Washington, Dec 6 (Prensa Latina) More than 50 US officials, collectively representing millions of Americans, along with union leaders and solidarity organizations, urged President Joe Biden to remove Cuba from the list of state sponsors of terrorism.

The coalition issued a unified call for Biden to reverse the policies of Donald Trump’s first term (2017-2021) in the short time he has left in the White House.

“The embargo (blockade) and the SSOT (State Sponsor of Terrorism) designation are relics of a failed foreign policy,” said Vermont State Senator Tanya Vyhovsky in a statement published on the official page of the International Committee of the DSA (Democratic Socialists of America), promoter of the initiative.

“Sending aid to Cuba is not just an act of goodwill, it is a moral imperative. This is an opportunity for the United States to demonstrate leadership and compassion,” she added.

“By removing Cuba from the SSOT list and reversing Trump-era restrictions, we can pave the way for a more stable and humane relationship, as well as provide the Cuban people with a meaningful path to recovery and resilience following several natural disasters,” reads an excerpt from the letter.

The coalition highlighted the serious consequences of these restrictions, which have deprived Cuba of vital financial resources and deepened economic and humanitarian crises. These challenges were exacerbated by recent natural disasters, including hurricanes and earthquakes, which have left Cubans in urgent need of food, medicine, and medical supplies, the statement noted.

“American workers stand with the Cuban people in their fight for basic human needs,” said Taylor Walker, president of the Interns and Residents Committee of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), who added that the policies of isolation and economic warfare “harm working families on both sides of the Florida Straits.”

The call to action came after the 32nd vote at the United Nations condemning the US blockade on Cuba and after a recent letter signed by House members Barbara Lee (California), Jim McGovern (Massachusetts), Gregory Meeks (New York) and Jon Castro (Texas) urging Biden to send humanitarian aid and remove Cuba from the list of state sponsors of terrorism.

For New York City Councilwoman Alexa Avilés, “it is time to prioritize diplomacy and compassion over decades of hostility.”

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Havana, December 5 (Radio Habana Cuba) — The National Electric System (SEN) is working today with all its equipment available, according to a notice from the Minister of Energy and Mines of Cuba, Vicente de la O Levy.

“The SEN has been restored,” he wrote on the social network X shortly before concluding this Wednesday night.   All the units that were in the process of starting up entered the system, he assured.

De la O Levy clarified that “unit 1 of Felton, which already has a boiler on and will synchronize in the next few hours” has yet to be incorporated into the generation of electric energy.

The day before, at the beginning of the morning, there was a new disconnection of the System, after the Antonio Guiteras thermoelectric plant went out due to an automatic trip, as reported by the Ministry of Energy and Mines.

During the day, work to rehabilitate it progressed and before nightfall, the Santa Cruz 1, Guiteras and Felton units were ready to start up, with 400 megawatts more than those existing until then.

Likewise, the provinces of Pinar del Río and Holguín had been incorporated into the SEN, always according to official reports.

The SEN has suffered significant damage in recent months, including service outages, causing prolonged blackouts throughout the island.

Cuban authorities denounce the consequences in the sector of the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States on the Caribbean country for more than six decades, a policy that has been intensified in recent years. (Source: Prensa Latina)

Havana, Dec 3 (Radio Habana Cuba) The Cuban Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bruno Rodríguez, this Monday criticized U.S. President Joseph Biden for signing a bill that prohibits the application or validation of trademarks confiscated by the Cuban government.

The head of Cuban diplomacy expressed on a post on X that that the objective of this regulation is to illegally grant access to Cuban trademarks that have been legally registered in the United States.

The White House announced that Biden signed a proposal approved by the U.S. Congress, which prevents the Patent and Trademark Office from recognizing, enforcing, or otherwise validating any claims to rights in these trademarks.

According to Johana Tablada, the deputy director of the General Directorate of the United States at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, there are 6,448 registered U.S. trademarks in Cuba and 1,177 in the process of registration.

On social media, Tablada stressed that all of them are protected by the Cuban Intellectual Property Authority, in contrast to the approach taken by the U.S. government when it signed the Stolen Trademarks Law.

The diplomat refers to the ongoing dispute between Cuba and the Bacardí company over the distribution rights for the island’s iconic rum, Havana Club, worldwide.

Biden signed the document, while numerous organizations and individuals from around the world are urging him, directly or through international forums, to revise the White House’s policy towards Cuba.

The demands include lifting the economic embargo, reversing the restrictions imposed by Donald Trump during his first term, and removing Cuba from the list of countries that sponsor terrorism. (Source: Prensa Latina)

Berlin, Dec 2 (Prensa Latina) The Socialist Party of Germany (The Left) today received the Secretary of the National Assembly and the Council of State, Homero Acosta Álvarez, for a discussion of experts on the blockade against Cuba in the Bundestag (Parliament).

The event was organized by the Left Party, the Foundation

Rosa Luxemburg and the working group of that group, Cuba Sí, to address the topic “End the United States blockade against Cuba, now” at Paul Löbe’s house, near the Bundestag.

The meeting was attended by Acosta Álvarez and the Cuban ambassador to this country, Juana Martínez González, and her deputy, Miguel Torres Tesoro.

Present on the German side were Bundestag members from the Left Party, Sören Pellmann and Dietmar Bartsch, as well as the party chairwoman, Ines Schwerdtner.

Among the 60 participants were activists, former parliamentarians and Cubans living in Germany.

Acosta Álvarez explained the difficult situation Cuba is experiencing due to the blockade and global crises, such as the Covid-19 pandemic, the conflict in Ukraine and recent disasters, which have an even greater impact on Cuba due to US sanctions.

The Cuban leader emphasized that during the era of former Democratic President Barack Obama, it was possible to see how quickly ties between Cuba and the United States can improve.

But under Republican Donald Trump, all progress was reversed and numerous sanctions were then imposed, he recalled.

Although the United States sought to force the overthrow of the Cuban government with measures that violate international law, Cuba moved forward and was transformed with the participation of its population in the 2019 constitutional referendum, the Cuban politician explained.

Meanwhile, lawyer and professor Norman Paech explained the need for new courts, such as the one in Brussels this summer, to condemn the blockade, which he considered a crime against humanity.

A representative of the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation, Heinz Bierbaum, spoke of the planned intensive exchange and far-reaching cooperation between the Left Foundation and Cuba.

The Bundestag member and former party chairman Dietmar Bartsch said that in the context of a very tense crisis in the Left Party in Germany, it is a sign that its senior members are consulting on Cuba shortly before the upcoming elections in the Federal Republic.

The newly installed president of the Left Party, Inés Schwerdtner, also announced that the decision of that organization, starting in 2022, to maintain unconditional solidarity with socialist Cuba, remains in force and will be applied.

Other activists and party members stressed that not only does Cuba need the support of the world, but the world needs a socialist Cuba, an alternative form of society with more social justice than in the capitalism of Western countries.

At the end of the event, a statement condemning the blockade was presented, which aims to continue to demonstrate solidarity with Cuba.

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