Trump administration taking steps to designate Cuba as state sponsor of terrorism in coming days
The Trump administration will soon take steps toward designating Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism as an 11th hour effort to create hurdles for the incoming Biden administration, which is likely to pursue warmer ties with Havana.
A senior administration official told CNN that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is expected to make the designation in the coming days. A second official confirmed that discussions are taking place, although the timing is uncertain.
The Cuban government has already denounced the move, which is one of a series of bold initiatives the Trump administration is taking as it attempts to leave a lasting imprint on US foreign policy with just three weeks left before President Donald Trump leaves office.
December 28, 2020
ANKARA
Cuba on Monday blasted the US move to issue pardons for war criminals convicted of killing civilians in Iraq.
“The pardons granted to war criminals hired by the US as mercenaries say much about both the perpetrators and the government that hired and pardoned them,” Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla said on Twitter.
His remarks came days after US President Donald Trump pardoned four employees of Blackwater Security Consulting, an American private military company, who killed civilians in Iraq and were found guilty by a US court in 2014.
Employees shot at Iraqi civilians, killing 17 and injuring 20 in Nisour Square, Baghdad on Sept. 16, 2007, as they were escorting a US embassy convoy.