U.S. cities approve anti-blockade initiatives

Cuban ambassador to the United States, Jose Ramon Cabañas, said on Thursday on Twitter that there are now 13 city councils in the northern country that are calling for the end of the blockade imposed against Cuba.

Cleveland City Councilman Blaine Griffin was the main sponsor of the resolution calling for the end of the U.S. blockade against Cuba; the diplomat tweeted, regarding the most recent proposal against that hostile measure.

Cabañas pointed out that, beside the statement approved in Cleveland, similar initiatives have been carried out by Brookline, Detroit, Hartford, Helena, Minneapolis, Oakland, Pittsburgh, Sacramento, Seattle, St Paul, Berkeley and Richmond.

For his part, Blaine Griffin said in a press release that he is pleased to announce that the Cleveland City Council approved and Mayor Frank G. Jackson signed into law a resolution calling for an end to the 60-year-old economic, commercial and financial blockade against the Republic of Cuba and urging the Trump administration to renew negotiations with the Cuban government and build an ongoing cooperative relationship between the United States and Cuba.

The Resolution was unanimously approved; pointing out that the blockade has had a devastating impact on human rights in Cuba.

The resolution added that the blockade has also denied U.S. farmers, livestock breeders and other producers access to a vital consumer market just 90 miles from our southern border.

The blockade denies Americans access to life-saving medicines and therapies. Cuba is a world leader in the development of drugs and therapies for cancer, diabetes complications and, most recently, for COVID-19, he emphasized.

Once this is gone, the United States and Cuba can build a partnership based on respect, trust and mutual understanding, a partnership between the proud people of Cuba and the United States, Griffin concluded.