WILPF Statement on the Reestablishment of Diplomatic Relations Between US and Cuba
Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom celebrates our peoples’ victory and commends President Barack Obama in his actions to reestablish diplomatic relations between the US and Cuba governments and the release of the remaining members of the Cuban Five, Antonio Guerrero, Ramon Labanino and Gerardo Hernandez. This momentous step comes after five decades of failed US foreign policy towards Cuba and the further isolation of the US in the Caribbean and Latin America.
WILPF has supported the sovereignty and defended the rights of self-determination for the Cuban people and the lifting of the US blockade against Cuba since 1962 through resolutions passed by the WILPF International and US Congresses. Through WILPF’s Cuba and the Bolivarian Alliance Issues Committee, we have promoted dialogue and people-to-people exchanges with Cuba and Latin American countries through travel, education and advocacy. Our work with the Federation of Cuban Women has magnified the role of women in bringing peace to the region and to the world.
While US Congress must take action to lift the blockade, President Obama has rightfully used his executive powers to reestablish US and Cuban embassies, the expansion of travel for US peoples and Cubans, increasing the amount of money Cuban Americans can send to their families and easing banking and commerce restrictions to facilitate greater trade between our two countries. Most important, Obama has requested US Secretary of State John Kerry to examine the 1982 designation of Cuba on the list of state sponsors of terrorism.
The release of the last of the Cuban Five culminates a 16 year struggle for freedom and truth for the men known in Cuba as the Five Heroes. Rene Gonzalez, Antonio Guerrero, Ramon Labanino, Gerardo Hernandez and Fernando Gonzalez are heroes for infiltrating US based anti-Cuba organizations to stop illegal activities under US laws. Their false imprisonment led to an international campaign, of which WILPF has been a part of, exposing the true illegal war of subversion led by those groups and funded by US government funds against the Cuban government and its’ peoples.
Our work continues even in light of these gigantic steps taken by the Obama administration. We call on Congress to move forward to support these policy changes and to lift the travel ban and the blockade. We call on Congress to remove Cuba from the nations on the state sponsored terrorism list and to respect those that have been granted political asylum in Cuba including Assata Shakur. We call on our government to normalize relations with Cuba by ending the funding of illegal terrorist activities aimed at undermining the sovereignty of the Cuban people.
In closing, we recommit our organization to the statement in our 2004 resolution passed at the 29th WILPF International Congress which states that “our intent as an international peace and justice organization with sections in 37 countries around the world to continue to work in solidarity with the people of Cuba for peace, racial, economic and social justice; the protection of human rights; and the participation of women in decision making.” As WILPF celebrates its centennial anniversary in 2015 at the Hague, we look forward to working for peace in the Caribbean and throughout Latin American.
