The Biden presidency is going out with a bang, from cutting sentences without regard for victims to taking Cuba off the terrorism list. For many of us, President Biden has a lot, not a little, of ‘splaining to do. 

What were they thinking? Let's check the story:

In a last-minute move before he leaves office next week, President Joe Biden removed Cuba from the list of countries that sponsor terrorism, lifted sanctions on companies run by Cuba’s military and again suspended a provision in a law that allows Cuban Americans to seek compensation for confiscated property on the island.

The three measures announced Tuesday were described as “unilateral” actions taken by President Biden as a “gesture of good will” to facilitate a deal mediated by the Catholic Church that would lead to the release of Cuban political prisoners, including people who took part in the island-wide July 11, 2021, demonstrations, a senior administration official told reporters.

In a statement on Tuesday afternoon, the Cuban Foreign Ministry said Cuba’s leader told Pope Francis in a letter earlier this month of the decision to release 553 people convicted of “several crimes that are punishable by law.”

My father's cousin spent 14 years in a Cuban political prison. So I'm all in support of releasing men (and women) in Cuba's jails. It sounds to me that we went too far in these moves.

According to news reports, it was an act of good will. An act of good will for what? What else did we demand? It sounds like we gave and they took.

It's reminiscent of President Obama opening a U.S. Embassy, doing the wave with Raul Castro in a baseball game in Havana and opening up Cuba to U.S. tourists. What did the U.S. get out of that Obama deal? I can't see anything.

The Biden move is also suspending Title III of the Helms-Burton Act, a provision that allows Americans to sue a company if it is benefiting from property confiscated by the Cuban government without compensation.

Without compensation? Stealing someone's property without consequences?

What's next for Cuban people? Nothing until President Trump and Secretary Marco Rubio bring back some sanity to our relationship with the outlaw state in the island.

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Image: AT via Magic Studio