US lobby groups issue 'top ten reasons' for ending blockade
Campaign News | Wednesday, 17 January 2007
Altering course is in the national interest, says coalition
Washington, DC. Jan. 16: The Center for Democracy in the Americas, joined by U.S.A. Engage, today released In Our National Interest: The Top Ten Reasons for Changing U.S. policy toward Cuba.
“This top ten list is a powerful reminder to Congress and all Americans that sanctions against Cuba do nothing but violate American values, cost American jobs, stain our image overseas, and breach our basic rights,” said Sarah Stephens with the Center for Democracy in the Americas. “As Cuba enters a new era, so should America, and replace our policy of isolating Cuba with one favoring engagement, travel, and trade.”
Grounded in research and reality, “In Our National Interest” states the key arguments in fourteen pages with backup research and a powerful clarity:
·The policy has produced nothing in decades
·Enforcing the policy drains resources from the war on terror
·The policy hurts American companies and American workers
·The policy is an assault on family values
·The policy infringes on the rights and liberties of all U.S. citizens
·The policy hurts America’s image abroad
·The Castro government uses our policy to advance its own ends
·The policy puts political interests above the national interest
·Important people oppose the policy and want to see it changed
·The policy stops Americans from doing what they do best
“The point here is that changing our policies is clearly in America’s national interest,” said Jake Colvin, Director of USA*Engage. “Congress and the Administration should consider how to move forward with new policies that would benefit American workers, promote the reunification of Cuban families and improve our national security and reputation abroad.”
The Top Ten List can be downloaded at http://www.democracyinamericas.org/topten/index.aspx.
The Center for Democracy in the Americas (CDA)- www.democracyinamericas.org - is devoted to changing U.S. policy toward the countries of the Americas by basing our relations on respect and dignity, and fostering dialogue particularly with those governments and movements with which U.S. policy is at odds.
USA*ENGAGE - www.usaengage.org - is a broad-based coalition representing Americans from all regions, sectors and segments of our society concerned about the proliferation of unilateral foreign policy sanctions at the federal, state, and local level.
