June 6, 2025 — The Richmond Standard
The Richmond City Council passed a proclamation Tuesday urging the U.S. to remove Cuba from its list of state sponsors of terrorism and to lift the long-standing trade embargo with the island nation.
The proclamation coincided with a visit from Cuban diplomats Yasser Ibarra and David Ramirez Alvarez, both secretaries at the Cuban Embassy in Washington, D.C. The two were honored by the City Council as part of Richmond’s ongoing sister-city relationship with Regla, Cuba.
Richmond Mayor Eduardo Martinez, a member of the Richmond Progressive Alliance (RPA), introduced the resolution and cited decades of hardship imposed by the U.S. embargo, which cost Cuba over $164 billion since its inception, according to the city proclamation.
“Cuba is a social experiment in creating a society where everyone is cared for. Having these guarantees is also a form of freedom,” the mayor said. “The embargo creates obstacles. When in Havana last year, I saw a magnificent city in disrepair—a city that could rival many other cities if it only had the capital to make those repairs.”
Martinez pointed out that Israel also supports the sanctions on Cuba.
“Like the Zionists in Israel, our nation is punishing the people of Cuba for a wrong they did not commit,” the Richmond mayor said. “It’s time to end this embargo.”
Cuban First Secretary Ibarra said Richmond’s action Tuesday “represents that another path is possible.”
“You know, and all of you know that on the other side of the Caribbean Sea there is a country — there are people — that want to engage with the American people, that want to create bridges of love,” Ibarra said.
Tuesday’s ceremony also referenced gifted artwork from Regla to the City of Richmond, celebrating the cultural and artistic ties fostered through their sister-city partnership.
The U.S. embargo on Cuba began in 1960 after the Cuban Revolution, when the U.S. imposed trade restrictions in response to the Cuban government’s nationalization of American-owned properties without compensation, according to the National Security Archive. It was expanded into a full economic embargo in 1962 under President John F. Kennedy and has remained largely in place, restricting trade, travel, and financial transactions, despite periodic calls for its repeal. The embargo is codified in U.S. law and can only be fully lifted by congressional action.
