January 7, 2021
The Honorable Mike Pompeo
Secretary of State
Washington, D.C.
Dear Secretary Pompeo,
Press reports suggest that you are considering adding Cuba once again to the list of “state sponsors of terrorism,” and we write to express our strong opposition.
On December 10, scholars and diplomats joined in a virtual conference to explore the contribution of Cuba and Fidel Castro to the struggles for the liberation of the African peoples. The event took place in the context of the 45th anniversary of Operation Carlota, the name given to Cuba's intervention in Angola, after the Lucumí black slave who in 1843 rebelled against the Spanish colonial yoke in Cuba, at the “Triunvirato” sugar mill, in Matanzas. The event was sponsored by the National Network on Cuba (NNOC) and the Alliance for Global Justice (AGJ).
The Standing Committee created by the US National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM), has released in December 2020 the report “An Assessment of Illness in U.S. Government Employees and Their Families at Overseas Embassies”. The illness in the title refers primarily to health complaints reported by US personnel deployed in Cuba and to a lesser degree in China.
November 14, 2020
We understand the many efforts you must have to organize something like this. You have people coming from Havana, you have technical issues but the common will among ourselves is simply to continue the fight against the Blockade.
This conference is especially useful to educate and share knowledge about what the blockade is all about and that it impacts not only Cuba but the United States, and third countries all over the world.
The inclusion of Fincimex in the list of restricted entities of the US State Department in June last, as well as the Treasury Department’s modifications to the regulations for the control of Cuban assets announced on Friday, October 23, will prevent remittances to Cuba through US companies with general licenses, which will directly harm the Cuban people and their relatives in the US.
Doing so in the middle of a pandemic corroborates the US government’s cynicism, opportunism and contempt for the Cuban people.