“Mr. President, you have the power to remove Cuba from the list of State Sponsors of Terrorism. Cuba is not a terrorist country,” the signatories stated.
Grouped in the Cuba Partners Network, the churches recalled that the Barack Obama administration (2009-2017), of which Biden was vice president, removed Cuba from that list in 2015, after concluding what was obvious: Cuba is not a sponsor of terrorism.
They added, “In fact, it is our understanding that the U.S. and Cuban Governments have cooperated on anti-terrorist matters in the region.”
“PC(USA) partners have been the in-person witnesses to the economic strangulation and hardships on our church partners and the Cuban population caused by the U.S. embargo (blockade), Title III of the 1996 Helms-Burton Act, tightened regulations under the Donald Trump Administration (2017-2021) and the reimposition of the SSOT,” the network stressed.
“We heard the latest sufferings endured by church families and all Cubans resulting from the SSOT regulations affecting financing and imports,” the group emphasized.
“Cubans are not able to import medicines, pharmaceutical inputs, and medical equipment; food and food-production inputs; oil, energy inputs and equipment, among the vast array of common daily needs that are import-prohibited,” the churches said in the letter.
The text mentioned to Biden a series of sad stories about the impact of the unjustified inclusion on Washington’s list, which turns the tables on the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed for more than six decades on the Cuban people.
They regretted the effect of the coercive measure, particularly in the sphere of public health in the treatment of cancer patients, especially children, and the effects on the daily lives of Cubans due to fuel shortages.
“It is clear that the U.S embargo, regulations, and the SSOT are griding the Cuban economy to dust,” the letter emphasized, asking Biden respectfully to “recognize the dire harm and conditions that are imposed on Cubans by the SSOT and act immediately to remove Cuba from the list,” the organization concluded.
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