Roundup: Cuban official daily says removal from U.S. blacklist "act of justice"

Removing Cuba from a U.S. blacklist the island country should have never been on is a "simple act of justice," Cuba's official Granma daily said Saturday.

"Cuba has waited 33 years for a simple act of justice that took place on Friday, when the U.S. State Department made the official announcement to remove our country from the list of countries sponsoring terror," said Granma in an article titled "Cuba out of a list where it should have never been."

The decision by U.S. President Barack Obama's administration has its positive effects, especially on the improvement of Cuba's financial interactions with other countries, the article noted.

Cuba was put on the blacklist in 1982. The U.S. State Department said Cuba was put on the list partly because of its support for members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), Colombia's largest rebel group.

Havana now serves as a key player facilitating peace talks between the Colombian government and the FARC rebels. Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos has expressed gratitude to Cuba on various occasions.

Since December, Cuba and the United States have been negotiating the resumption of their diplomatic ties and the eventual normalization of relations. Cuba has demanded it be taken off the list.

Obama notified Congress of his decision to take Cuba off the list on April 14 and the 45-day review period for Congress to challenge Obama's decision expired on Friday.

"The Secretary of State has made the final decision to rescind Cuba's designation as a State Sponsor of Terrorism, effective today, May 29, 2015," said State Department spokesman Jeff Rathke on Friday in Washington.

Though the de-listing was a positive step in the ongoing talks, said a Cuban TV commentator, Cubans should not anticipate sudden major breakthroughs in the normalization of ties, as other factors remain to be resolved, such as the lifting of the U.S. trade embargo against Cuba.

Other priorities Havana wants to discuss with Washington include the closure of the U.S. Naval Base in Guantanamo, the end of U.S.-run propaganda machines in Cuba and compensation "for the damage caused by U.S. policies in the past five decades," according to Josefina Vidal, general director for U.S. affairs at the Cuban Foreign Ministry.

Meanwhile, observers worldwide have pointed to the credibility of the very list and its composer, noting that the list is merely a political tool driven by the Cold War mindset and its criteria can be changed at any time to make sure that it serves Washington's own agenda. Endi