US legislators Jim McGovern, Gregory Meeks and Barbara Lee urged President Joe Biden today to put aside politics and help Cuba after the devastating fire in Matanzas.
The three members of the House of Representatives of the United States Congress expressed in a joint statement that disasters like this "demand an urgent and meaningful response from neighboring countries."
Now is the time to put politics aside and prioritize humanitarian engagement, environmental protection and regional cooperation, they stressed.
The parliamentarians called on the Democratic administration to "immediately offer adequate assistance to facilitate international response efforts" to the fire that has been fought since August 5 at the Matanzas Supertanker Base, about 100 kilometers east of La Havana.
McGovern, Meeks and Lee also called for "the suspension of any relevant sanctions to accelerate this response, and to deliver much-needed humanitarian relief to the hundreds of Cuban citizens affected by this crisis."
The presidents of the Rules Committee, the Foreign Affairs Committee and the Appropriations Subcommittee of the House, McGovern, Meeks and Lee, respectively, asked for support to Cuba's for the recovery.