Contact: Ricardo Herrero
Phone: 202-709-8191
August 2, 2021
WASHINGTON D.C. — On July 30th, the Executive Director of the Cuba Study Group, Ricardo Herrero, was among eleven Cuban American leaders invited to meet with President Biden to discuss his administration’s response to the situation in Cuba in the wake of the historic July 11th protests.
We
thank the President for his time, for the opportunity to share our
views, and for his administration’s commitment to the Cuban people by
addressing the island’s ongoing crisis through a “whole-of-government
approach.” We encourage his administration to continue to respond to
recent events with a sense of urgency and look forward to the prompt
reopening of remittance flows, the expansion of internet access and the
restaffing of the U.S. Embassy in Havana.
We also commend the
Biden administration for levying targeted sanctions on those responsible
for the repression of peaceful protesters on, and since, July 11th.
Targeted sanctions against Cuban government officials send a strong
message that their human rights abuses will not be tolerated, even if
their practical effect is blunted by the blanket sanctions of the U.S.
embargo that already make it unlikely that Cuban officials have
significant assets in the United States.
Yet, as the Biden
administration seeks to hold the Cuban government accountable, we can
and must do more to empower the Cuban people. In fact, we maintain that
strengthening the Cuban people, more so than punishing their government,
is the key to meaningful change in Cuba.
This is why we ask the
Biden administration to empower the American and Cuban American private
and NGO sectors to be the driving force in extending support to the
Cuban people at this precarious juncture. Not only is it often more
efficient to enable private actors to lead the way, but it also
undermines the Cuban government’s Cold War-era narrative that their
struggle is against the U.S. government, when the truth is that their
present-day struggle is with their own people, both at home and abroad.
Covid-related
assistance from the United States can help save lives and stem a
pandemic that has overwhelmed the Cuban healthcare system. To that end,
we ask the Biden administration to lift all restrictions and licensing
requirements on donations of food, medicine, and medical supplies to
Cuba, thus enabling churches and other NGOs to quickly mobilize.
Secure
internet access is indeed crucial to providing Cubans with the
unfettered flow of information they deserve and the tools to mobilize
for peaceful change. However, there are immediate, practical steps the
U.S. government can take to improve the quality of internet access on
the island. These include allowing U.S.-based firms to provide
cloud-based services like online payment processing and
subscription-based platforms in Cuba. Not only are they powerful tools
for private sector and civil society development; they also can help get
money—including remittances—directly into the hands of the Cuban
people.
Finally, open travel remains the best way for Cuban
Americans and Americans to serve as ambassadors of our values and
provide direct assistance to the Cuban people. Thus, we ask the Biden
administration to reinstate travel to all airport destinations in Cuban
provinces as Covid-19 restrictions allow.
Ultimately, the best way to “stand with the Cuban people” is for Americans and Cuban Americans to be present on the ground in Cuba.
We look forward to an ongoing, fruitful dialogue with the Biden
administration in which we intend to continue pressing this case.
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The Cuba Study
Group is a non-profit, non-partisan organization, comprised of business and
professional individuals with a deeply rooted love for Cuba and the Cuban
people. We aim to put our collective experience in leadership skills, problem
solving, and wealth creation at the service of the Cuban people. We aim to
facilitate change, help empower individuals and promote civil society
development.
Our mission is to help facilitate peaceful change in Cuba leading to a free
and open society, respect for human rights and the rule of law, a productive,
market-based economy and the reunification of the Cuban nation.
