WASHINGTON
The review of Cuba’s state sponsor of terrorism designation is in its “final stages” as President Barack Obama prepares to meet his Cuban counterpart later this week, the U.S. said Tuesday.
Obama’s deputy national security advisor Ben Rhodes told reporters on a conference call Tuesday that while he doesn’t have the “precise timing” of the State Department’s review of Cuba’s terror blacklisting it is “likely in the final stages.”
Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro will meet in Panama at the April 10-11 Summit of the Americas for the first time since they agreed to re-establish diplomatic relations Dec. 17.
Cuba has insisted it be removed from the list as part of the ongoing détente.
Rhodes did not rule out that Obama could receive Secretary of State John Kerry’s recommendation before the regional gathering, but said that it is ultimately in the hands of the State Department.
What is not likely to occur, however, is the re-establishing of embassies before the summit, Rhodes said.
“I would not anticipate that we will be formalizing the opening of embassies in advance of the summit,” Rhodes said. “It's obviously something that has continued to be the subject of conversation with the Cuban government.”
The U.S. and Cuba have held three rounds of talks aimed at re-establishing relations, the most recent of which concluded in the middle of March without any indication from either side about progress on key issues. That session was largely focused on removing restrictions on the number and movements of diplomatic staff in each country.
Diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Cuba were severed more than 50 years ago in 1961.
