Barbara Lee recalled that she has been involved in the United States’ policy towards the Caribbean nation for four decades, and that she is committed to lifting the “failed embargo (blockade) on Cuba.”
“US policy continues to be based on the idea that punishing Cubans is somehow helping them,” warned Barbara Lee. (Photo: PL)
Democratic Congresswoman Barbara Lee called the U.S. blockade against Cuba obsolete and harmful and said she will work to achieve a more intelligent and humane policy toward the Caribbean country.
A member of the House of Representatives from California since 1998, Lee recalled that she has been involved in U.S. policy toward the Caribbean nation for four decades, and that she is committed to lifting the “failed embargo (blockade) on Cuba.”
“The United States must support the efforts of the Cuban people to build a peaceful and prosperous society that can meet the hopes and needs of the Cuban people. And we see the Cuban people organizing to achieve this,” the president of the Congressional Black Caucus (2009–2011) stressed in a statement.
“But U.S. policy continues to be based on the idea that punishing Cubans is somehow helping them,” he warned, recalling that during Barack Obama’s administration (2009-2017) some important measures were adopted “to rethink our strategy towards Cuba,” he added.
However, the Donald Trump administration (2017-2021) “not only undid those measures, but also expanded the embargo, accusing Cuba of being a state sponsor of terrorism,” Lee added, expressing his gratitude for participating in an event on Washington’s policy towards the Caribbean nation.
He said President Joe Biden has taken “a number of small, important, positive steps.” “We have begun talking again with the Cuban government on issues of mutual interest, including migration and law enforcement. We have increased our diplomatic and consular presence, and we have taken steps to encourage travel and trade.”
For the legislator, “these steps remain only symbolic changes in a policy that continues to isolate and punish the Cuban people. After six decades of failure, it is time for the United States to try something different,” because in the end it is “the Cuban people who are paying the price.”
Representative Lee stressed that she will work “to create a smarter and more humane U.S. policy toward Cuba.”
The lifting of the economic, commercial and financial blockade against Cuba is a demand that has not yet been heard by both the Democratic and Republican White House governments.
Added to this policy of suffocation in 2021 was the re-inclusion of Cuba in the arbitrary list of State Sponsors of Terrorism (SSOT), a decision taken by then-Republican President Donald Trump days before the end of his term.
Despite promising to make changes in Cuba policy, the current Democratic president, Joe Biden, about five months away from ending his term in the Oval Office, not only continues to follow the line of reinforced blockade but also maintains the designation of SSOT.
