It is the fifth city in the Boston metropolitan area to approve a similar resolution, and joins more than a hundred proposals throughout the United States demanding a change in its policy towards Cuba.

Isaac Bears, president of the Council and member of the Democratic Socialist of America (DSA) party, presented the initiative that received almost unanimous support, with only one dissenting vote.

The Medford resolution describes the “detrimental impact of the US blockade on Medford residents and organizations that have family, business and research ties with individuals and organizations in Cuba”.

Medford councilors called on their Massachusetts congressmen to “pass legislation to repeal any laws relating to the blockade against Cuba.”

In the public comment period DSA member Claire Blechman condemned such a policy and described it as “an immoral collective punishment of the Cuban people.”

She argued that Medford residents could benefit from better bilateral relations with Cuba, particularly in the areas of health care, trade and tourism.

Blechman ended with a call for the Council to “tell Congress to remove Cuba from the SSOT list, lift the blockade and let Cuba live.”

The resolution follows a letter to President Joe Biden from Massachusetts Representatives Jim McGovern, Ayanna Pressley, Stephen Lynch, Lori Trahan and Seth Moulton, as well as Senators Edward Markey and Elizabeth Warren.

In the letter, the congressmen urged President Biden to fulfill his campaign promises of diplomatic rapprochement, including the removal of Cuba from SSOT list.

“While there are multiple reasons for the economic crisis in Cuba, certainly a major contributing factor are restrictions and sanctions faced by international financial institutions and others because Cuba is included on the SSOT list,” Representatives McGovern and Pressley wrote.

Cuba was removed from such an arbitrary relationship in 2015 by then-President Barack Obama. But his Republican successor, Donald Trump, returned Cuba to the SSOT list days before leaving office in January 2021, as part of the maximum pressure policy applied during his term.

In December 2021, 114 lawmakers nationwide called on Joe Biden to return to Obama’s outreach policies; in addition, international leaders such as Presidents Gustavo Petro and Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador have also called on Biden to remove Cuba from the SSOT list.

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