Dear President Joe Biden,
It is time to take a new path forward in U.S.-Cuban relations. We, the undersigned, are making this urgent, public appeal to you to reject the cruel policies put into place by the Trump White House that have created so much suffering among the Cuban people.
Cuba – a country of eleven million people – is living through a difficult crisis due to the growing scarcity of food and medicine. Recent protests have drawn the world’s attention to this. While the Covid-19 pandemic has proven challenging for all countries, it has been even more so for a small island under the heavy weight of an economic embargo.
We find it unconscionable, especially during a pandemic, to intentionally block remittances and Cuba’s use of global financial institutions, given that access to dollars is necessary for the importation of food and medicine.
As the pandemic struck the island, its people – and their government – lost billions in revenue from international tourism that would normally go to their public health care system, food distribution and economic relief.
During the pandemic, Donald Trump’s administration tightened the embargo, pushed aside the Obama opening, and put in place 243 “coercive measures” that have intentionally throttled life on the island and created more suffering.
The prohibition on remittances and the end of direct commercial flights between the U.S. and Cuba are impediments to the wellbeing of a majority of Cuban families.
“We stand with the Cuban people,” you wrote on July 12. If that is the case, we ask you to immediately sign an executive order and annul Trump’s 243 “coercive measures.”
There is no reason to maintain the Cold War politics that required the U.S. to treat Cuba as an existential enemy rather than a neighbor. Instead of maintaining the path set by Trump in his efforts to undo President Obama’s opening to Cuba, we call on you to move forward. Resume the opening and begin the process of ending the embargo. Ending the severe shortages in food and medicine must be the top priority.
On 23 June, most of the member states of the United Nations voted to ask the U.S. to end the embargo. For the past 30 years this has been the consistent position of a majority of member states. In addition, seven UN Special Rapporteurs wrote a letter to the U.S. government in April 2020 regarding the sanctions on Cuba. “In the pandemic emergency,” they wrote, “the lack of will of the U.S. government to suspend sanctions may lead to a higher risk of suffering in Cuba.”
We ask you to end the Trump “coercive measures” and return to the Obama opening or, even better, begin the process of ending the embargo and fully normalizing relations between the United States and Cuba.
Signers
- Vermont State Labor Council, AFL-CIO
- Black Lives Matter Global Network
- ANSWER Coalition
- The People’s Forum
- CODEPINK
- Landless Workers Movement-MST (Brasil)
- IFCO/Pastors for Peace
- V (Formerly Eve Ensler)
- Andres Arauz (Ecuador)
- Miguel Barnet Lanza (Cuba)
- Nnimmo Bassey (Nigeria)
- Frei Betto (Brasil)
- Jackson Browne
- Chico Buarque (Brasil)
- Prof. Judith Butler
- Noam Chomsky
- Jeremy Corbyn (UK)
- Prof. Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
- Daniel Ellsberg
- Jane Fonda
- Danny Glover
- Nancy Morejón (Cuba)
- Wagner Moura (Brasil)
- Manu Pineda (Spain)
- Boots Riley
- Eduardo (Choco) Roca Salazar (Cuba)
- Silvio Rodriguez Dominguez (Cuba)
- Mark Ruffalo
- Susan Sarandon
- Oliver Stone
- Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis
- Emma Thompson (UK)
- Marisa Tomei
- Dr. Cornel West
- Reinerio Arce, Instituto Superior Ecuménico de Ciencias de las Religiones (Cuba)
