PRESS RELEASE, October 19, 2000
U.S. ACTIVISTS DENOUNCE CUBA TRADE AMENDMENT THOUSANDS TRAVEL TO CUBA FOR SECOND WORLD SOLIDARITY CONFERENCE
Teresa Gutierrez, Co-Director of the International Peace for Cuba Appeal (IPCA), a project of the International Action Center (IAC), today denounced the Cuba trade amendment passed by the U.S. Senate October 18. "This amendment masquerades as an easing of the U.S. blockade when in fact it tightens it," Gutierrez stated. The amendment was attached to agricultural spending legislation that President Clinton has agreed to sign.
"This amendment is a sham. It claims to allow sales of food to Cuba, but at the same time it bars the federal government and U.S. banks from financing shipments that would make these sales possible. We also condemn this amendment for further restricting travel to Cuba, which is a violation of our constitutional rights to travel.
“In November, hundreds of people from the U.S. will defy the travel ban by attending the Second World Conference in Solidarity and Friendship with Cuba in Havana. Over 4,000 people from 100 countries are expected to attend the conference, whose main purpose is to mobilize international support for an end to the U.S. blockade. The IAC/IPCA delegation will be one of the largest coming from the U.S.," Gutierrez continued.
The International Action Center (IAC), which was founded by former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark, and the International Peace for Cuba Appeal, a project of the IAC, work for the full lifting of the U.S. blockade of Cuba and believe that Cuba should have the right to buy and sell food, medicine and all other goods.
“We stand with the Cuban people who yesterday answered the 'gross lie that the genocidal blockade has been softened,' as the Cuban daily Granma put it, with a defiant march of 800,000 people in Havana. All those attending the Second World Conference in Solidarity and Friendship with Cuba this November 10-14 pledge to do all we can to fight the criminal 40-year-old blockade of Cuba until it is finally lifted," Gutierrez concluded. --30-- International Action Center 39 West 14th Street, Room 206 New York, NY 10011 email: iacenter at iacenter.org web: www.iacenter.org