ORGANIZATIONAL SIGN ON: Biden and Harris - Change U.S. Policy on Cuba
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June 15, 2022 The Honorable Joe Biden and Kamala Harris President and Vice President of the United States Dear President Biden and Vice President Harris: We write to you as leaders and grassroots organizers from across the United States who support solidarity and advocacy with the Cuban people. Many of us have participated in licensed travel to Cuba with the Witness for Peace Solidarity Collective (WFPSC) or a similar solidarity group. Since 1998, WFPSC has led thousands of U.S. Americans in 10-day delegations to Cuba with a mission to learn directly from Cuban people and listen to testimonies from artists, farmers, health workers, Afro-Cuban leaders, entrepreneurs, LGBTQ+ activists, and faith leaders. These delegations have seen firsthand how U.S. sanctions limit their access to basic necessities, food, transportation, housing, and medicines. The Cuban people, independent of their political views, remain firm in their “right to live without a [U.S. imposed] blockade” and have urged us to share that message widely. We applaud your Administration's recent steps towards restoring a policy of engagement and reversing some Trump administration measures, many of which were implemented during a deadly global pandemic. We welcome the steps forward outlined in the May 16th State Department’s Fact Sheet and urge swift implementation of these much needed and overdue changes. The island is experiencing acute shortages of food, fuel, and medicine tied to the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and tightened economic sanctions. We write to you to highlight the brutal reality that over 200 Trump-era sanctions remain in place under your leadership. We join many U.S. organizations, individuals, and decision-makers to demand that you and your administration move quickly to take executive action and make good on your campaign promise “to reverse the failed Trump policies that inflicted harm on Cubans and their families.” In March 2021, 80-House Members listened to their constituents and sent a letter to your Administration outlining some critical U.S.-Cuba policy recommendations, including several we highlight and support: |
1. Immediately retract the “politicized decision by the departing Trump Administration” to designate Cuba as a state sponsor of terror (SSTL) -- a move that is widely condemned across the world as baseless. As stated clearly, “Cuba was removed from the list in 2015 after an exhaustive review by experts at the State Department and in the Intelligence Community, and the Trump Administration did not cite any new facts to justify their decision.” 2. Resume the path towards normalization of diplomatic relations, including restarting high-level bilateral dialogue and renewing working groups formed during the Obama administration to cover a wide range of key shared interests such as climate change, scientific cooperation, and migration. 3.End all U.S. travel restrictions to Cuba so that anyone under U.S. jurisdiction can travel to Cuba freely per their constitutional right. Roll back the Trump Administration’s restrictions and permit individual travel, lift restrictions on cruise ships, private charters and vessels, and allow for general tourism to Cuba. 4.These initial steps should be part of an ongoing process that seeks to end the harmful and extra-territorial blockade against Cuba. U.S. polls have long shown that the majority of U.S. Americans support this, along with nearly all members of the U.N. General Assembly, who for 29 consecutive years have voted against the US embargo. We respectfully ask that your Administration further consider: 5. Taking executive action on regulations that govern trade and travel to Cuba to return them to their status as of January 20th, 2017. Remove Cuba from the SSTL, waiving Title III of the Helms-Burton Act, annul the Cuba Prohibited Accommodations List, and remove the sanctions on Fincimex and AIS to facilitate the reinstatement of remittances to Cuba. These measures would benefit both the United States and the Cuban people. 7.Immediately end the application of any sanctions that restrict food, medicine and other humanitarian assistance to Cuba, including restrictions on financial transactions and international cooperation. 8. Expedite reactivating and restaffing the U.S. Embassy in Havana to normalize the issuance of all visas and other consular services. While we applaud the recent reinstating of the Cuban Family Reunification Parole (CFRP) Program, the backlog of nearly one hundred thousand visa applications has kept families separate, stalled careers, denied the right to travel, fueled high-risk migration, and cost innumerable resources by requiring that Cubans travel to a third country. 9. Prioritize engagement on medical cooperation by adding Cuban vaccines to the list of those recognized by U.S. authorities so that Cubans can enter the United States, facilitating the approval of Cuban vaccines, removing policies that incentivize Cuban doctors leaving their medical missions, and by taking executive action to ensure that basic medical supplies and components for producing and distributing vaccines are not negatively affected by the U.S. “embargo” (also called an “economic blockade”) or other sanctions. 10. Peacefully return Guantanamo Bay. We will continue to advocate for U.S. engagement with Cuba that respects the right of the Cuban people to live without a blockade: at the doors of your executive administration (and of subsequent administrations if yours decides to maintain with this draconian policy), to our Representatives, and within our communities in all 50 states. Respectfully, Witness for Peace Solidarity Collective |
