Five US Democratic and Republican senators have introduced a bill to lift the trade embargo against Cuba, which would maintain human rights provisions on the island, according to a statement released on Monday (6).
Sponsored by Democrats Amy Klobuchar, Chris Murphy and Elizabeth Warren and Republicans Jerry Moran and Roger Marshall, the bill “would create new economic opportunities for American businesses and farmers by boosting exports” and “allow Cubans greater access to ”, says the note. To be approved, the text would need the green light from the House of Representatives and the Senate.
The bill repeals provisions of laws “that prevent Americans from doing business in Cuba, but keeps in effect laws that address human rights or property claims against the Cuban government,” they note. For Senator Amy Klobuchar, it is about “turning the page on a failed isolation policy”.
Imposed in 1962, in the middle of the Cold War, by the then American president, John F. Kennedy, the blockade progressively intensified, to asphyxiate the communist regime.
A normalization of relations with the communist island does not appear to be on Democratic President Joe Biden’s agenda. Washington not only kept Cuba on the list of countries that sponsor terrorism, but also included the island in another, of nations that do not respect religious freedom.
The lifting of the embargo generates division in the Democratic Party and rejection by the majority of Republicans. However, Jerry Moran estimates that the embargo prevents Americans from “selling to a market just 90 miles” from the coast (144 km), while foreign competition “benefits” from it.
Cuba depends on agricultural imports to feed its 11 million inhabitants and the tourists who visit the island (4 million in 2019, before the pandemic). The Cuban economy suffers from inflation, the impact of the pandemic and the increase in US sanctions during the administration of Republican Donald Trump (2017-2021), which were only softened by his successor, Joe Biden.