Did you know that Cuba wants to provide low-cost COVID-19 vaccines to countries experiencing vaccine shortages? And that U.S. policies make this more difficult?
Take action TODAY to urge the Biden Administration to remove obstacles to Cuba’s production and export of COVID-19 vaccines!
What You Can Do?
LAWG and a broad range of organizations have endorsed a letter circulating in Congress to remove sanctions that could block Cuba’s export of low-cost COVID-19 vaccines! Urge your members of Congress to sign onto this letter led by Representatives Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) and Steve Cohen (D-TN) to urge the Biden-Harris Administration to review U.S policy towards Cuba to make sure the U.S. embargo does not negatively impact the production and distribution of vaccines on the island and for export. See which members have already signed onto the letter and what organizations have endorsed it here.
Hurry! The deadline was already extended to THIS FRIDAY June 10th by 5 PM EST! Find your representative here.
Call!
Call your representative and ask for the foreign policy aide. If they don’t answer, leave a message. Just read the script below!
Sample Script:
“Hello, my name is [YOUR NAME] and I am a constituent from [CITY, STATE, ZIP CODE]. I am calling to urge Representative [YOUR REP’S LAST NAME] to sign onto the letter circulated by Ayanna Pressley urging President Biden to review how U.S. policy towards Cuba could be deterring the nation from exporting low-cost COVID-19 vaccines. By signing on, Representative [YOUR REP’S LAST NAME] contributes to the push towards improving U.S. policies towards Cuba and broadening access to life-saving COVID vaccines. Thank you for considering signing on to this important letter.”
What’s Going On?
We are finally making some progress urging the Biden Administration to change its Cuba policy. Thanks to your hard work this past December we were able to get 114 members of Congress to sign a letter sent to President Biden, calling for easing sanctions on Cuba to alleviate the humanitarian situation.
This letter, led by Representatives James P. McGovern (D-MA), Barbara Lee (D-CA), Gregory Meeks (D-NY), and Bobby Rush (D-IL), had an impact. The Biden Administration is making it easier for Cuban Americans to send remittances and travel to Cuba and is ramping up consular services on the island.
BUT WAIT! THE FIGHT ISN’T OVER YET!
Cuba is currently enduring an ongoing humanitarian crisis. And the pandemic has only worsened the situation. President Biden’s easing of some restrictions such as on remittances can help, but it’s still just a small step forward. We’ll continue to bring you actions you can take, like Rep. Ayanna Pressley and Steve Cohen’s letter, to move the United States towards lifting humanitarian sanctions, relaunching dialogue and diplomacy, and restoring our rights to travel to Cuba.
But this week, the action is: Get your member of Congress to sign Rep. Pressley’s letter about Cuba’s COVID-19 vaccines!
Seguimos,
Ana for the LAWG Team—Lisa, Daniella, Yadira, and Ana
P.S. Forward this action alert to a friend! Together, we can help our island neighbors.
