LA Labor Urges U.S. to Remove Cuba from List of State Sponsors of Terrorism

Recently, Los Angeles labor unions have passed important resolutions, joining unions and central labor councils around the country. This includes the Inland Boatman’s Union and International Association of Machinists, Local 1484, which passed a resolution urging President Joe Biden to remove Cuba from the United States’ list of state sponsors of terrorism. The resolution also urges California’s congressional delegation to pass legislation that will eliminate aspects of the embargo that have been codified into law, and remove all sanctions against Cuba by the United States.

Citing the 62-year history of the economic embargo, the union notes that the sanctions has inflicted daily hardships and deprivations on the Cuban people, creating shortages of basic necessities like food and medicine, and severely restricting international financial and trade opportunities.

“It prevents Cuba from obtaining vital medical equipment and supplies, and even impedes humanitarian aid responses to catastrophic events like Hurricane Ian which devastated both Florida and Cuba, thus harming the Cuban people who President Biden’s administration claims to support,” the resolution reads.

In recounting the recent history of President Donald Trump reinstating Cuba’s designation as a state sponsor of terrorism, the union noted it was done less than a week after the Jan. 6 attempted coup. This, despite the fact the Barack Obama-Biden administration’s 2015 decision was made after an exhaustive review by the U.S. State Department. 

The union also noted that in 2021, 117 members of the U.S. Congress called for the removal of Cuba from this list noting in a letter, “a policy of engagement with Cuba serves U.S. interests and those of the Cuban people.”

In November 2022, the United Nations General Assembly also voted to condemn the U.S. embargo against Cuba, for the 30th time with 185 of 193 nations decisively voting in favor. Only the United States and Israel opposed it.