The US State Department has finally removed Cuba from its list of state sponsors of terrorism, in a move of huge if mainly symbolic importance. The US’s trade embargo on Cuba remains, and will need a vote in Congress to be overturned.
Earlier this year President Barak Obama announced the intention to take Cuba off the list, giving Congress 45 days to object before the announcement took effect. In the absence of organised opposition, Cuba’s name was automatically removed from the list.
The irony is that the US itself is a documented sponsor of terrorism. The removal of Cuba from the list comes just two weeks after documents obtained by the American campaigning organisation Judicial Watch showed graphically how the US government shipped weapons to Syrian “rebels” knowing that they were headed to al Qaeda and ISIS.