New York, 19 October, 2016. Within the U.S. society there has always been an important number of sectors that have been opposed to the absurd policy of the Embargo against Cuba. The U.S. press has echoed these claims: The New York Times and Bloomberg have spotlighted the growing bipartite support and that of U.S. society in general in favor of lifting the Embargo against Cuba. They have even issued appeals to the U.S. Congress supporting a new policy towards Cuba based on the fact that most of U.S. political and civil sectors, including those having Cuban origins, are in support.
Polls by prestigious U.S. institutions such as CBS News, AP-GfK, the Pew Research Center, the Engage Cuba lobbying group and The Atlantic Council think-tank also confirm the immense support within the U.S. society in favor of eliminating the Embargo policy. Results show an average of 70 percent of U.S. citizens in favor of lifting the Embargo against Cuba, with the largest numbers among Democrats supporting President Obama’s policy towards the Island, close to 80 percent.
On 9 July 2015, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the World Service of Churches, the National Council of Churches, the Agricultural Coalition of the United States for Cuba, the Tampa Chamber of commerce, the Council of the Americas, the National Foreign Trade Council, the American Association of Travel Agents, the Rice Producers’ Association of Arkansas, the American Union of Civil Liberties and the Center for Democracy in the Americas among other organizations; published a Declaration urging Congress to support opening the U.S. Embassy in Havana due to its importance for increasing sales of agricultural products and technologies to Cuba.
On 8 October 2015, a group of 10 Governors from the states of Alabama, California, Idaho, Minnesota, Montana, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Virginia and Washington sent a letter to the U.S. Congress calling for decisive steps to lift the Embargo on Cuba.
On 2 November 2015, the Secretary of Commerce of the United States, Penny Pritzker, expressed at the Annual Conference of the Industry and Security Bureau (BIS) that her government firmly supports the lifting of the Embargo and that she hopes that Congress would overturn it in the near future.
On 2 November 2015, the Governor of Arkansas, Asa Hutchinson, sent a letter to the principal leaders in the U.S. Congress, stating that he was in favor of the reduction of the Embargo sanctions. He also indicated that conditions of up-front payments limit market potential by almost $40 million for Arkansas products. He added that allowing for becoming more flexible on loan gratings is an important step and that Congress could improve conditions for the subsistence of the U.S. people by achieving advances on the H.R. 3687 and S. 1049 bills which grant financial flexibility for the export of U.S. products to Cuba.
On 16 December 2015, a group of twelve legislators announced the creation of the Working Group on Cuba of the U.S. Congress; which aims at lifting the Embargo on the Island. The Representatives signing the constitutional declaration were: Republicans Kevin Cramer (North Dakota), Rick Crawford (Arizona), Tom Emmer (Minnesota), Ted Poe (Texas), Mark Sanford (South Carolina) and Reid Ribble (Wisconsin); and democrats Kathy Castor (Florida), Jim McGovern (Massachusetts), Sam Farr (California), Barbara Lee (California), Rosa DeLauro (Connecticut) and Nydia Velázquez (New York).
On 17 December 2015, in a statement to the press about the anniversary of changes in the policy towards Cuba, President Barack Obama once again, urged Congress to lift the Embargo as a way of helping the Cuban people.
On 20 December 2015, a group of 10 businessmen of Cuban origin, mainly based in Miami, published an open letter in The Miami Herald, labeling the Embargo against Cuba as “ineffective” and urging Cuban-Americans to unite with the President’s new policy towards Cuba.
On 22 December 2015, the Commissioner for Agriculture of Minnesota, David Frederickson, published a press communiqué in which he urged Congress to eliminate the restrictions in force on trade with Cuba.
On 4 January 2016, in statements to the press Governor Terry McAuliffe of Virginia, prior to embarking on the Business Forum between his state’s businessmen and women and Cuban officials, asked that the Embargo against Cuba be lifted and that the measures preventing normal trade between the two countries be abolished.
On 14 January 2016, the President of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Thomas J. Donohue, in his annual speech about the prospects for trade in 2016, expressed that his entity leads in the support for the elimination of the barriers to trade with and travel to Cuba.
On 8 March 2016, Senator Amy Klobuchar (Democrat-Minnesota), Senate Caucus Leader on Travel and Tourism sent a letter to the Secretaries of the Treasury and Commerce, Jack Lew and Penny Pritzker respectively, in which she advocates change to the regulations that allow U.S. investment in the Cuban hotel industry. (Permanent Mission of Cuba to the United Nations)