12 National Organizations Urge Senator Baucus and Congressman Rangel to Open Cuba to Travel and Trade
Washington, DC – Organizations working to replace the U.S. policy of isolating Cuba with engagement in areas like travel and trade have sent letters to the incoming Chairs of the Senate Finance and House Ways and Committees urging them to propose new Cuba policies when their committees convene in the 110 th Congress.
With the illness of President Fidel Castro, the organizations say: “A historic transition is already taking place in Cuba without participation or influence by the United States. We need a new Cuba policy, and you are in a vitally important position to lead the way.”
The organizations have previously supported legislation to repeal the embargo against Cuba, to repeal the ban on legal travel by Americans to Cuba, to permit oil and gas exploration by U.S. firms in Cuban waters in the Gulf of Mexico, to remove restrictions on Cuban-Americans to support their families on the island, and to increase the sales of U.S. agriculture products.
The groups urge the incoming committee chairs to continue playing a leadership role in the effort to change U.S. policy toward Cuba.
The letters were signed by Sarah Stephens, Director, Center for Democracy in the Americas; Antonio Gonzalez, President, William C. Velasquez Institute; Steven Clemons Director, American Strategy Program, New America Foundation; John McAuliff, Director, Fund for Reconciliation and Development; Mavis Anderson, Senior Associate, Latin America Working Group; Geoff Thale, Program Director, Washington Office on Latin America; Kirby Jones, President, Alamar Associates; Silvia Wilhelm, Executive Director, Puentes Cubanos; Alvaro Fernandez, President, Cuban American Commission for Family Rights; Ruben Rumbaut, Ph.D., Steering Committee of ENCASA, Emergency Network of Cuban American Scholars and Artists; Wayne Smith, Senior Fellow and Director, Cuba Program, Center for International Policy; and Lissa Weinmann, Senior Fellow and Director, National Summit on Cuba, World Policy Institute, The New School.
Complete copies of the letters to Senator Baucus and Congressman Rangel can be obtained at www.cubacentral.com.
About the William C. Velasquez Institute
Chartered in 1985, The William C. Velásquez Institute (WCVI) is a non-profit, non-partisan Latino-oriented research and policy think tank with ottices in San Antonio , Texas and Los Angeles , California . For more information regarding WCVI, please visit our website at www.wcvi.org
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