Press Release

Center for a Free Cuba Executive Director extends regrets to the Bidens’ invitation to attend the Inaugural Ceremony of the IX Summit of the Americas and requests President Biden’s attention on four important issues on Cuba policy.

Washington, DC, June 8, 2022

Contacts: John Suarez (612) 367-6845 and Janisset Rivero (786) 208-6056

Center for a Free Cuba. June 8, 2022. On Saturday, June 4, 2022 at 10:33pm John Suarez, executive director of the Center for a Free Cuba received an e-mail invitation from the President and Dr. Biden to attend the Inaugural Ceremony of the IX Summit of the Americas on June 8, 2022. On Monday, June 6th he sent his regrets and requested President Biden’s attention on four important issues related to Cuba policy.

1. On July 22, 2021 you stated that, “we are working with civil society organizations and the private sector to provide internet access to the Cuban people that circumvents the regime’s censorship efforts.” On July 30, 2021, Mr. President, you pledged “increasing direct support for the Cuban people by pursuing every option available to provide Internet access to help the Cuban people bypass the censorship that’s being mandatorily imposed.” Some Cubans are being told that the United States has dropped this initiative at the request of the Cuban government, and we have heard their concerns.

2. The Administration announced the lifting of all restrictions on air travel to the island as part of a family reunification program, but made no reference in the agreement about Havana’s prohibiting Cuban doctors, athletes and artists who remained abroad from visiting their families for seven years. Nor is there mention of the Cuban artist Anamely Ramos, who is a Cuban national and was denied the right to return home on February 16, 2022 and again on February 27, 2022. This is another aspect of the Cuban dictatorship’s internal blockade.

3. The recently announced U.S-Cuba policy measures do not address the fundamental root cause of the island’s humanitarian crisis: the internal blockade imposed by the Cuban government on Cubans, which reflects the totalitarian nature of the regime. As we have seen, engagement with the communist dictatorship of China over the past 40 years, in a bipartisan consensus, has been costly both in terms of American lives, and in abandoning Chinese democrats. This pattern was repeated on a smaller scale during the 2009 – 2017 detente with Cuba.  Repression skyrocketed, opposition leaders were killed, jailed, or exiled, and U.S. diplomats were victims of health attacks in Havana, with many of the victims suffering brain damage.  The proposed new measures would increase the probability of such actions on the part of the regime.

4. Such measures do not address the need for a humanitarian corridor to directly assist Cubans. The Cuban military through its conglomerate, the Grupo de Administración Empresarial S.A. (GAESA), and its sub-entity Gaviota, the military’s tourism arm, will profit from the expansion of remittances and authorized travel. We agree with your observation on July 15, 2021 that “for example, the ability to send remittances back to Cuba. I would not do that now because the fact is it is highly likely the regime would confiscate those remittances or big chunks of it.” Expansion of travel does not support the oppressed Cuban people, but their oppressor. With regards to U.S. national security, the educational exchanges have been used by Havana to recruit spies, blackmail Americans, and insert intelligence officials in academic conferences to  act as agents of influence and to spy. Why would we want to expand opportunities for these activities?

The e-mail also underscores “the fact that thousands of Cubans who demonstrated nonviolently throughout the island on July 11-13, 2021 were not calling for the end of American sanctions, but for freedom and the end of Communism. 127 have been sentenced to 1,916 years in prison in political show trials that are continuing, which diplomats, including Americans, as well as foreign media, are not permitted to attend. Hundreds remain to be sentenced to long prison terms,” and was not reflected in the policy measures announced in May.

Attached is the text of the full e-mail and the invitation.

Dear Mr. President and Dr. Biden,
I am grateful for the White House invitation to attend the Inaugural Ceremony of the IX Summit of the Americas. I am a Cuban American and send my regrets to both of you that I will not be able to attend. Mr. President, I am taking this opportunity to request your personal attention to four important issues.
1. On July 22, 2021 you stated that, “we are working with civil society organizations and the private sector to provide internet access to the Cuban people that circumvents the regime’s censorship efforts.” On July 30, 2021, Mr. President, you pledged “increasing direct support for the Cuban people by pursuing every option available to provide Internet access to help the Cuban people bypass the censorship that’s being mandatorily imposed.” Some Cubans are being told that the United States has dropped this initiative at the request of the Cuban government, and we have heard their concerns.

2. The Administration announced the lifting of all restrictions on air travel to the island as part of a family reunification program, but made no reference in the agreement about Havana’s prohibiting Cuban doctors, athletes and artists who remained abroad from visiting their families for seven years. Nor is there mention of the Cuban artist Anamely Ramos, who is a Cuban national and was denied the right to return home on February 16, 2022 and again on February 27, 2022. This is another aspect of the Cuban dictatorship’s internal blockade.

3. The recently announced U.S-Cuba policy measures do not address the fundamental root cause of the island’s humanitarian crisis: the internal blockade imposed by the Cuban government on Cubans, which reflects the totalitarian nature of the regime. As we have seen, engagement with the communist dictatorship of China over the past 40 years, in a bipartisan consensus, has been costly both in terms of American lives, and in abandoning Chinese democrats. This pattern was repeated on a smaller scale during the 2009 – 2017 detente with Cuba.  Repression skyrocketed, opposition leaders were killed, jailed, or exiled, and U.S. diplomats were victims of health attacks in Havana, with many of the victims suffering brain damage.  The proposed new measures would increase the probability of such actions on the part of the regime.

4. Such measures do not address the need for a humanitarian corridor to directly assist Cubans. The Cuban military through its conglomerate, the Grupo de Administración Empresarial S.A. (GAESA), and its sub-entity Gaviota, the military’s tourism arm, will profit from the expansion of remittances and authorized travel. We agree with your observation on July 15, 2021 that “for example, the ability to send remittances back to Cuba. I would not do that now because the fact is it is highly likely the regime would confiscate those remittances or big chunks of it.” Expansion of travel does not support the oppressed Cuban people, but their oppressor. With regards to U.S. national security, the educational exchanges have been used by Havana to recruit spies, blackmail Americans, and insert intelligence officials in academic conferences to  act as agents of influence and to spy. Why would we want to expand opportunities for these activities?

Finally, Administration statements about the new Cuba policy ignore the fact that thousands of Cubans who demonstrated nonviolently throughout the island on July 11-13, 2021 were not calling for the end of American sanctions, but for freedom and the end of Communism. 127 have been sentenced to 1,916 years in prison in political show trials that are continuing, which diplomats, including Americans, as well as foreign media, are not permitted to attend. Hundreds remain to be sentenced to long prison terms.

Mr. President, your personal attention is needed, to ensure that your commitment to help the Cuban people is not used to provide millions for additional repression on the island and support for anti-American initiatives abroad.

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