As President Biden caves to the right on Cuba, we must ensure that Congress does not do the same. Tell Congress to let Cuba live! |
Dear friend,
When it comes to Cuba policy, President Biden is pandering to Trump’s base! Over the past weeks he reneged on a campaign pledge to get rid of Trump’s Cuba sanctions, he imposed new sanctions on Cuban leaders and his advisors met with right-wing Cuban Americans.
As the White House caves to the right wing, Congress might be doing the same! The Nation magazine reported that a bill to lift restrictions on remittances that Cuban Americans can send to their families in Cuba was blocked by House Democratic leadership! We need to let our Senators and Representatives know that starving the Cuban people to curry favor with Cuban American voters in Florida is inhumane and unacceptable!.
There are two bills in Congress that those of us who want to be good neighbors to Cuba should support: HR. 3625 the United States - Cuba Relations Normalization Act, and S.1694 the Freedom to Export to Cuba Act. Both of these bills would ease the cruel blockade that has been illegally and immorally punishing ordinary Cubans for over six decades.
It was decades of grassroots pressure and building public support that pushed President Obama to begin normalizing relations with Cuba. That support still exists: poll after poll shows Americans want to end the embargo. The grassroots has been doing its job, raising funds for syringes, as well as holding caravans and rallies across the country in solidarity with the Cuban people. Now it’s time for Congress to step up.
Earlier this week, Medea, Tighe and I went to the White House during a right-wing Cuba rally with a simple message: build bridges of love and help Cuban families by ending the blockade. We were immediately surrounded and threatened by a mob of extremists, but the most shocking thing was how filled they were with hate. Unfortunately, these are the people who the Biden administration and Democratic leadership are listening to, instead of listening to those who supported President Obama’s political opening. Together, we can make them listen to all of us when we say: “Let Cuba live!”
In radical solidarity,
Leonardo, Medea, Teri and Michelle
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