fredag 11 september 2015

Svenska parlamentariker skriver till USAs kongressledamöter om blockaden mot Kuba!



Mellan den 16 och 17 september anordnar "International Committee for Peace, Justice and Dignity for the Peoples" aktionsdagar i Washington DC mot USA:s blockad. Aktivister från USA och Kanada kommer under dessa dagar att besöka ett flertal kongressledamöter och berätta om hur blockaden drabbar det kubanska folket.

Vid samtliga möten kommer ett brev från svenska parlamentariker att överlämnas!


Stockholm, 10 September, 2015

To Members of the United States Congress

On December 17, 2014, President Obama recognized that more than 50 years of U.S. policy towards Cuba had failed and needed to be changed. In an exchange of letters between Presidents Raúl Castro and Barack Obama on July 1, 2015, both indicated that they were guided by the intention to develop respectful relationships of cooperation between both peoples and governments. This was to be based on the principles and objectives of the Charter of the United Nations, International Law and the Vienna Convention on diplomatic and consular relations.

The historic step of opening embassies in each other’s capitals on July 20, 2015 was a step in the right direction. On that day diplomatic relations were, after 54 years, reestablished and while the countries of the world welcomed these changes, there is still much work to be done before Cuba and the United States and the peoples of each country can have that "respectful relationship of cooperation".

In order to achieve normal relations between both countries, the economic, commercial and financial blockade that has caused great hardship to the Cuban people for many years has to be lifted.

The representatives of our country, Sweden, at the United Nations have voted year after year in favor of a resolution that strongly condemns the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed for more than 50 years by the US on Cuba. A bi product of this blockade is that it negatively affects Swedish investments in Cuba.

The US blockade also affects the people in the US. The elimination of the blockade would offer trade opportunities, as well as development of contacts and exchanges in all fields of culture. It would also bring about possibilities to access new medical Cuban technology such as Heberprot P — a safe and effective medication that reduces the risk of amputation due to diabetes complications by as much as 78 percent.

It is thereby our strong hope and fervent desire that the US Congress follows the wishes of their constituents, as well as the people around the world, and vote to eliminate the blockade as soon as possible.

Respectfully,

Hillevi Larsson, Member of Parliament (Social Democratic Party)

Valter Mutt, Member of Parliament (Green Party), foreign policy spokesman for the Green Party

Marco Venegas, Member of Parliament (Green Party)

Annika Lillemets, Member of Parliament (Green Party)

Amineh Kakabaveh, Member of Parliament (Left Party)

Torbjörn Björlund, Member of Parliament (Left Party)

Daniel Sestrajcic, Member of Parliament (Left Party)

Jens Holm, Member of Parliament (Left Party)

Malin Björk, member of the European Parliament (Left Party)