- Rev. Dr. Dora Arce Valentin, Presbyterian-Reformed Church in Cuba (Cuba)
- Medea Benjamin, CODEPINK
- Rudelmar Bueno de Faria, ACT Alliance
- Rafael Correa, Fmr. President (Ecuador)
- Lula Da Silva, Fmr. President (Brasil)
- Manolo De Los Santos, The People’s Forum
- Rev. Dr. Chris Ferguson, World Communion of Reformed Churches
- David Harvey, CUNY Graduate Center (UK)
- Gleisi Hoffman, Worker’s Party (PT) (Brasil)
- Prof. Raj Patel, University of Texas
- Adolfo Perez Esquivel, Nobel Peace Prize (Argentina)
- Bishop Rubin Phillip, Anglican Church of Southern Africa (South Africa)
- Vijay Prashad, Tricontinental Institute for Social Research
- Israel Rojas Fiel, Duo Buena Fe (Cuba)
- Dr. Jill Stein, Green Party
- Rev. Raul Suarez, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Center (Cuba)
- Dr. Earl D. Trent Jr., Florida Avenue Baptist Church
- Yanis Varoufakis, (Greece)
- Mark Weisbrot, Center for Economic and Policy Research
- Rev. Jim Winkler, National Council of Churches USA
- Alliance for Cuba Engagement and Respect (ACERE)
- United States Peace Council
- Observatorio Latinoamericano de Geopolítica (Mexico)
- PazAmor, Inc
- Democratic Socialists of America
- Noname
- Phillip Agnew
- Leonardo Boff
- Atilio A Boron (Argentina)
- Glauber Braga
- Dr. Charisse Burden-Stelly
- Alicia Castro (Argentina)
- Roberto Chile (Cuba)
- Jandira Fhegalli
- Dr. Pablo González Casanova (Mexico)
- Luis Hernández Navarro (Mexico)
- Dr Gerald Horne
- Dr. Robin D. G. Kelley
- Gloria La Riva
- Dr. Gilberto López y Rivas (Mexico)
- Fernando Morais (Brasil)
- Dra. Josefina Morales (Mexico)
- Alderperson Carlos Ramirez-Rosa
- Dr. Barbara Ransby
- G. C, Spivak
- Prof Raymond Suttner
- Estela Vazquez
- Ruth Wilson Gilmore
- Dr. Enrique Alemán Gutiérrez, Plataforma Cubana Pra el Dialogo Intereligioso (Cuba)
- Prof. Bruno Bosteels, Columbia University
- Kenarik Boujikian, Association of Judges for Democracy – Brazil
- John Cavanagh, Institute for Policy Studies
- Fernando Chavez, Son of Cesar Chavez
- Gabriel Coderch Diaz, Centro Oscar Arnulfo Romero (Cuba)
- Prof. Jodi Dean, Hobart and William Smith Colleges
- Prof. Costas Douzinas, Hellenic Parliament (Greece)
- Former Assistant Secretary Education and Public Service Smithsonian Institution James Counts Early, Institute for Policy Studies Board
- Jorge González Nuñez, Student Christian Movement of Cuba (Cuba)
- Rev. Dr. Carlos Emilio Ham Stanard, Seminario Evangelico de Teologia (Cuba)
- Chris Hazzard, Sinn Fein (Ireland)
- Prof. Fredric Jameson, Duke University
- Bishop Ismael Laborde Figueras, United Evangelical Church in Cuba Lutheran Synod (Cuba)
- Max Lesnick, La Alianza Martiana/ Radio Miami
- Michael Löwy, French National Center of Scientific Research
- Dianet Martínez Valdés, World Student Christian Federation – Latin America (Cuba)
- Eugene Puryear, BreakThrough News
- Prof. Adolph Reed Jr, University of Pennsylvania, Dept of Political Science
- Angélica Salazar, Alliance for Cuba Engagement and Respect (ACERE)
- Rev. Tania Sánchez Fonseca, Moravian Church in Cuba (Cuba)
- President David Van Deusen, Vermont State Labor Council AFL-CIO
- Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, Partnership for Civil Justice Fund
- Corporación colectivo CreAcción
- DISPARADA – Partido dos Trabalhadores (PT) (Brasil)
- Anti-Flag
- CUBA Solidarity Forum Ireland
- The Grayzone
- Denver Peace Council
- Comite 68 (Mexico)
- United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS)
- RadioMiamiTV y PazAmor
- Get Better Records
- Carl Messineo, Attorney
- Associação Intervenção Democrática – ID
- New Frame (South Africa)
- Historians for Peace and Democracy
- Eve 6
- Dream Defenders
- Labor Against Racism and War
