After UN Embargo Vote, Obama Should Push Further, Faster on Cuba Policy Reforms

October 28, 2009

WASHINGTON, Oct. 28 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Sarah Stephens, Executive Director of the Center for Democracy in the Americas, released the following comments about the vote in the UN General Assembly today against the United States embargo of Cuba:

"President Obama inherited a Cuba policy that doesn't fit him -- it's unilateral, it doesn't work, and it puts us at odds with the region and the world. The message of the UN vote is that he should follow his instincts on Cuba and push forward, faster and further, beyond the incremental reforms he has already undertaken.

"My hope is that this vote will force the administration to ask itself 'why are we enforcing a failed, hand-me-down policy that hurts Cubans and injures the image of the U.S., when we are trying to get international cooperation on problems that actually threaten our interests?'

"Whenever I travel in Latin America, I meet people who are genuinely surprised that President Obama, who represents such a sharp departure from the past, would continue enforcing an embargo that he inherited from the Cold War. They are the audience for a policy change that shows he sees the world differently.

"President Obama should take this UN vote for what it is -- a sign that our country needs to act in the world like its 2009 and not 1959, drop the embargo, and engage openly and directly with Cuba."

A longer essay on the UN vote, published by the Huffington Post and The Washington Note, can be read here.

The Center for Democracy in the Americas (CDA) is devoted to changing U.S. policy toward the countries of the Americas by basing our relations on mutual respect, fostering dialogue with those governments and movements with which U.S. policy is at odds, and recognizing positive trends in democracy and governance.

More information about CDA can be found at its website.

SOURCE Center for Democracy in the Americas