Casa de las Americas today endorses the open letter from Franco-Spanish journalist Ignacio Ramonet addressed to U.S. President Joe Biden, in which he demands the removal of Cuba from the list of alleged sponsors of terrorism.
The Havana cultural institution invites writers, artists, cultural promoters, academics, activists and social fighters, members of non-governmental organizations and people sensitive to the daily suffering of the Cuban people to support “this noble initiative with their signatures”.
To sign on, please do so by sending an e-mail to: casadelasamericas2024@gmail.com, concludes the Casa de las Americas communiqué.
In the letter, the writer and political analyst also asks the U.S. president to repair the “profound injustice committed on January 12, 2021 by his predecessor, Donald Trump, when, a few weeks after leaving the White House, he decided -with no real legal basis- to re-inscribe Cuba on the infamous list of State Sponsors of Terrorism (SSOT list)”.
Ramonet also recalls when President Barack Obama's administration removed the Caribbean country from that dishonorable list in 2015, “which represented a very positive step to forge, at last, a more constructive relationship with Havana.”
For 65 years, despite the tensions that may have existed between the United States and Cuba, not a single case of violent action that has occurred in U.S. territory can be cited that has been sponsored, directly or indirectly, by Havana. Not a single case!” the eminent intellectual specified.
The most atrocious consequences derive from the risk associated with any type of humanitarian aid, business, investment and trade involving Cuba and, by extension, its citizens, he added.
All this added to “the terrible consequences of the cruel and illegal economic, commercial and financial blockade against Cuba that the Government of your country has maintained for more than 60 years”.
The current migratory wave of Cuban expatriates to the United States, unprecedented in its magnitude, is perhaps the most illustrative example of the devastating impact and suffering caused by the extreme and brutal measures against the Cuban economy, he said.
Mr. President, this situation has to end, Ramonet requested. You know, there is not a single valid and reasonable argument to accuse Cuba and keep its population under an illegal and inhumane collective punishment.
You have the authority, before leaving the White House, to correct such a cruel absurdity and remove Cuba from the SSOT list. Do it now,” said the prominent intellectual at the end of his letter, in the hope that Joe Biden will know how to rise to this historic moment.