Newsweek published today an interview offered by the Cuban Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, Carlos Fernández de Cossío in which he addresses issues of the bilateral relationship.
In the media report, the Deputy Foreign Minister stated that President Joe Biden can immediately take at least four measures to improve the lives of Cubans without having to rely on Congress or face a significant backlash in the elections.
The article reflects that at the conclusion of the high-level week of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, the Cuban Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, Carlos Fernández de Cossío Domínguez, made an appeal to the White House on the sidelines of an international meeting that has periodically condemned Washington's long-standing sanctions against Havana with rare unanimity.
"It is an unfair and unjustified policy, and it is also a very asymmetrical policy," de Cossío told Newsweek. "It's the most powerful nation on Earth against a very small country that has nothing against any country in the world."
Cossío offered four actions that President Biden could take on his own, arguing that he "does not need permission from Congress to eliminate some of the most harmful measures implemented by his predecessor."
The first would be to "correct the error of putting Cuba on an arbitrary State Department list of countries sponsoring terrorists, something that has a tremendous economic impact on Cuba," de Cossío stated.
The second action that de Cossío recommended to Biden would be to "stop a measure taken by the United States government to attempt to deprive Cuba of fuel supplies by sanctioning shipping companies that supply fuel to Cuba, or threatening them with sanctions."
The third action that De Cossío suggested was for Biden to "stop the policy of pursuing Cuban medical cooperation around the world." This cooperation, carried out by offering free medical education and training to international students and sending medical brigades to developing countries, has long been a hallmark of Cuba's foreign policy.
His fourth and final recommendation was that Biden "suspend the ability for courts to take action on lawsuits brought by people claiming property in Cuba against investors." Such action is codified in Title III of the Helms-Burton Act of 1996, but Trump took the unprecedented step of allowing lawsuits to proceed for those who claim their property was confiscated during the Cuban Revolution that took place nearly 65 years ago.