Biden will remove Cuba from the list of state sponsors of terrorism

President Biden will remove Cuba from the list of state sponsors of terrorism, U.S. officials said Tuesday, in a deal expected to free protesters imprisoned during a sweeping crackdown on dissent by the communist government in 2021.

Removing Cuba from the list would generally raise expectations of improved relations between Washington and Havana and renewed hope for economic investment in Cuba.

But Mr. Biden’s decision is just the latest in a series of contradictory U.S. approaches to Cuba by different administrations. The Obama administration made the decision to remove the terrorism designation for Cuba as part of a broader effort to normalize relations with the nation. But days before President Donald J. Trump leaves office in 2021, his administration put Cuba back on the list.

Mr. Biden’s decision honors “the wisdom and advice provided to him by many world leaders, including in Latin America, who encouraged him to take these steps, on how best to advance human rights of the Cuban people,” according to a statement from White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.

Mr. Trump’s pick to become secretary of state in his new term, Florida Senator Marco Rubio, will likely oppose Mr. Biden’s last-minute actions on Cuba. Mr. Rubio’s family fled the island for the United States before Fidel Castro’s revolution took power in 1959, and he has long been one of the Republican Party’s leading advocates for a line hard against Cuba.

Mauricio Claver-Carone, who was recently named Mr. Trump’s envoy for Latin America, scoffed at the announcement. “Whether it was Venezuela last year or now Cuba, the Biden administration seems to like fake deals that favor anti-American authoritarian regimes,” he said, referring to a prisoner exchange with Venezuela in 2023.