President Barack Obama's decision to normalize diplomatic relations with Cuba leaves North Korea as the last remaining country on America's Cold War blacklist,
The New York Times reported.
"If we normalize relations with Cuba, it cuts our Cold War vestige list in half," Cliff Kupchan, an analyst at the Eurasia Group, told the Times.
Historians told the Times that the move was similar to decisions by previous presidents to renew ties with communist nations that had been severed, including China under Richard Nixon and Jimmy Carter, and events under Ronald Reagan, George Bush, and Bill Clinton to re-establish relations with Vietnam.
"What this has the potential to do is restore a tone in U.S.-Latin American relations that might bring us back to the hopeful moment in the spring of 2009 when President Obama expressed a commitment to Latin American countries to open a new chapter in relations with the region," Eric Hershberg, director of the American University Center for Latin American and Latino Studies, told the Times.
North Korea's isolation has continued since 1953 when the country refused to sign a peace treaty with the United States following the end of the Korean War, and it continues to be on the list of countries believed to be state sponsors of terrorism.
Iran, Sudan, and Syria are the only other non-communist countries on the list which restricts American foreign assistance, bans weapons sales, and limits financial transactions, the Times reported.
The State Department also recommends that American citizens do not travel to countries considered sponsors of terrorism.
Relations with Iran broke down after the Islamic revolution in 1979 and the subsequent American hostage crisis.
Syria was also added to the list as a state sponsor of terrorism since 1979, and the United States has since imposed sanctions due to the four-year civil war in the country. Diplomatic relations have not been cut off but the United States Embassy in Damascus has not been operational since 2012 and Obama called for President Bashar al-Assad to relinquish power, the Times reported.
Sudan is the other country which continues to be on the list after the government was indicted by the International Criminal Court for genocide and other crimes. It joined the list in 1993 and has faced sanctions since 1997, with additional sanctions in 2007, the Times noted.
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