off on the plan, according to two U.S. officials, a move that would also serve as a thank-you to Cuban-Americans and other anti-communist Latinos in Florida who strongly supported President Trump and his fellow Republicans in the November election.
Pompeo weighs plan to place Cuba on US terrorism sponsor list
By Michael Crowley, Charlie Savage and Eric Schmitt New York Times,Updated December 29, 2020, 9:45 p.m.
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Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.OLIVER CONTRERAS/NYT
State Department officials have drawn up a proposal to designate Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism, a final-hour foreign policy move that would complicate plans by the incoming Biden administration to relax increased American pressure on Havana.
With three weeks left until Inauguration Day, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo must decide whether to sign off on the plan, according to two U.S. officials, a move that would also serve as a thank-you to Cuban Americans and other anti-communist Latinos in Florida who strongly supported President Donald Trump and his fellow Republicans in the November election.
Updated: 30 Dec 2020, 17:03
PLANS have been drawn up by officials to name Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism.
If approved, the final-hour foreign policy move would hinder potential plans by president-elect Joe Biden for diplomacy with the island and to relax increasing American pressure on the capital, Havana.
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Mike Pompeo has three weeks to decide whether to sign off plans to designate Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism Credit: copyright notice
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Miguel Diaz-Canel, president of CubaCredit: Getty Images - Getty
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo now has just three weeks until inauguration day to sign off plans, the New York Times has reported, citing two US officials.
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HAVANA (Reuters) - Cuban authorities have placed around a dozen artists and activists under house arrest and sporadically interrupted access to social media following a rare rights protest two weeks ago, according to the dissidents and internet freedom observatory NetBlocks.
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The sit-in of several hundred people outside Cuba’s culture ministry calling for greater freedom of expression on Nov. 27 was highly uncommon for the one-party, Communist-run state and came at a sensitive time, given a deep economic crisis.
The protest underscored a strengthening civil society, in particular in the wake of the advent of mobile internet two years ago, and garnered unusually broad support among Cuban creatives who have a high standing on the island.
Cuban dissidents report house arrests and social media blackouts since protest msn.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from msn.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.