The 1986 Nobel Literature Prize winner thus joins the claim of other intellectuals, artists and social fighters such as Atilio Boron, Ariel Dorfman, Iñaki Gil De San Vicente, Katya Colmenares, and Ramón Grosfoguel, according to the Facebook profile of the president of Casa de las Américas, Abel Prieto.
Fernando Buen Abad, Luisa Valenzuela, Patricia Ariza, Leonid Savin, Manolo de los Santos, Jorge Boccanera, Fernando Rendón, Marcos Roitman, Patricia Villegas, Sergio Arria, Pascual Serrano, Sara Rosenberg, Mónica Valente, Carlos Margotta, Juan Carlos Volnovich, among many others, also signed this claim.
The prestigious Havana cultural institution called on everyone who is sensitive to the suffering of the Cuban people to support this noble initiative with their signature, and they can do so by emailing: casadelasamericas2024@gmail.com.
In his letter, Ramonet asks the US president to repair the “profound injustice committed on January 12, 2021 by his predecessor, Donald Trump, when, a few weeks after leaving the White House, he decided –without any real legal basis– to re-inscribe Cuba on the infamous list of State Sponsors of Terrorism (SSOT list, its initials in English).”
The writer and political analyst also recalled when the administration of President Barack Obama removed the Caribbean country from that dishonorable list in 2015, “which represented a very positive step to finally forge a more constructive relationship with Havana.”
For 65 years, despite the tensions that may have existed between the United States and Cuba, not a single case of violent action occurring on U.S. territory that has been sponsored, directly or indirectly, by Havana can be cited. Not a single case!, the eminent intellectual specified.
The most atrocious consequences arise from the risk associated with any type of humanitarian aid, business, investment and trade that involves Cuba and, by extension, its citizens, he added.
All this added to “the terrible consequences of the cruel and illegal economic, commercial and financial blockade against Cuba that the US government has maintained for more than 60 years.”
The current wave of Cuban expatriates migrating to the United States, unprecedented in its magnitude, is perhaps the most illustrative example of the devastating impact and suffering caused by extreme and brutal measures against the Cuban economy, he said.
Mr. President, this situation has to end, Ramonet requested. You know, there is not a single valid and reasonable argument to accuse Cuba and keep its population under an illegal and inhuman collective punishment.
You have the authority to, before leaving the White House, correct such cruel absurdity and remove Cuba from the SSOT list. Do it now!, indicated the prominent intellectual at the end of his letter, hoping that Joe Biden will be able to rise to the occasion of this historic moment.
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