Radio Cadena Agramonte emisiora de Camagüey
Washington, Oct 31.- More than twenty legislators from the state of New York, led by Senator Jabari Brisport, urged the US president, Joe Biden, to lift the cruel and unjustified economic blockade against Cuba.
A total of 25 legislators signed a letter to the president, also addressed to the majority leader in the federal Senate, New York Democrat Charles Schumer, in which they ask for immediate action.
The claim also calls for reversing the restrictions imposed by the Donald Trump administration (2017-2021), including the then president's unfounded designation that Cuba is an alleged State Sponsor of Terrorism.
On June 22, 2023, the New York City Council passed a resolution calling on Congress and the President of the United States to end the blockade and travel ban on Cuba and remove Cuba from the list of State Sponsors of the Terrorism due to the unjust damage it causes to the Cuban people, the text recalled.
They argued that similar resolutions have been formally passed in Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Hartford, Helena, Minneapolis, New Haven, Pittsburgh, St. Paul, Washington, DC, and many other U.S. cities.
Likewise, the state legislatures of Alabama, Illinois, Michigan and Minnesota endorsed resolutions calling for the end of the economic, financial and commercial blockade imposed on the Caribbean country more than six decades ago.
At the same time, they reminded Biden that three years ago he promised to quickly reverse Trump's failed policies that have harmed the Cuban people and done nothing to promote democracy and human rights.
We ask that you soon fulfill this promise and finally put an end to the decades-long practice of cruelty against the Cuban people.
They mentioned the value that normalizing relations with Cuba has for New York and gave examples of cooperation starting in April 2015, when the first delegation from that state in 156 years traveled to the island.
They said there is a huge appetite for this kind of positive engagement, sabotaged by a cruel, unjustified and obviously ineffective policy of economic sanctions.
They reiterated that these opportunities for collaboration could be very beneficial for the people of both parties.
More than a decade ago, the Center for Molecular Immunology (CIM) in Havana developed a vaccine to treat non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC).
In 2018, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center launched the first joint venture between U.S. and Cuban partners, right here in New York, to increase collaboration between scientists on both sides.
This new joint venture, Innovative Immunotherapy Alliance SA, provides Roswell Park with access to unique approaches to treating some of the deadliest and most serious cancers in the United States and around the world.
New York and Cuba can collaborate much more effectively on projects like these if the blockade is lifted, they warned.
Every year since 1992, for more than 30 years, the United Nations General Assembly has adopted an annual resolution calling for an end to the economic blockade that the United States has imposed on the island of Cuba, they added.
Each year, the resolution gains overwhelming support around the world; Just last year, the resolution was approved by a recorded vote of 185 countries in favor, compared to only two countries against, they stressed.
According to the UN and the overwhelming consensus of world opinion, the need to lift the blockade is more urgent than ever, due to the global food and fuel crises that have negatively impacted Cuba, and in particular due to the economic damage of this policy that amounted to 154,220 million dollars at current prices.
In addition to lifting the blockade, we ask that the United States join the rest of the world this year and vote in favor of the United Nations General Assembly resolution, they concluded. (Text and photo: PL)
