Mike Pompeo may redesignate Cuba a 'State Sponsor of Terrorism' as his final act as Secretary of State
Photo: State Department photo by Ron Przysucha/ Public Domain

A generation after the Cuban embargo was announced, former President Barack Obama attempted to normalize diplomatic relations with the tiny island in the wake of the death of dictator Fidel Castro. It was part of an effort that began a few weeks after former President Jimmy Carter took office in 1977.

President Donald Trump worked to destroy any of the progress on diplomacy. Now Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is thinking of making his final act in a department known for diplomacy to kill it altogether, the New York Times reported.

"With three weeks left until Inauguration Day, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo must decide whether to sign off on the plan, according to two U.S. officials, a move that would also serve as a thank-you to Cuban-Americans and other anti-communist Latinos in Florida who strongly supported President Trump and his fellow Republicans in the November election," said the report.

Foreign policy experts think that Trump is going to do everything in his power to "constrain President-elect Joe Biden's initial months in office."

While Biden has more pressing issues facing the country than helping Cuba inch toward a democracy, Pompeo appears to be considering cutting off whatever progress was made.

"It's another stunt by this president with less than 23 days to go," Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY) told the Times. Meeks is the new chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee. "He's trying to put handcuffs on the incoming administration."

Given Pompeo has been willing to work with tyrannical dictators like Kim Jong-Un, Alexander Lukashenko and Mohammed bin Salman along with Vladimir Putin while in office.

Read the full report.

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