CITY OF SEATTLE
RESOLUTION __________________
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A RESOLUTION calling for an end to the U.S. government's economic, commercial, and financial embargo against Cuba.
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WHEREAS, in 1960, the U.S. government imposed an economic, commercial, and financial embargo against Cuba; and
WHEREAS, the U.S. embargo against Cuba continues to inflict hardship on the men, women, and children of Cuba by creating shortages of food, medicine, and financial and trade opportunities; and
WHEREAS, on December 17, 2014, U.S. President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro announced a new era of relations between the two countries and agreed to reestablish diplomatic relations; and
WHEREAS, Cuba and the U.S. reopened their respective embassies in 2015; and
WHEREAS, despite some changes made by President Obama, the U.S. embargo continues to be in place; and
WHEREAS, the 1996 Helms-Burton Act extended the territorial application of the initial embargo to apply to foreign companies trading with Cuba, and the current U.S. administration has taken backward steps to harshen the embargo and return U.S.-Cuba relations to the era of the Cold War; and
WHEREAS, 189 countries voted at the United Nations General Assembly in November 2018 in favor of lifting the U.S. embargo against Cuba, with only two countries-the U.S. and Israel-opposing the resolution; and
WHEREAS, the majority of the people in the U.S. believe the embargo is ineffective, inhumane, and in violation of U.S. laws and international conventions; and
WHEREAS, in one year, the economic damage to Cuba mounted to $ 4,321,200,000 dollars; and
WHEREAS, despite the lack of governmental diplomatic relations, organizations such as the Seattle-based U.S. Women and Cuba Collaboration, organized by local labor and civil rights leader Cindy Domingo, and the Seattle-Cuba Friendship Committee, have been working on people-to-people diplomacy to create cross national learning opportunities rooted in the concepts of universal human rights,...
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