Please see this update. HR 654 (to eliminate U.S. travel restrictions to Cuba) now has 50 co-sponsors of 435 members in the House! Please contact your congressperson, to either ask that s/he sign on, or to thank her/him for doing so!
You may reach your member of Congress by calling the Capitol switchboard at 202.224.3121 and asking to be transferred to your congressperson's office. Or you may go to www.house.gov to find that information. [To sign on to the bill, Democratic members should call Vivian Catalino in Rep. Rangel's office; Republican members should call Lance Walker in Rep. Flake's office.] Thanks...
Dear Friend,
Across the country, and across the Atlantic, people who want to change U.S. policy toward Cuba are standing up to be counted.
Legislation to end restrictions on travel has growing support in the Congress, but we need you to move more legislators to cosponsor this bill.
Poll results from the AP show Americans, by a two-to-one margin, favor recognizing Cuba and ending its diplomatic isolation by the United States.
The UK is standing up against the extra-territorial reach of U.S. sanctions and boycotting a U.S.-owned hotel for denying services to Cubans.
Read the news, and then take a moment to make sure your U.S. Representative knows that you want him/her to co-sponsor the Rangel-Flake bill.
1. Legislative Update: Co-sponsors of HR 654
H.R. 654, legislation sponsored by Rep. Charles Rangel and Jeff Flake to end restrictions once and for all on legal travel by Americans to Cuba, is attracting a long and important list of cosponsors, fifty so far.
While this is a great start, we would like to see 100 co-sponsors by March 1st. Please continue to call, to see our Action Alert!
Legislators supporting H.R. 654 are: Jeff Flake (R-AZ), Charles Rangel (D-NY), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Marion Berry (D-AR), Howard Berman (D-CA), Judy Biggert (R-IL), Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Michael Capuano (D-MA), Julia Carson (D-IN), Elijah Cummings (D-MD), William Lacy Clay (D-MO), Danny K. Davis (D-IL)*, Lincoln Davis (D-TN), Bill Delahunt (D-MA), Jo Ann Emerson (R-MO), Sam Farr (D-CA), Bob Filner (D-CA), Bart Gordon (D-TN), Raul Grijalva (D-AZ), Jane Harman (D-CA), Maurice Hinchey (D-NY), William Jefferson (D-LA), Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX), Tim Johnson (R-IL), Ray LaHood (R-IL), Barbara Lee (D-CA), Betty McCollum (D-MN), Jim McDermott (D-WA), Jim McGovern (D-MA), Michael McNulty (D-NY), Gregory Meeks (D-NY), George Miller (D-CA), Dennis Moore (D-KS), Jerry Moran (R-KS), Jim Moran (D-VA), Ed Pastor (D-AZ), Ron Paul (R-TX), Donald Payne (D-NJ), Jim Ramstad (R-MN), Bobby Rush (D-IL), Paul Ryan (R-WI), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Jose Serrano (D-NY), Chris Shays (R-CT), Vic Snyder (D-AR), Hilda Solis (D-CA), Mike Thompson (D-CA), Edolphus Towns (D-NY), Diane Watson (D-CA) and Henry Waxman (D-CA)*.
*Unconfirmed
2. UK blowback against US embargo
U.S. government asserts the right to punish companies operating overseas if they provide services to Cubans. This expansive reach triggered global attention in 2006 when the Sheraton Hotel in Mexico City kicked out a delegation of Cubans who were attending an energy conference with American firms. Another incident recently triggered international attention in Norway. Other governments don’t like this policy and recently another made its displeasure clear.
The House of Commons Scottish Affairs Select Committee has cancelled plans to hold their conference at a Hilton hotel after hearing that the chain would not host delegations from Cuba, the Associated Press reported. Member Ian Davidson MP said that the group decided it would “not be appropriate” for them to stay at the hotel after comments made by a Hilton spokesperson indicating that Cubans may be barred from staying at their hotels due to the US embargo.
3. US denies academic and sports travel to Cuba
Cuba criticized the US this week for denying visas to Cuban intellectuals that were invited to a conference on Soviet Studies in Connecticut and for not allowing US cyclists to participate in a race in Cuba, the Reuters news agency said. Granma reported that the US cycling team will not enter the Tour of Cuba because US officials told them that it takes six weeks to process the travel papers [and the race is set to begin…..].
4. AP Poll gathers opinions of US citizens relations with Cuba
US citizens who answered an Associated Press-Ipsos poll overwhelmingly want to see relations normalized with Cuba, the Associated Press reported. Sixty-two percent of respondents said that the United States should reestablish diplomatic ties with Cuba. Forty percent of those polled said that they would be interested in traveling to Cuba if the embargo were lifted, the AP reported.
5. Men linked to Posada plead not guilty
The Associated Press reported that two supporters of Luis Posada Carriles pleaded not guilty to refusing to testify before a jury that is investigating how Posada entered into the United States. Santiago Alvarez, a wealthy developer, and Osvaldo Mitat, Alvarez’s employee, are currently serving prison sentences for weapons convictions. Prosecutors in that case said that the men wanted to overthrow the Cuban government, the AP reported. According to the indictment against Posada, Alvarez and Mitat were among a group of men that brought Posada into the US on a boat in 2005; Posada has said that he paid an unidentified smuggler to sneak him across the border.
Please read Pablo Bachelet’s piece in the Miami Herald titled, “Polar Opposites United Against Cuba Policy”:
Until next week,
The Cuba Central Team
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