Bush, Obama alumni ask Biden administration to ease up on Cuba before Trump takes office

A group of former diplomatic and national security officials is calling on the Biden administration to loosen some restrictions on Cuba before handing over the reins of U.S. diplomacy to President-elect Trump.

In a letter to President Biden and Vice President Harris, the former officials — including former Havana Chief of Mission Vicki Huddleston and former deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes — urge the outgoing administration to remove Cuba from the State Sponsors of Terrorism List, increase humanitarian aid to the country and to streamline rules for Cuban nationals to access the U.S. financial system.

“As you are aware, the country’s energy grid is failing, child malnutrition is on the rise, basic services are deteriorating and most Cubans have lost hope, precipitating the largest exodus of migrants from Cuba in its history,” they wrote in the letter reviewed by The Hill.

“In no uncertain terms do we exonerate the Cuban government for its insufficient and incoherent policy reforms that have in large part caused this crisis. Yet we also believe that current U.S. policy has exacerbated Cubans’ hardship, and thus we respectfully request that you take a series of actions in the remaining weeks of your administration to help alleviate these challenges — in the U.S. national interest and in support of the Cuban people.”

Cuba was thrust onto the State Sponsors of Terrorism List by Trump in the waning weeks of his first term, leaving Biden with the choice of keeping Cuba on the list and likely spurring more emigration, or taking a potentially unpopular step in favor of the island’s communist regime.

But many observers — including fierce critics of the Cuban government — have noted the dangers of the island’s seemingly arbitrary inclusion on a list of regimes who actively support terrorism.

“As many of us have said publicly, there is no credible evidence that Cuba sponsors international terrorism. The designation has hindered Cuba’s access to international finance, reduced tourism revenues to pay for imports of food, fuel and medicine and obstructed the arrival of humanitarian relief,” wrote the officials.

“Our closest allies in the region have repeatedly requested we remove this designation to ameliorate the regional impacts of surging Cuban migration, and we are confident the United States will be applauded worldwide for making this fact-based determination.”

Cuba’s inclusion on the list has also harmed the country’s tourism industry, slapping restrictions on third-country nationals who visit the island. For instance, Europeans who are exempt from U.S. tourist visas lose that exemption after traveling to Cuba.

The former officials also called on Biden and Harris to send humanitarian aid to the Caribbean island, which has been hit by hurricanes and earthquakes, noting that the administration already pledged $2 million following Hurricane Ian in 2022.

The signatories also asked Biden to instruct the Office of Foreign Assets Control to guide financial institutions on how to serve qualified Cuban nationals without stepping astride of U.S. sanctions. They also called for a general license to allow U.S. citizens to invest in Cuban enterprises not linked to the country’s government.

And the officials paraphrased Harris in painting both Cuba hawks stateside and the radical elements within the communist regime as the sole beneficiaries of continued adversarial relations between Havana and Washington.

“As you said in 2020, Vice President Harris, the U.S. embargo is a failed policy that only emboldens hardliners in both Miami and Havana who do not represent the Cuban people’s aspirations for a brighter and more prosperous future. We commend the steps that you have taken while in office, President Biden, to restore remittances, resume visa processing, support independent Cuban entrepreneurs and expand travel for Cuban Americans,” they wrote.

“However, to address the scope of the current crisis in Cuba, we believe that your administration must pay close attention and act decisively to mitigate the potentially dire implications of having a failed state just 90 miles off our shores.”