Fugitives escaping the United States for Cuba is nothing new. While the two countries have had an extradition treaty in place and have for well over a century, Cuba doesn't necessarily honor it routinely. Donald Trump and his team are looking to stop that. While the Joe Biden administration was soft on the Communist Caribbean nation, the Trump administration has been anything but, and that continued on Tuesday when Secretary of State Marco Rubio certified Cuba as a "not fully cooperating country" (NFCC).
Under section 40A of the Arms Export Control Act, certifying a country as an NFCC "results in a prohibition on the sale or license for export of defense articles and services." North Korea, Iran, Syria, and Venezuela are the only other nations on the list, which the secretary of state renews each year. The Biden administration removed Cuba from the list of NFCCs last May.
The reasoning behind Rubio's decision to add Cuba back is pretty simple. The country is harboring terrorists and criminals who are wanted in the United States.
In 2024, the Cuban regime did not fully cooperate with the United States on counterterrorism. There were at least 11 U.S. fugitives from justice in Cuba, including several facing terrorism-related charges, and the Cuban regime made clear it was not willing to discuss their return to face justice in our nation. The Cuban regime’s refusal to engage on this important issue, as well as other recent circumstances of non-cooperation on terrorism-related law enforcement matters, made efforts to cooperate on counterterrorism issues futile in 2024.
"The United States will continue to promote international cooperation on counterterrorism issues. We also continue to promote accountability for countries that do not stand against terrorism," State Department Spokesperson Tammy Bruce said in a statement.
Related: Rubio Gets Tough on Cuba's Forced Labor Programs
While Bruce didn't specify exactly who is hiding out in Cuba, the Miami Herald says that one of those fugitives is Joanne Chesimard, who is 77 years old and now goes by the name Assata Shakur.
Chesimard was a member of the Black Liberation Army and was wanted in New Jersey during the 1970s for various crimes, including bank robbery. She and two other people were pulled over on the New Jersey Turnpike by two troopers with the New Jersey State Police in 1973. The three shot the law enforcement officers, killing one "execution style" at point-blank range and wounding the other.
According to the FBI, Chesimard, who fled the scene, was eventually caught and charged with "first degree murder, assault and battery of a police officer, assault with a dangerous weapon, assault with intent to kill, illegal possession of a weapon, and armed robbery." She was sentenced to life in prison, but in 1979, she escaped. In 1984, she turned up in Cuba and has most likely been living there ever since. There's a $1 million reward for her information that would lead to her arrest.
The Herald also suggests that 75-year-old William "Guillermo" Morales is in Cuba. He was said to be the chief bombmaker for the Puerto Rican paramilitary group Fuerzas Armadas de Liberación Nacional Puertorriqueña. The group was responsible for at least 50 bombings during the 1970s, including that of the historic Fraunces Tavern in New York, which killed four people and wounded several dozen others.
This is something Rubio has been concerned with for quite a while. In 2022, the then-Florida senator, along with Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), actually introduced the Trooper Werner Foerster and Frank Connor Justice Act.
The bipartisan legislation defines U.S. policy to require the immediate extradition or return of all fugitives from justice currently receiving safe haven in Cuba to avoid prosecution or confinement for criminal offenses committed in the United States. Among the more than 70 fugitives believed to be receiving safe haven in Cuba are convicted felons Joanne Chesimard and William Morales, whose crimes led to the death of two New Jersey residents. Other fugitives being harbored by the Cuban regime include individuals charged with offenses ranging from hijacking to kidnapping to drug offenses and murder.
Rubio, who is the son of Cuban immigrants, has called Cuba an "enemy of humanity" in the past. In February, he placed visa restrictions on those involved in the country's horrific forced labor program, something that has been compared to modern slavery. In turn, Cuba accused the secretary of going after the country as part of his "personal agenda" and called it the Trump administration's "seventh unjustified aggressive measure against our population within a month."
Just before leaving office, Biden removed Cuba from the State Department's list of countries that sponsor terrorism as part of a deal with the Vatican. Trump returned the country to the list on the first day of his second term.
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