President Obama shakes hands with Cuban President Raul Castro in Panama City on April 11.(Photo: Mandel Ngan, AFP/Getty Images)
MIAMI — Forget the handshakes and opening of embassies. Tuesday's decision by President Obama to remove Cuba from the State Sponsors of Terrorism list will have the biggest practical impact on America's new relationship with the communist country.
Since Obama announced Dec. 17 that he would begin re-establishing diplomatic relations with Cuba, American businesses, government officials and regular citizens have waited for the floodgates to the isolated island to open.
America's businesses were told they could sell their goods to entrepreneurs on the island. American travelers were told they could use their credit and debit cards down there for the first time. State Department officials met with their Cuban counterparts to reopen embassies in Havana and Washington, and President Obama shook hands with Cuban President Raúl Castro at last week's Summit of the Americas.
Behind all those symbolic gestures, banks and regulators around the world were stuck. So long as Cuba remained on the State Department's terrorism list, the idea of expanding trade with the island remained an impossibility. No matter how clear Obama's rhetoric was on the virtues of a new relationship with Cuba, compliance officers at banks and businesses said, "Hold on."
Those floodgates can finally open.
American banks that have been hesitant to establish relationships with Cuban banks to process credit and debit card transactions can move ahead with confidence. American businesses can negotiate trade deals without fear that regulators would come after them.
Cuba can receive a broader range of economic assistance from the international community, including loans from the World Bank and other institutions. The Cubans can finally find an American bank to process their consular transactions in the USA, which until now had been conducted in cash.
There will be plenty of opposition to Obama's decision in the weeks to come. U.S. law requires that Cuba remain on the list an additional 45 days to give Congress time to object and argue for a different course. Many will point to the terrorists — from America and other countries — who live on the island as proof that Cuba should remain on the list. They will point to Cuba's suspicious trafficking in military equipment with countries such as Colombia and North Korea as red flags that have to be further vetted.
It's hard to believe Obama will change course after a four-month State Department review of Cuba's place on that list and his announcement that the country be removed.
Citizens of Havana, get ready. The Americans are really coming now.
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