Biden is Urged to Remove Cuba from Terrorism List, Rick Scott is ‘fighting like hell’ Against It

Photo of Rick Scott and one of his X posts. Photo by Rick Scott, Facebook | Rick Scott, X

After a group of U.S. representatives wrote a letter to President Biden, urging him to remove Cuba from the State Sponsors of Terrorism (SSOT) list prior to President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration on January 20, Florida Senator Rick Scott announced his opposition on X. 

On November 15, U.S. Representative Barbara Lee of California, Jim McGovern of Massachusetts, Gregory Meeks of New York, and Joaquin Castro of Texas, led a total of 18 representatives in preparing the letter to Biden.

Their specific request was for Biden to sanction immediate “relief for the Cuban people amid widespread blackouts and an escalating energy crisis, exacerbated by the impact of Hurricane Rafael”.

They wrote, “The situation is not only causing immense suffering for the Cuban people but also poses serious risks to U.S. national security interests. If left unaddressed, the crisis will almost certainly fuel increased migration, strain U.S. border management systems, and fully destabilize the already-strained Caribbean region.”

In addition, they highlighted that more than 850,000 Cubans have come to the U.S. seeking refuge since 2022 due to Cuba’s continual “collapse of essential services, particularly electricity”.

As such, within the four-page letter, the representatives asked for the U.S. government to collaborate with international partners to provide help to the people of Cuba, to issue safe harbor letters, to suspend active sanctions impeding aid, to immediately send equipment to assist in the prevention of a total energy grid collapse, and to remove Cuba from the SSOT to facilitate “access to energy and economic relief for the Cuban people”.

In response, Scott spoke out twice on X on November 25. He voiced his opinion on the matter and what the outcome could be if the representatives’ letter was successful. 

At 11:01 a.m., his first post consisted of the official letter and a note alerting the general public that these representatives planned on having President Biden enact their request before Trump was in office. He also pointed out that “Díaz-Canel harbors terrorists, provides secret police forces to Maduro to repress the Venezuelan people and hosts a CCP spy station 90 miles from Florida”.

At 7:27 p.m., his second post stated, “Calls at the 11th hour of the Biden administration from communist-sympathizers in the Democrat Party for President Biden to remove Cuba from the State Sponsor of Terrorism list are not just ignorant, but dangerous”.

“Every time President Biden appeases the illegitimate, communist Cuban regime, he helps it destabilize the Western Hemisphere, supports terrorism and does a huge favor for America’s enemies in Russia, Iran and Communist China…Removing Cuba from the…list would only further jeopardize the national security of the United States ”, continued Scott. 

“With President Trump returning to the White House in January, there cannot be any changes to U.S. policy toward Cuba that advance Biden’s failed appeasement”, he added. Scott ultimately ended his post saying, “I’ll be fighting like hell to make sure it doesn’t happen”.
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Article by Ema Tibbetts