President Biden, I Stand in Solidarity with the People of Cuba

Furthermore, we urge you to  join with Democratic Congress members  to support legislation calling for an end to the economic embargo against Cuba and to remove the island from the U.S. government’s State Sponsors of Terrorism list.

We believe that the long-standing blockade against Cuba is unjustified and genocidal. It stifles Cuban social, technological and economic development;  thereby creating a constant burden on the Cuban people by limiting their access to essential resources and opportunities. While the Cuban people have been remarkably resilient under these oppressive sanctions, they are nonetheless suffering unnecessarily under these harsh conditions. Given the recent fire in Matanzas which destroyed 40% of the island’s fuel supply and the destruction caused by hurricane Ian, it is more urgent now than ever for the US to end the sanctions.

The people of Cuba deserve to rebuild their communities with full access to all the materials necessary to restore their normal lives. This could be achieved if Cuba could participate in normal trade, and was not subject to the $15 million daily cost of the U.S. embargo on their economy. 

We as citizens of the U.S. deserve to travel to our island neighbor without justification. The travel ban imposed by Trump and continued by Biden, does not allow for people-to-people travel. Outside of the major impact this has on the tourism sector of the Cuban economy, it also keeps our citizens from accessing life saving medical treatments such as the lung cancer vaccine and treatment for diabetic ulcers. With millions of people in the U.S. without access to adequate healthcare, normalizing relations would translate into a major benefit for families in Cuba and the U.S.  

Remove Cuba from the list of state sponsors of terrorism. The continued sanctions of  more than six decades and the reassignment on the list of state sponsors of terrorism without any evidence of terrorism by Cuba, especially during this trying time will continue to cause more unnecessary harm on the Cuban people,. Instead the U.S. should be assisting in the development of  diplomatic and inter-cultural relationships with the people of the United States. Our policy towards this non-threatening developing nation neighbor is contrary to our claims to uphold national self-determination, democracy, and human rights.

Globally, Cuba continues to share goodwill with all of its neighbors by sending vaccines and thousands of doctors around the world to any country in need. In contrast, the U.S. has withheld access to basic supplies for 11 million Cubans including urgently needed medications. This is not what the people of the U.S. have ever supported. For these reasons alone, please place ending the embargo against Cuba at the top of our foreign policy agenda.

Allow the people of Cuba to rebuild. The rest of the world has called for an end for the last 30 years and it is time we listened. This is the time, and you, President Biden, have the power to advance a just foreign policy towards Cuba.