- Abahlali baseMjondolo Movement (South Africa)
- Zackie Achmat (South Africa)
- Prof. Gregory Afinogenov
- Santiago Alba Rico (Spain)
- Jonathan Alingu
- Dr. Tom Alter
- Breno Altman (Brasil)
- Eduardo Alvares Moreira (Brasil)
- Prof. Elisabeth Anker
- Dr. Barbara Applebaum
- Mauricio Arenas
- Dr. Silvia Arrom
- Dr. Albena Azmanova
- Maricruz Badia
- Maura Barrios
- Leo Bashinsky
- Kenneth Baynes
- Dr. Richard Benson
- Katiusca Blanco Castiñeira (Cuba)
- Altamiro Borges (Brasil)
- Atilio Boron (Argentina)
- Ricardo Bracho
- Peter Bratt
- Noni Brynjolson
- Prof. Susan Buck-Morss
- Dr. Larry Busk
- Prof. Lana Cable
- Lee Camp
- Dr. Roosbelinda Cardenas
- Dr. Chuck Churchill
- Prof. Joshua Clover
- Prof. Jean Cohen
- Prof. Deborah Cohen
- Ana Cortes
- Bernardo Cotrim (Brasil)
- Peter Coyote
- Rubén Darío Salazar (Cuba)
- Edevaldo de Medeiros (Brasil)
- Prof. T. J. Demos
- Derek DePratter
- Richard Dickerson
- Osvaldo Doimeadiós (Cuba)
- Prof. Elizabeth Dore
- Dr Jean Dreze
- Dr. David Dulceany
- Jennifer Duprey
- Prof. Zillah Eisenstein
- Max Elbaum
- Ernesto Espinoza
- Liza Featherstone
- Jorge Fernández Souza (Brasil)
- Alon Feuerwerker (Brasil)
- John J. Fitzgerald
- Prof. Carlos Forment
- Prof. Nancy Fraser
- Morgan Glaze
- Prof. David Theo Goldberg
- Prof. Emeritus Karen Graffeo
- Prof. A. Tom Grunfeld
- Chris Gude
- Digna Guerra (Cuba)
- Prof. Peter Hallward
- Nigel Hanrahan
- Prof. Donna Haraway
- Michele Hardesty
- Michael Hardt
- Dr. John Harfouch
- Chris Hedges
- Doug Henwood
- Prof. Anasa Hicks
- Vanessa and Ted Hope
- Bruno Jaffré
- Jon Jeter
- Esteban Jimenez
- Esteban Esteban Jimenez
- Prof. Cedric Johnson
- Prof. Rebecca Karl
- Prof. Sujung Kim
- Prof. Esther kingston-mann
- Dr. Tomomi Kinukawa
- Rachel Kushner
- Flávia Lacerda (Brasil)
- Annie Lacroix-Riz
- Greg LaMotta
- Dr. Tamara Lee
- Vivien Lesnik Weisman
- Jonathan Lethem
- Prof. Ania Loomba
- Susan Luss
- Prof. Clayton Lust
- Prof. Kara Lynch
- Verónica Lynn (Cuba)
- Francisco López Sacha (Cuba)
- Dr. Richard MacMaster
- Prof. Geo Maher
- Dr. Curry Malott
- Bernardo Mançano Fernandes (Brasil)
- Professor Emeritus, SUNY Cortland John Marciano
- Dr. Nadia Marsh
- James Martel
- Abby Martin
- Aaron Maté
- Prof. Peter McLaren
- Dr. David McNally
- Veronika Mendoza (Peru)
- Dr. Magali Menezes (Brasil)
- Prof. Márgara Millán
- Camilo Molina
- Alexis Moncada
- Prof. Daniel Mosquera
- Prof. Eshragh Motahar
- Julio Munoz
- Prof. James Neel
- Prof. Michael Neocosmos (South Africa)
- Prof. Mary Nolan
- Ben Norton
- Luna Olavarria Gallegos
- Dr. Marcos Oliveira (Brasil)
- Jacqueline Osorio
- Hypatia Ostojic
- Fraser Ottanelli
- Prof. Tanalís Padilla (Mexico)
- Scott Parkin
- João Paulo (Brasil)
- João Paulo Souza de Alencar (Brasil)
- Dr. Jacques Pauwels
- Sandra Pereira
- João Pimenta Lopes
- Peyman Piran
- Beatrice Pita
- Graziella Pogolotti (Cuba)
- Prof. Claire Potter
- Prof. Margaret Power
- Lindi Ragon
- Ignacio Ramonet (Spain)
- Dr. Josiah Rector
- Dolores Rintoul
- Corey Robin
- Dr. William I. Robinson
- Prof. Gabriel Rockhill
- Tania Romero
- Thomas Ross
- Vicente Rubio-Pueyo
- Prof. Abra Salazar
- Prof. Josefina Saldaña-Portillo
- Prof. Rosaura Sanchez
- Magdiel Sanchez Quiroz (Mexico)
- Sanford Schram
- Ellen Schrecker
- Dr. Rupa Shah
- Cindy Sheehan
- Prof. Beverly Sheftall
- Prof. Francis Shor
- Prof. Lewis Siegelbaum
- Prof. Renato Simões (Brasil)
- Alan Singer
- Doris Smith
- Greg Smith
- Mark Spencer
- Samuel Stein
- Margaret Stevens
- Linda Talton
- Dr. Maria Tamiolaki
- Jules Taylor
- Niren Tolsi (South Africa)
- Vladislava Tomova
- Peter Truskier
- Dario Ulloa
- Maria Ulloa
- Prof. Luis Felipe Ulloa-Forero
- Nadia Valavani (Greece)
