Open letter to U.S. President Joe Biden demands the end to sanctions against Cuba

"Now more than ever, it’s time to write a new page in U.S.-Cuban relations..."

Open letter to Biden demands a new page in relations with Cuba

By Milagros Pichardo Pérez | internet@granma.cu

A prominent group of U.S. politicians, intellectuals, scientists, clergymen, artists, musicians, leaders and activists sent an open letter to U.S. President Joe Biden to demand the end of sanctions against Cuba, especially at this difficult moment, when they are working for the recovery after the incident at the Matanzas Supertanker Base.

" Now more than ever, it’s time to write a new page in U.S.-Cuban relations.  We are making an urgent, public appeal to you to reject the cruel policies put into place by the Trump White House that have already created so much suffering among the Cuban people," they posted on the website www.letcubalive.org.

" U.S. sanctions fuel the fires that rage in Cuba!  Despite assurances by the U.S. Embassy in Havana that the law authorizes U.S. entities and organizations to provide disaster relief and response, Trump’s 243 sanctions continue to prevent urgently needed aid from arriving in Cuba," they add.

It stresses that the U.S. loses nothing by being a good neighbor and lifting the 243 sanctions that are preventing Cuba from recovering from this tragic moment.

" When your neighbor’s house is on fire, the normal human reaction is to rush next door to help.  To save lives.  To extinguish the flames.  Cuba is our neighbor.!  It is unconscionable, especially during a tragic accident, to block remittances and Cuba’s use of global financial institutions, given that access to dollars is necessary to import food and medicine," they said.

The Biden administration can do more than offer technical advice.  It can immediately remove Cuba from the List of State Sponsors of Terrorism, they demanded.

Signatories to the text include Roger Waters, Cornel West, Judith Butler, Noam Chomsky, Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, Jeremy Corbyn, Rev. Liz Theoharis, Seun Kuti, Vijay Prashad, among others such as Gail Walker, Brian Becker, Cindy Weisner, Claudia De la Cruz, David Adler, David Harvey, Gabriel Rockhill, Gerald Horne, Gina Belafonte, Helen Yaffe, Jennifer Ponce De Leon, Jeremy Corbyn, Jia Hong, Jodie Evans, Judith Butler, Manolo De Los Santos, Manu Karuka, Phillip Agnew, Robin D. G. Kelly, Ruth Wilson Gilmore, Salvatore Engel-Di Mauro, Seun Kuti and Yasemin Zahra.

Source

Cuba rejects inclusion on blacklist

AS WE GO TO PRESS…

WASHINGTON.—The Cuban Interests Section in this capital assured this January 5 that the island government is cooperating in the international fight against terrorism, and it condemned its inclusion on the list of states described by the U.S. administration as sponsors of terrorism, EFE reports.

Alberto González, spokesman for the Cuban mission in Washington, stated that Cuba "has complied with, is complying with and will comply with the internationally recognized security measures in these cases," and he noted that the Cuban people "do not recognize in any way the moral authority of the U.S. government to certify their inclusion on this kind of list."

González unequivocally stated that "Cuban territory has never been utilized to organize, finance or execute acts of terrorism against the United States or any other state," and suggested that this latest attack on the island is politically motivated.

On the contrary, he continued, Cuba has been the victim of violence and terrorism on the part of individuals such as Luis Posada Carriles, who remains at large in the United States and has not been brought to justice.

Translated by Granma International

January 6, 2010

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