Mark Friedman, a member of the California-based group, stressed in a message that this victory “is certainly the result of hundreds of resolutions approved by unions and government agencies representing more than 150 million of US citizens, as well as international protests, votes at the United Nations, street actions…”
The activist, who is also a member of the Local 1484 union of the International Association of Machinists, referred to the other measures announced by President Joe Biden on Tuesday, shortly after concluding his first and only term in the White House.
“Biden removed Cuba from the ‘State sponsors of terrorism’ and suspends the application of the draconian and economically paralyzing Title 3 of the Helms-Burton Act,” he added.
He pointed out that the United States is about to begin a new administration that does not eliminate the danger that in the future they may announce hostile measures against Cuba, but he stressed that a matter of first order is that “we will continue to fight against the blockade,” which remains on the Cuban people.
Friedman called attention to the most recent solidarity action of sending medical supplies to Cuba, which has been subjected to a blockade for more than six decades that has a dramatic impact on the Cuban population.
The Los Angeles Committee is part of the wide range of more than 70 organizations of the National Network on Cuba that on Tuesday, after Biden’s announcement, reiterated its commitment to fight until the end of the blockade.
Six days before leaving the White House, Biden, who had promised a change in policy on Cuba since his electoral campaign in 2020, took steps that were still limited, but in the right direction.
In addition to the delisting and waver on Title III of the Helms-Burton Act, Biden rescinded National Security Presidential Memorandum 5 of 2017 on Cuba policy to eliminate the so-called ‘restricted list’.
Cuba was first baselessly included on the State Sponsors of Terrorism (SSOT) list in 1982, during the administration of Ronald Reagan (1981-1989), and Barack Obama (2009-2017) reversed the measure in 2015 after admitting that it lacked merit.
However, in January 2021, eight days before leaving the Oval Office, then President Donald Trump reapplied the designation, something that Biden reversed now at the end of his term.
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