This was endorsed recently in an opinion article published in The Boston Globe, in the state of Massachusetts, Democratic Representative Jim McGovern, and Patrick Leahy, former pro tempore president of the Senate, who was a member of that legislative body from 1975 to January of this year.
According to the signatories of the article, intelligence officials and diplomats in Democratic and Republican administrations almost all agree — the designation was without merit.
“That’s why Cuba was removed from the list by President Barack Obama in 2015. Yet over halfway through President Biden’s first term, Cuba remains on the list — meaning that private industry, faith-based groups, NGOs, universities, and even foreign governments risk US prosecution for nearly any kind of humanitarian aid, business, investment, or trade with Cuban citizens.”
Although ending the economic, financial and commercial blockade in force for more than 60 years, an anachronism from the Cold War that has achieved none of its objectives, requires an act from Congress, there are intermediate steps that must be taken immediately, McGovern and Leahy said.
First, the White House should remove Cuba from the state sponsor of terrorism list. It’s an open secret in Washington that Cuba does not belong on the list and that the previous false justification by the Trump administration was politically motivated, they said.
“Second, Biden should waive Title III of the Helms-Burton Act. Waived for years by Democratic and Republican administrations before Trump, Title III is a misguided attempt to bully other countries into involuntarily joining US efforts to punish the Cuban people and Cuban entrepreneurs — exacerbating their hardships by preventing trade and investment, even when it has nothing to do with the Cuban government,” they pointed out.
“Third, the Biden administration should expand diplomatic dialogue with Cuba on issues like migration, maritime security, and environmental protection, as well as facilitating the export of US agricultural products and collaborating to protect our citizens from infectious diseases.”
Finally, the Biden administration should allow more Americans to travel to Cuba to support the struggling private sector there. Reinstating the general license for individual people-to-people educational travel would give private businesses a major boost since individual travelers are far more likely than groups to travel to Cuba.”
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