Cuba and President Obama

Jose Diaz-Balart: Congress ultimately did not block the decision and, with the deadline on the notification period up, the State Department on Friday removed Cuba from the list, according to MSNBC. Close video The Rundown with Jose Diaz-Balart, 4/15/15, 10:07 AM ET White House defends removing Cuba from State Sponsors of Terror List President Obama has told Congress that Cuba won’t support terrorism in the future—one of the reasons he is removing them from the State Sponsors of Terror List. The terror designation had been a major sticking point for the island nation since President Obama announced in December that the two countries would be restoring diplomatic relations after a half-century of hostility dating back to the Cold War. * Pope Francis to visit Cuba before United States in September* Obama recommended to Congress last month that Cuba no longer be formally listed as nation cultivating terrorism, a move that triggered a 45-day notification period allowing U.S. lawmakers to step in and challenge the re-designation. Ricardo Zuñiga, the president adviser for affairs in the Western Hemisphere, discusses. facebook twitter embed like save share group discuss The rescission of Cuba designation as a State Sponsor of Terrorism reflects our assessment that Cuba meets the statutory criteria for rescission, spokesperson Jeff Rathke said in a statement. Cuba had been designated as a sponsor of terrorism since 1982. While the United States has significant concerns and disagreements with a wide range of Cuba policies and actions, these fall outside the criteria relevant to the rescission of a State Sponsor of Terrorism designation. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.