On Feb. 12, Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA) introduced the United States Cuba Trade Act in Congress to eliminate the legal basis for the 60+ decade-long economic blockade of Cuba, Telesur reported. McGovern, who is a member of the House Rules Committee, explained that “I introduced a bill to repeal the U.S. embargo against Cuba. For over six decades, the U.S. has embraced failed, obsolete, Cold War thinking toward Cuba… “We have tried the same thing for over 60 years—and it has failed for over 60 years. Let’s try something different—let’s open things up! Let’s lift the embargo, giving U.S. businesses, entrepreneurs, tourists and universities more access.”
McGovern, who is a key anti-hunger advocate and o-chairman of the Human Rights Commission founded by the late Rep. Tom Lantos (D-CA), added that if enacted, the bill would remove Section 620 (a) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 along with many other existing obstacles to maintaining normal trade relations with Cuba. But as the embargo now stands, it is “ineffective, encourages hardliners and hurts the Cuban people.” Moreover, it “undercuts our standing in the world.” It were far better, he continued, to encourage democracy and freedom in Cuba “through diplomacy and engagement”—increase access for U.S. entrepreneurs, tourists and universities, “and let Cubans who live on the island determine their own future, not Marco Rubio or Donald Trump.”
