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Reports have indicated that the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will need to decide whether to approve a plan from the officials of the State Department to designate Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism. The New York Times reported on Tuesday that Pompeo must decide whether to approve the plan before President-elect Joe Biden is inaugurated on 20^th January 2021. The supposed move would serve as a thank you to Cuban-Americans and other people in Florida who voted for President Donald Trump in November 2020 election. President Trump has rolled back the easing of the relationship between the US and the communist-run state, since taking power in 2017. It was first started by former US President Barack Obama in 2015. The administration of President Trump has banned purchases of rum and tobacco from the country in the past few months.

The US administration was also implementing new travel restrictions against the communist-run state. The US State Department found that Cuba was among four other countries not fully cooperating with the US on counterterrorism efforts, in May. Point to be noted that Cuba was put on the list of countries deemed to sponsor terrorism by the US during the Reagan administration in the 1980s. But, it was officially removed from it in 2015, after Obama announced a normalization of relations between the two nations. It is supposed that Biden will attempt to restore the US’ relationship with Cuba and relax trade and travel restrictions when he becomes president in January 2021. It is still not confirmed whether Pompeo will approve the plan to designate Cuba as a sponsor of terrorism.

A spokeswoman for the US State Department informed the Times that the agency doesn’t discuss deliberations or potential deliberations regarding terrorism designations. It is noteworthy that the Biden administration will attempt to reverse the designation if it is approved by Pompeo. Iran, Syria, and North Korea are currently on the US’ list of state sponsors of terrorism. The US State Department states that designating a country as a sponsor of terrorism triggers sanctions, including restrictions on US foreign assistance, a ban on defense exports and sales, certain controls over exports of dual-use items, and miscellaneous financial and other restrictions. The US officials added that the plan to designate Cuba stemmed from the department’s Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, instead of the Counterterrorism Bureau.