- Orlando Valle “Maraca” (Cuba)
- Lesbia Vent Dumois (Cuba)
- Jaime Veve
- Henrique Vieira (Brasil)
- José Villa Soberón (Cuba)
- Aldo ‘Bocafloja’ Villegas
- Byron Vu
- Roy Vu
- Antonio Y. Vázquez-Arroyo
- Ben Wilkins
- Dr Randall Williams
- SARAH WILSON
- Dr. Barbara Winslow
- Dr. Helen Yaffe
- Amanda Yee
- Alejandro Zuñiga
- Prof. Rabab Abdulhadi, Arab and Muslim Ethnicities and Diasporas Studies, San Francisco State University
- Darryl Accone, New Frame (South Africa)
- David Adler, Progressive International
- Christine Ahn, Women Cross the DMZ
- Dr. Julia Alekseyeva, University of Pennsylvania
- Luiz Alencar Dalla Costa, Coordenação nacional MAB, Coordenação internacional do MAR, FRENTE BRASIL POPULAR BTASIL (Brasil)
- Rev. Aundreia Alexander, National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA
- Harry Amana, UNC-CH
- Tata Amaral, (Brasil)
- Tânia Andrade, Advogada (Brasil)
- Christian Appy, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
- Valerio Arcary, PSol (Brasil)
- Prof. Guy Aronoff, Humboldt State University
- Ericah Azeviche, A Revolta da Lâmpada, Coletiva ComunaDeusa (Brasil)
- Etienne Balibar, Kingston University London
- Ajamu Baraka, Black Alliance for Peace
- Prof. Narciso Barrera-Bassols, Grupo de Trabajo Agroecología Política CLACSO (Argentina)
- Prof. Ericka Beckman, University of Pennsylvania
- Prof. Joel Beinin, Stanford University
- Douglas Belchior, Coalizão Negra por Direitos e Uneafro Brasil (Brasil)
- Monica Benicio, Vereadora Psol (Brasil)
- Prof. Daniel Benson, St. Francis College
- Dr. Cyrus Bina, University of Minnesota
- Prof. Martha Biondi, Northwestern University
- Heidi Boghosian, A.J. Muste Memorial Institute
- Prof. James Borchert, Cleveland State University
- Marc Botenga, Parti du Travail de Belgique
- Prof. Robert Brenner, UCLA
- Prof. Robert Brenner, UCLA
- Prof. Howard Brick, University of Michigan
- Prof. Wendy Brown, U Cal Berkeley
- Prof. Robert Buzzanco, University of Houston
- Beatriz Cerqueira, (PT) MG (Brasil)
- Prof. Beatriz Cerqueira, Deputada estadual (PT) em Minas Gerais (Brasil)
- Prof. Benoit Challand, New School for Social Research
- Dr. Paloma Checa-Gismero, Swarthmore College
- Dianna Cohen, Plastic Pollution Coalition
- Robert Carl Cohen, The film “Three Cubans”
- Fray Miguel Concha Malo, Centro de Derechos Humanos Fray Francisco de Vitoria (Mexico)
- Prof. Drucilla Cornell, Rutgers University
- Leslie Cunningham, Texas State Employees Union
- Prof. Daniel Czitrom, Mount Holyoke College
- Luiz Carlos da Rocha, advogado (Brasil)
- Prof. Bruno De Conti, University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Brazil (Brasil)
- Adriana de França, advogada (Brasil)
- Maria de Fátima Carneiro de Mendonça, (Brasil)
- Bruno de Paiva e Souza, Igreja Reina (Brasil)
- Eliane Dias Caffe Alves, Cineasta
- Susana Draper, Princeton University
- Prof. Lisa Duggan, New York University
- Prof. Sandi E Cooper, CUNY
- Hassan El-Tayyab, Friends Committee on National Legislation
- Augusta Eulália Ferreira, Sindicato dos Advogados de São Paulo (Brasil)
- Wagner Firmino Santana, Sindicato dos Metalurgicos do ABC (Brasil)
- Dr. Jerise Fogel, Montclair State University
- Prof. Derek Ford, DePauw University
- Charles Fredricks, Israeli-Palestinian Confederation
- Carlos Gabas, Consórcio de Desenvolvimento Sustentável do Nordeste (Brasil)
- Rita Maria Garcia Morris, Christian Center for Dialogue & Reflection (Cuba)
- Dr. Nathaniel George, Harvard University
- Adam Gogola, Blind Adam and The Federal League
- Juan Gonzalez, Democracy Now
- Prof. Van Gosse, Franklin & Marshall College
- Prof. Maggie Gray, Adelphi University
- August H. Nimtz, University of Minnesota
