Georgetown: The visit to Cuba next month by US President Barrack Obama is a positive development which signals another step on the road to normalization of relations between the two countries, according to President of Guyana-Cuba Solidarity Movement (GCSM) Haleem Khan.
Obama has announced that he will visit Cuba from March 21-22.
Khan said this historic occasion will mark the first time that a sitting U.S. president has visited Cuba since Calvin Coolidge did it – some 88 years ago.
“For those of us in the solidarity movement to end the Blockade of Cuba, Obama's visit gives us an important opportunity to push the struggle forward.
“This is not the time for us to sit back and watch events unfold but rather we need to seize the moment to intervene with more determination than ever before while this window of attention on U.S. – Cuba relations remains open,” the GCSM President underscored.
He explained that Obama’s visit is primarily symbolic and shows that despite right wing reaction the overall atmosphere of improved relations that began on December 17, 2014, remains the prevailing sentiment in most sectors of U.S. society.
Recent Gallup polls show that the majority of people support an end to the Blockade and the establishment of full normal relations and that gap continues to grow.
“Recently there have been many high level meetings between the two governments and agreements have been reached on direct U.S. commercial airline flights and mail service.
“However, the reality is that the unilateral and unjust blockade of Cuba remains completely intact.
“As long as that is the case and regime change programs remain funded and Guantanamo is occupied normalization will not happen,” he noted.
Khan pointed out that the onus for significant change rests with the U.S.
“We know that taking the blockade out of law will ultimately have to be carried out by Congress but there is still a lot Obama can do.
“And if he wanted to make his trip in March more than a political gesture he could announce, upon his arrival, that the U.S. was returning Guantanamo to its rightful owners – the Cuban people. It is fully in his power to do that.”
Guyana and Cuba enjoy friendly relations. The two countries established diplomatic ties in 1972, and Cuba agreed to provide medical supplies, doctors, and medical training to Guyana.
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