Kerry must keep Cuba on terror list - Rubio

Rubio: Kerry must keep Cuba on terror list
By Jordain Carney

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) on Thursday urged Secretary of State John
Kerry to keep Cuba on a state sponsor of terror list, saying the country
continues to violate international laws and harbor terrorists.

Roberta Jacobson, assistant secretary of State for western hemisphere
affairs, told reporters last week that the department is "working very
quickly and very assiduously" to review Cuba's placement on the list.

Cuba, Syria, Iran and Sudan are the only four countries currently
designated by the State Department as state sponsors of terror, meaning
they face additional restrictions on trade and getting U.S. aid.

Rubio, a Cuban-American and potential 2016 candidate, said he is
"greatly disturbed" by the reports that Kerry is considering
recommending that Cuba be taken off the list.

"The United States cannot in good faith remove Cuba from the State
Sponsor of Terrorism List while the Castro regime harbors terrorists who
have killed Americans, actively supports designated Foreign Terrorist
Organizations by harboring their members and continues to flout
international law," Rubio said in a letter to Kerry.

Rubio has been a vocal critic of President Obama's decision to take
steps to normalize relations with Cuba. His letter on Thursday comes
after he criticized the administration on human rights ahead of a second
round of talks between U.S. and Cuban officials late last month.

"U.S. officials are so desperate to open a U.S. embassy in Havana, that
they're forging ahead despite a new wave of repression that has jailed
over 200 Cuban democracy activists in the past two weeks," Rubio said.

Rubio's letter is his latest criticism of Obama's foreign policy. The
Florida Republican has used his opposition to the president's handling
of Ukraine, as well as the fight against the Islamic State in Iraq and
Syria (ISIS), to help stake out his positions on foreign policy ahead of
a possible presidential bid.

Source: Rubio: Kerry must keep Cuba on terror list | TheHill -
http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/234712-rubio-kerry-must-keep-cuba-on-terror-list