US Congressmen Urge to Eliminate Blockade against Cuba

Washington_ Legislators Tom Emmer from the Republican Party and Kathy Castor, for the Democratic side, sent a letter to US President Barack Obama to remove the blockade of Cuba, Radio Havana Cuba publishes.

In the letter, the congress members called to adopt appropriate measures to repeal laws that sustain the economic, commercial and financial blockade that the United States imposed on Cuba in 1962, and which has caused damage amounting to the figure 121 billion Dollars during these 54 years.

Entitled Lift Cuban Embargo (Levantar el embargo a Cuba), the letter was published on Thursday in the digital site Americas Quarterly,

According to Emmer and Castor, despite having the support of most Americans to restoring relations between the two countries, the US Congress is lagging behind, caught up in ideological disputes.

The legislators called on President Obama to work for the two countries to continue building a new relationship, with negotiations that run from understanding and respect.

The congress members indicated in the document that despite the slow progress of the advances, the United States every day moves away from past policies toward Cuba.

"The Cuban economic and political system cannot directly reflect ours, and the progress may be slower than we would like it to be, yet every day we move, we further move away from the outdated policies of the past", they said.

The politicians recalled that in the last 18 months the two countries have worked on agreements in the financial issues, environmental protection, banking, and the increase of remittance to Cuba.

Tom Emmer and Kathy Castor added that progress has been made on the arrival of companies and US capital to the Caribbean nation and recognized the work of the Working Group on Cuba in the Congress to reform existing laws on Havana.

"The support in Congress continues to grow as leaders hear about the importance of a bright new future with Cuba. The excitement of the people, who are working across the country towards a new bilateral relationship, is spreading", Emmer and Castor emphasized.

From the joint announcement of the presidents of the United States and Cuba on December 17, 2014 on starting the process of restoration and normalization of diplomatic relations, the two governments have worked to ease some of the economic and financial embargo measures.