Democratic Senator Peter Welch affirmed that removing Cuba from the list of sponsors of terrorism is today a step that the United States can and should take to recompose its relationship with the island.
Welch, who has been a member of the U.S. Senate from Vermont since this year, presented a statement for the Congressional Record outlining opportunities to advance bilateral ties.
In his proposal, the legislator warned that the policies currently in place amount to little more than a continuation of the failed agenda of the previous administration.
Those policies -he stressed- are contributing, directly and indirectly, to the hardships and shortages in Cuba, which in his opinion was a triggering factor for the increase in the migration flow of Cuban citizens to the United States in 2022.
Welch also referred to the effects that, in this scenario, natural disasters have also had; however, he acknowledged that Cubans "despite everything, have persevered, driven by their extraordinary ingenuity, national pride and innate resilience".
Considered an important figure in Vermont for more than three decades, the senator suggested reversing several U.S. policies that "have stalled the reestablishment of full diplomatic relations between the two nations".
He asked, among others, along with the elimination of Cuba from the arbitrary list of state sponsors of terrorism, "the renunciation of extraterritorial sanctions under Title 3 of the Helms-Burton Act", which typify the blockade imposed by the White House on the Antillean nation more than six decades ago.
For Welch, the United States should continue on the path of improving diplomatic relations with Cuba, including sending an ambassador to Havana.
Although President Joe Biden promised to change the policies of Republican Donald Trump (2017-2021) if he reached the executive mansion, almost three years after his election, the Democrat adopted some relaxations, but in essence he maintains the same line of his predecessor regarding Cuba and the blockade remains intact.