The United States has removed Cuba from the list of countries that do not cooperate fully against terrorism.

(CNN Spanish) — The State Department this Wednesday removed Cuba from the list of countries that are not fully cooperating with United States counterterrorism efforts because the circumstances determining that certification “changed between 2022 and 2023,” an official with that agency told CNN.

The US and Cuba resume police cooperation, including the fight against terrorism, in 2023. Therefore, the State Department determined that it would no longer be appropriate to continue to certify Cuba as a ‘Country of Non-Complete Cooperation Against Terrorism,'” the source said.

According to the source consulted, this is not the same list of state sponsors of terrorism, a report has also been prepared by the State Department and Cuba has been included in the list since 2021. US law establishes specific legal criteria for removing a country from that list. In that sense, the source clarified, any upcoming review of the Cuban situation will be based on the criteria and legislation established by Congress.

According to a source familiar with the matter, the countries that remain on the list are North Korea, Iran, Syria and Venezuela.

The Cuban government welcomed the decision but suggested it did not go far enough.

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez wrote in X, “The United States has acknowledged what everyone knows: that Cuba cooperates fully in efforts against terrorism.”

“All political manipulation on this issue must stop and our arbitrary and unjust inclusion in the list of countries sponsoring terrorism must stop,” he said.

Rodriguez further said that the U.S. government should remove Cuba “from the arbitrary list that designates countries that allegedly sponsor terrorism and stop imposing coercive economic measures consistent with this unjust designation.” “

With information from Patrick Opman and Abel Alvarado