President Joe Biden will remove the US designation of Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism as part of a prisoner release agreement, the White House said.
President-elect Donald Trump reinstated the position in the final days of his first presidency in 2021, cutting off US economic aid and arms exports to the country.
But on Tuesday, a senior Biden administration official said an assessment of the situation “lacks data” that supports the nomination.
Cuba said the move was a step “in the right direction” even though it was a “limited situation”.
“This decision ends certain coercive measures, as well as many others, that are causing great damage to the Cuban economy, with a severe impact on the people,” the country's Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
The hope is that this move will lead to the release of some of the protesters who were arrested after the massive anti-government protests in Cuba due to the country's economic collapse in 2021.
A White House official said a “significant” number of prisoners would be released “in the short term” as part of the deal, which is being brokered by the Catholic Church.
Cuba currently sits alongside North Korea, Syria and Iran list of US State sponsors of terrorism.
This means that the US is deemed to have “repeatedly provided support for acts of international terrorism”.
Putting Cuba back on the list after it was removed in 2015 by President Barack Obama, Trump revealed that the communist country supports Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro.
At the time, Cuba called this act “dishonest”, “hypocritical” and an act of “political opportunism”.
Along with encouraging the release of prisoners, this decision is also important because it can be seen as a step towards normalizing relations between Cuba and the US.
This can pave the way for discussions on other controversial issues.
It may also help the poor economic situation in Cuba, as some major banks and foreign investors are struggling to operate there legally.
Biden will brief Congress on his plans, which include rolling back Trump-era financial restrictions on some Cubans, the White House said in a statement.
He will also suspend people's ability to apply for confiscation of property in Cuba, the statement read.
It is unclear whether Trump will reverse the latest decision when he returns to office on January 20.
The president's nominee for secretary of state, Marco Rubio, has been advocating for sanctions against Cuba for a long time.
His family turned their backs in the 1950s before the communist revolution that put Fidel Castro in power.
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