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In the United States, an incumbent president is called a “lame duck” or “lame” (from “lame duck”) in the period from the election of his successor to his actual inauguration.
The adjective “lame” refers to the outgoing president’s alleged weak ability to “move” politically during this period. But, as on many occasions, the government of Donald Trump broke with the workbench.
In recent weeks and days, the executive has made some important foreign policy decisions that risk complicating the plans of Joe Biden, who takes office as the 46th President of the United States on Wednesday, January 20.
Here are some examples.
On January 11, just over a week after the transfer of power, the Trump administration made an announcement with far-reaching repercussions for Latin America: it returned Cuba to the list of countries. sponsors of terrorism.
“With this measure, we again hold the Cuban government accountable and send a clear message: the Castro regime must end its support for international terrorism and with the subversion of American justice, ”Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement.
To argue this decision, Pompeo pointed to Cuba’s refusal to extradite members of the National Liberation Army (ELN) from Colombia after a January 2019 bombing at a police academy in Bogotá in which 22 people are dead.
In addition, he spoke of Cuba’s alliance with Venezuela, where the United States promotes a change of government.
In 2015, former President Barack Obama struck Cuba off the same list, on which he had appeared since 1982, taking a fundamental step in the “thaw” which, a year later, would lead to the resumption of diplomatic relations between the two countries , but with Trump the American position has again hardened.
Biden has expressed his willingness to improve relations with the island, restoring a certain level of engagement started with Obama – which includes allowing Cuban Americans to visit relatives and send money. – but this stage could be slowed down by the last measures.
To cancel the Cuba list, for example, the State Department must conduct a formal review which can take monthsanalysts warn.
“Reversing that designation takes time,” John Kavulich, president of the US-Cuba Economic and Trade Council, told BBC World after the latest action became known.
Kavulich also assured that for the Biden administration, the connection that Trump made between Cuba and Venezuela.
“The Trump administration has succeeded in connecting Cuba with Venezuela and the new Biden administration has also.
Several decisions on China taken by the outgoing Trump administration have once again strained relations between the two powers.
The first of these occurred on January 9, when Pompeo announced the lifting of restrictions on contacts between American and Taiwanese diplomats, breaking with a policy maintained for decades by the White House.
China regards democratic Taiwan as an indisputable part of its territory and regularly describes what it sees as a “rogue island” as the most sensitive issue in its relations with the United States.
Despite the fact that the United States, like most countries in the world, does not have formal relations with Taiwan, the Trump administration has stepped up its actions in favor of the island, through the sale of arms or legislation to help Taipei cope with pressure from Beijing.
After four years of deep deterioration in relations between the two world powers, the latest move has been seen as an attempt by the Republican leader to establish a hard line against China before Biden takes office.
“The Biden administration will be legitimately unhappy for a political decision like this to be made in Trump’s final days, ”Bonnie Glaser, a leading expert on Sino-US relations in the United States, said in statements to Reuters.
Glaser, of the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, explained that some examples of the restrictions Pompeo lifted included Taiwanese officials. could not enter at the State Department and therefore had to meet in hotels.
A head of Biden’s transition team noted that once the president-elect takes office, he will continue to support “peaceful resolution of the issues. between the two sides of the strait [China-Taiwán] as a consequence of the wishes and interests of Taiwanese society. ”
The decision on Taiwan was accompanied by another severe blow from the United States to China on the last day of Trump’s presidency: the declaration of Beijing’s actions against the Uyghurs in Xinjiang as “genocideAnd “crimes against humanity”, which will worsen relations.
The Trump administration has also redoubled its offensive against Iran in this latter part of its presidency.
On January 12, Pompeo accused the Persian country of being “the new headquarters” al-Qaeda and maintain close ties with the terrorist group.
Pompeo did not provide proof of his accusations. Tehran called them “hawkish lies”.
Pompeo’s statements shortly before his departure were seen as an attempt to strengthen pressure on Tehran before the arrival of Biden, who is expected to try to reverse the nuclear deal signed in 2015 between Iran and six major powers, from which Trump withdrew the United States in 2018.
Added to this is the announcement a few days ago by the State Department that it will declare the Houthi rebels in Yemen as a terrorist organization, an action which “has been waiting for months” and which is feared will worsen the humanitarian crisis in the country, explained the BBC’s chief international correspondent Lyse Doucet.
“The American Gulf allies support this measure, intended to send a difficult message to Iran“, added the journalist.
The Iranian-backed Houthis have been fighting since 2015 against a Saudi-led coalition in Yemen in a war that has sparked one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
Some, the reporter said, believe the measure may provide the Biden government with “valuable bargaining chips” for concessions, “but Western diplomats involved in long-standing efforts to start a political process to end the destructive war. they are convinced it will make things even more difficult“.
Ending the war in Yemen, an idea initially supported by Obama, will be a priority for Biden’s team, Doucet noted; this last-minute decision, which will take effect one day before the transfer, may disturbs the plans of the new occupant of the White House.
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