Global Exchange launched our first travel challenge to Cuba in 1990, under the Freedom to Travel campaign with the following three demands of the U.S. Government:
End the U.S. Embargo of Cuba; End Travel Restrictions between the U.S. and Cuba; Remove Cuba from the U.S. list of potential terrorist countries.
Disappointingly, as you know all too well, most of these demands remain in place thirty years later. Join us in telling President Biden the embargo against Cuba has gone on too long. The blockade must end.
Since 1990, Global Exchange has taken hundreds of Reality Tours and thousands of American citizens to Cuba. We have been part of a movement seeking to learn about Cuba, normalize U.S. relations with the island, and to end the onerous 60 year embargo (or bloqueo, as it’s called by the Cubans).
Anyone who has ever been to Cuba with Global Exchange knows that the people of Cuba have more to offer the world than rum, cigars, and beaches. The Latin American School of Medicine, which offers a free education to low income American students, is a shining example of Cuba’s commitment to international solidarity. We in the United States can benefit from the examples of sustainable development and innovative health technology the Cubans have modeled. We can learn from the spirit of Cuban internationalism as evidenced in Haiti, Venezuela, Pakistan, South Africa, and most recently by Cuba’s COVID relief efforts around the world. This is our opportunity to make the learning curve between our countries a “two-way” street.
Now is the time for U.S. citizens to ensure that the next many years of Cuba/U.S. relations will benefit the people of both countries and be free from the Cold War ideology which clouded our mutual self interests.
Cuba and the Cuban people have suffered too long, it is time to end the embargo, and fully normalize relations with our neighbor!