Urge Obama to Take Decisive Action: Give the Nod to Congress and End the Travel Ban
The United Nations has voted (187-3) again to condemn the U.S. trade embargo on Cuba. For the 18th consecutive year, the General Assembly passed this resolution with nearly universal support. Such an unpopular policy surely deserves a second look; it deserves to be stopped. And the time is NOW.
For the last eight years, this vote was seen as a rebuke of the Bush Administration. But the embargo, as it stands, is Obama's policy. If the United States is to be a leader in the world community, we have to be a good neighbor, too. This policy doesn't work! The embargo has failed on all fronts for 50 years. It has caused great suffering for the Cuban people. Every country in the Western Hemisphere now has full diplomatic relations with Cuba, and U.S.-Cuba policy stands in the way of better relations with Latin America. It's embarrassing and it harms U.S. interests. Let the President know.
The Secretary General prepared a report with statements by UN members and UN organizations about the embargo. That report can be downloaded here.
President Obama has taken small, though significant, steps towards engaging Cuba. But the main apparatus of the U.S. trade and travel blockade against Cuba is still securely in place. We're asking the Obama Administration to take immediate action to remove this blot on U.S. foreign policy and regain the trust of the world.
If Americans could travel to Cuba freely, we could see for ourselves what the rest of the world sees: that the Cuban people are friendly and Cuba poses no security threat to the United States. Cuba remains the ONLY nation in the world to which the U.S. government prevents its citizens from traveling. Still, according to a recent poll, 67 percent of Americans would support a policy that allows all Americans to travel to Cuba. And in a new poll by Bendixen, 59 percent of Cuban Americans also support travel for ALL! So what's the hold up?
Here's what you can do: email President Obama. Tell him to urge Congress to lift the travel ban on Cuba.
Thanks for your actions. It isn't time to let up yet!
