Dear Ambassador, As you are aware the Republic of Cuba has tabled for the twenty –seventh time a Resolution at the United Nations General Assembly calling for the ending of the Economic Commercial and Financial Embargo imposed in 1961 against Cuba. At each of the occasions that the Resolution has been tabled the majority of sovereign nations, member states of the United Nations, has voted in support of the ending of the Embargo. In the last decade in particular, the vote has been overwhelmingly in support of ending the Embargo and in the past several years only two member countries – The United States and Israel – have voted against, with less than a handful abstaining.

We note that the Government of Trinidad and Tobago and indeed the Governments of the Caribbean Community (Caricom) have been consistent in their position that the Embargo must be ended. We endorse and congratulate the Governments of Caricom for their stance on this issue at regional, hemispheric and international fora, including the Vote on the Cuban Resolution at the UN General Assembly over the years.

Cuba’s case before the Court of International opinion that is the UN General Assembly is cogent and compelling. The Economic Commercial and Financial Embargo is and has been a violation of the sovereignty of Cuba; it is and has been an attack on the fundamental human rights of the Cuban people; it is and has been a huge cost to Cuba in terms of both its economic impact as well as on the health, social conditions and well-being of the Cuban people. The embargo is illegal. The embargo illegally imposes sanctions on third states, their firms and US companies that operate in third states if those firms and states engage in economic commercial and financial activity with Cuba.

The embargo is illegitimate in the eyes of almost 190 nations of the world. It is wrong morally. It was designed to punish Cuba for daring to be different, for daring to assert its independence and sovereignty, for daring to pursue its own path of economic, social and political development. In spite of all the pain and economic damage inflicted on Cuba by the United States by this Economic Commercial and Financial Embargo, the Cuban people have remained steadfast in their position that their sovereignty is non- negotiable and that they will not be bullied of coerced by any other nation – no matter how big or powerful – into abandoning their chosen path of development.

Indeed, so compelling is the international position on this issue of ending the Embargo that your own Head of State, President Obama, has been moved to change the US policy towards Cuba. Indeed, the majority of American citizens, notably including powerful business interests and firms, themselves have the position that the Embargo should be ended. Thus, in December 2014 President Obama and President Castro made a simultaneous announcement to their countries and to the world that Cuba and the United States would re- establish diplomatic relations after a period of more than 50 years and this was followed by a visit to Cuba by President Obama earlier this year.

While President Obama has made some changes to the travel and other restrictions to the Economic Commercial and Financial Embargo, these have NOT had the effect of ending the Embargo itself. In light of President Obama’s stated position that the Embargo should be ended and given the almost unanimous position of the international community that the Embargo is wrong and should be ended, the Movement for Social Justice (MSJ) calls on the Administration of President Obama to go on record as voting YES in support of the Resolution tabled by Cuba calling for the ending of the Economic Commercial and Financial Embargo by the United States against Cuba when the Vote is taken at the UN General Assembly on Wednesday October 26, 2016. President Obama can, in one of his last acts as President, demonstrate that the entire world is for the ending of the Embargo against Cuba.

We further call on President Obama to use his Executive powers to: 1. Further dismantle the Embargo, thus walking the talk on this issue. 2. Relinquish control of Guantanamo Base and return this land to its rightful owners – the Government and People of Cuba. This act must be without conditions demanded by the United States. The continued occupation of Guantanamo Base is an affront to the sovereignty of Cuba.

We further call on the US Congress to repeal from the US Statute Books each and every law that seeks to or does give effect to this unconscionable Economic Commercial and Financial Embargo imposed by the United States against Cuba.

We trust that you will convey our position to the President of the United States and other relevant authorities.