«Let Cuba Live!«, begins an open letter from constituents and concerned individuals in the San Francisco Bay Area to U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who is running for re-election.
The text, published in the San Francisco Examiner, explains that it is time to forge a new path forward in U.S. relations with Cuba.
It also urgently calls on Pelosi to use her powers, given her status as a national leader, to urge President Biden to reverse the 243 coercive measures that the Trump administration added to the long-standing blockade imposed by the United States.
The letter denounces how the Biden Administration has kept Trump’s policy in place almost in its entirety, even during the epidemic that swept the globe.
It recalls how former President Trump blocked Cuba’s access to financial institutions in the midst of the pandemic, which made it extremely difficult and expensive for Cuba to import food and medicines or to acquire the materials necessary to manufacture its own medicines, including vaccines.
At the same time they state they are encouraged that on May 16, 2022, the government has taken three limited steps toward ending Trump’s policies. «With the stroke of a pen, President Biden could right now sign an executive order and reverse all of the measures imposed by Trump,» the signatories detail.
Likewise, they denounce how the most recent decision of that government to exclude Cuba, together with Venezuela and Nicaragua, from the Summit of the Americas is a step backward.
In addition, it urges Pelosi to oppose the actions currently being taken by the U.S. government to finance actions aimed at regime change in Cuba.
In recent weeks, people living in the San Francisco Bay Area and throughout the United States have donated six million syringes to support vaccinations against COVID/19 using vaccines developed by Cuba’s own biotech industry.
«We urge you to act immediately to Allow Cuba to Live, a position that would help enhance the values of the San Francisco Bay Area and become a permanent theme of your political legacy!» the text concludes.
Among the signatories are Angela Y. Davis, Distinguished Professor Emeritus and Writer, and Shamann Walton, President of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, in addition to other intellectuals.
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Original article by Milagros Pichardo en Granma Internacional
