Take Action to Support Cuban Self-Determination and Survival!
Call on Biden administration to keep its word!
Please read our statement and see below for how to take action.
Statement on Recent Events in Cuba
It is the height of hypocrisy for the Biden administration to claim support for human rights and democracy in Cuba while keeping in place the 60-year old U.S. blockade against Cuba.
We call on the Biden Administration:
Honor the overwhelming mandate of 29 consecutive and nearly unanimous UN votes to end the blockade of Cuba.
The global community does not believe U.S. assertions that blockade sanctions advance democracy, support human rights or help Cubans exercise their civil liberties.
These claims by the U.S. could not be further from the truth. The continued U.S. war against Cuba, intensified under the Trump administration, has resulted only in increased suffering, pain and hardship, especially under the Covid-19 pandemic.
The international community at the United Nations recognized this inhumane policy of the U.S. by voting 184 in favor of lifting the blockade with only the U.S. and Israel voting no.
As even the US media has admitted in their coverage of recent demonstrations in Cuba, the protesters are largely driven by a desire for economic improvements in their lives. The largest factor in causing the shortages and deprivation driving people to demonstrate is the U.S. blockade! The U.S. blockade curbs Cuban trade with all countries that trade with the U.S.
Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez and several U.N. members verify that the U.S. embargo has cost the Cuban economy around $147 billion in losses over nearly six decades, and about $9 billion calculated from April 2019.
Since the triumph of the Cuban Revolution drove colonial powers from Cuban soil, the US has continued, overtly and covertly, to pour billions of dollars into efforts to overturn the Cuban Revolution. Methods include the funding of false propaganda, funding of counter-revolutionary movements, death plots and the failed Playa Giron invasion.
WILPF’s Cuba and the Bolivarian Alliance Issues Committee and our ally, US Women and Cuba Collaboration, are organizations that build solidarity between women and girls in the US and Cuba. We recognize that the U.S. blockade has a disproportionate impact on these populations. Under the Cuban revolution, women have made impressive strides towards equality and participation. These advancements are under great threat with U.S. foreign policies meant to destabilize Cuban society.
We call on the Biden administration to keep its word to implement a policy of reengagement with the Cuban government, so as to give true meaning to our country’s support for human rights and democracy.
We stand by our sisters and the Cuban people in their right to determine their own future without the interference of the U.S., especially not any direct intervention.
In Solidarity,
WILPF’s Cuba and the Bolivarian Alliance Issues Committee and US Women and Cuba Collaboration
Actions You Can Take to Lift the Blockade and to Help the Cuban People
Contact Congress
Reach out to your Senator or member of Congress and urge them to co-sponsor these pending bills introduced earlier this year that will lift the US blockade and help dismantle the blockade.
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United States-Cuba Relations Normalization Act: H.R. 3625 (Introduced by Rep. Rush)
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United States-Cuba Trade Act of 2021: S. 249 (Introduced by Senator Wyden)
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Freedom to Export to Cuba Act of 2021: S. 1694 (Introduced by Senator Klobuchar)
Support Cuban Health Care
Donate and spread the word about the Syringes to Cuba Campaign which is being expanded to include sending badly needed medicines and medical supplies to Cuba. Cuba can vaccinate its whole population with its own vaccines, but they need us to send them the syringes. We are close to reaching our goal of $600,000 but we want to raise more to provide for their other medical needs and basics. This is a tax-deductible donation through Global Health Partner within the guidelines of US law. Go to www.ghpartners.org .
Caravan Support
Support the solidarity caravans taking place across the country. They are calling for an end of the U.S. embargo: www.us-cubanormalization.org .
If you’re in Washington D.C. on July 25, please join Carlos Lazo and five other Cuban-Americans who are walking 1300 miles from Miami to the White House to ask for an end to the embargo.
Thank you!
WILPF’s Cuba and the Bolivarian Alliance Issues Committee
For further information, contact info@wilpfus.org
