The United States ruled out a withdrawal on Tuesday Cuba from the list of sponsor countries of the terrorism despite meeting with the government of Havana about cooperation counter terrorist activities.

“These conversations take place regularly. We still have no policy change regarding Cuba’s presence on the listState Department deputy spokesman Vedant Patel said at a news conference.

Patel justified that Washington and Havana must perform “important collaborative tasks” because they share a maritime border, and assured that security talks are held with the island from time to time. However, he insisted “The regime has a long history of repression against civil society and other factors that keep it on the list” as an instigator of terrorism.

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The talks in question took place in Havana last Thursday and Friday, where representatives from both governments had a technical exchange of views on cooperation in counter-terrorism. According to the Cuban Ministry of the Interior, they were involved in hijacking aircraft and seagoing ships and using digital networks for violent purposes.

The inclusion of Cuba on the list of sponsors of terrorism in January 2021 was one of the last decisions made by the Donald Trump administration (2017-2021) before leaving power.

The United States then justified the measure, which carries several sanctions, citing the presence on the island of members of the Colombian ELN guerrilla, who traveled to Havana to begin peace negotiations with the Colombian executive.

The island was removed from the list in 2015, during the rapprochement promoted by then US President Barack Obama. (2009-2017) and stopped by Trump, who doubled sanctions on Havana during his term and stopped the “thaw”.

The current Joe Biden administration has made some gestures towards the island, such as lifting the limit on remittances to Cuba, but it is still a long way from Obama’s approach.