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| The legal structure of the 55 year U.S. trade blockade and prohibitions of travel to Cuba.Photo: Ramon Espinosa/AP |
By:
Emile Schepers
This week, a Cuban delegation arrived
in Washington D.C. to continue discussions with the U.S. State
Department on the proposals for regularizing relations between the two
countries. At the same time a number of bills have been presented in
the Senate and House of Representatives for the purpose of eliminating
the legal structure of the 55 year U.S. trade blockade and prohibitions
of travel to Cuba.
The first task, as explained by the head of Cuba's delegation,
Josefina Vidal, who is in charge of U.S. affairs in the Cuban foreign
ministry, is to get Cuba removed from the list of state sponsors of
terrorism. This should be simple because everybody but the most extreme
Cuba-haters agrees that Cuba is not, indeed, a state sponsor of
terrorism.
Cuba, in fact, deplores all terrorist acts, whether carried out by
ISIS in the Middle East or anybody else. Cuba itself has been the victim
of numerous terrorist attacks, many of which have been launched against
the island from the territory of the United States or allied
countries. Both Cuba and Venezuela have demanded the extradition of
Luis Posada Carriles, a former Central Intelligence Agent who is accused
of blowing up a Cuban civilian airliner in mid-airliner in 1976, with
the loss of 73 lives of passengers and crew. In the United States,
Posada was only prosecuted for immigration violations and acquitted. He is now lionized in right wing Cuban exile circles in Miami.
President Obama, in his speech on Dec. 17 of last year, called on
Secretary of State John Kerry to review the listing of Cuba as a
terrorism sponsor. The reasons given in the recent past for maintaining
Cuba on that list have been paper thin: Cuba allows the existence of
the Basque separatist organization ETA to function, but that was
arranged at the request of former Spanish Prime Minister Felipe
Gonzalez, and the Basque campaigns of armed action are ending.
Also, Cuba allows an office of Colombia's Armed Forces of the
Colombian Revolution-People's Army to exist in Havana, but this is at
the behest of the Colombian government. Cuba and Norway are cosponsors
of peace talks between the FARC-EP and the Colombian government of
President Manuel Santos, which are going so well that major
breakthroughs in ending the Colombian civil war seem imminent.
Secretary of State Kerry has named veteran U.S. diplomat Bernard
Anderson as a special representative to the Colombia peace talks, which was applauded not only by the Colombian government but by the FARC-EP as well.
The anti-Castro diehards cling to the idea of blocking the removal of
Cuba from the State Sponsors of Terrorism List by harping on the theme
of Assata Shakur. Politicians such as Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., and
Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtenin, R-Fla., have denounced Cuba for
refusing to extradite Shakur
and others who, years ago, requested and got political Asylum in Cuba.
However, the Obama administration does not seem to be swayed. At any
rate, Cuba has made clear that it will not extradite them.
So the removal of Cuba from the list seems probable. The Cubans,
however, ask for quick action. Vidal pointed out that it would be
strange for Cuba and the United States to negotiate the restoration of
diplomatic relations between Washington and Havana while the former
accuses the latter of being a terrorist sponsor.
There are practical implications: For many months, the Cuban
diplomatic missions in Washington and at the United Nations in New York
have had to go without U.S. bank accounts because U.S. banks are afraid
that Cuba's presence on the list would entail major financial risks for
any U.S. or foreign bank that did business with the socialist nation.
Also, Cuba is urging the Obama administration to finalize the process in
time for the 15th Summit of the Americas which will take place on Apr.
10-12 in Panama. U.S. officials say that this will not be on the agenda
for the meeting in Washington.
At least 10 bills have been introduced into the Senate and House of
Representatives for the purpose eliminating the U.S. trade and travel
blockade against Cuba. Details can be found at the website of the U.S. Congress.
They include several bills to end the travel ban (S 299 and HR 664) and
to allow travelers to Cuba to spend money there for normal
travel-related expenses (HR 664). Several would end the trade blockade
completely ( HR 274, HR 403, S 491) or partially (HR 735, HR 635). HR
570, would cut off funding for the scandal ridden Radio and TV Marti,
broadcasters of U.S. propaganda to Cuba. It is likely that more bills
will be introduced.
People who want to see a change in U.S.-Cuba policy should study the
details of these bills and check if their own senators and their House
member are listed as co-sponsors. If so, they should contact them to
thank them and to urge them to push the bill until it is passed and
signed by President Obama. If not, they should urge them to sign on as
cosponsors and work for the bill's passage. Contact information can also
be found on the Congressional website.
Both Democrats and Republicans should be contacted. Republicans may
be convinced to support ending the blockade because of pressure from
agricultural and other industries who want normal trade with Cuba.
Fuente: People^s World/PrensaPopularSolidaria
http://prensapopular-comunistasmiranda.blogspot.com
Correo: pcvmirandasrp@gmail.com
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