- Rev. Graylan Hagler, Plymouth Congregational United Church of Christ
- Prof. Martin Halpern, Henderson State University
- Dr. Kenneth Hammond, New Mexico State University
- Dr. Neil Harvey, New Mexico State University
- Alexandre Henrique Bezerra Pires, Centro Sabia e Articulação no Semiárido Brasileiro (ASA) (Brasil)
- Gary Holloway, USW Local 675
- Srećko Horvat, DIEM, Democracy in Europe Movement
- Prof. Kevin Howley, DePauw University
- Derek Ide, University of Houston
- Esther Iverem, Journalist
- Dr. Christina Jackson, Stockton University
- Dr. Katharine Jackson, University of Dayton School of Law
- Ammar Ali Jan, Haqooq-e-Khalq Movement (Pakistan)
- Dr. Nazia Kazi, Stockton University
- Prof. Claudia Koonz, History. Duke University
- Adam Kotsko, Shimer Great Books School, North Central College
- Prof. Peter Kuznick, American University
- Ertugrul Kürkçü, Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) (Turkey)
- Prof. Andrew Lamas, University of Pennsylvania
- Reed Lindsay, Belly of The Beast
- Helmut-Harry Loewen, Canadian Anti-racism Education & Research Society
- Scott Ludlam, Fmr. Senator (Australia)
- Prof. Sergio Machado Rezende, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco (Brasil)
- Prof. Anastasia Mann, Princeton University
- Prof. Patrick Manning, American Historical Association
- Prof. Eric Mar, Asian American Studies, SF State University
- Prof. Lori Marso, Union College
- Teresa Meade, Union College
- Dr. Rosemari Mealy, City College of NY (CUNY)
- Iago Montalvão, União Nacional dos Estudantes UNE (Brasil)
- Daniel Montero, Belly of The Beast
- Dr. Jamil Murad, Centro brasileiro pela Solidariedade aos povos e luta pela Paz (Brasil)
- Liz Oliva Fernández, Belly of The Beast (Cuba)
- Frank Padrón, Belly of The Beast (Cuba)
- Jerry and Koohan Paik-Mander, International Forum on Globalization
- Anya Parampil, The Grayzone
- Commissioner Mariah Parker, Athens-Clarke County Unified Government
- Prof. Paul Passavant, Hobart and William Smith Colleges
- Dr. Jennifer Ponce de León, University of Pennsylvania
- Carol Proner, ABJD (Brasil)
- Mike Prysner, The Empire Files
- Paulo Roberto da Silva Lima, Entregadores Antifascistas (Brasil)
- Prof. Andrew Ross, New York University
- Dr. Julio Vernon Ruíz, MD, FORNORM
- Alvaro Salgado, Centro Nacional de Apoyo a Misiones Indígenas (Mexico)
- Prof. Saskia Sassen, Columbia University
- Lohana Schalken, LOUD (Brasil)
- Roger Scott, AFSCME Local 2401
- Ivan Silveira, Ubatuba/SP (Brasil)
- Cliff Smith, United Union of Roofers, Waterproofers and Allied Workers, Local 36
- Joaquim Soriano, Executiva Nacional do Partido dos Trabalhadores (Brasil)
- Walter Sorrentino, PCdoB (Brasil)
- Deyvid Souza Bacelar da Silva, FUP – Federação Única dos Petroleiros (Brasil)
- Lester Spence, Johns Hopkins University
- Devyn Springer, Walter Rodney Foundation
- Neal Sweeney, UAW Local 5810
- Astra Taylor, Debt Collective
- Katrina Vanden Heuvel, The Nation
- João Vicente Caixa d’Água, Sindicato dos Advogados de São Paulo (Brasil)
- Gilberto Vieira dos Santos, Conselho Indigenista Missionário Cimi (Brasil)
- Jeanette Vizguerra, Sanctuary for All Colorado
- Prof. Barbara Weinstein, New York Univ.
- Prof. Suzi Weissman, Saint Mary’s College of CA
- Philip Wohlstetter, Red May
- Patti Woods, Patti Woods Interiors
- Colonel Ann Wright, Veterans for Peace and CODEPINK
- Prof. Emeritus Nicholas Xenos, University of Massachusetts Amherst
- Kevin Young, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
- Orlando Zaccone D’Elia Filho, Movimento Policiais Antifascismo (Brasil)
- Acácio Zuniga Leite, Associação Brasileira de Reforma Agrária (Brasil)
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