The reintroduction of a bipartisan bill to lift the blockade on Cuba by five U.S. lawmakers is an example of the effort to establish normal relations between the two countries.
Democratic Senators Amy Klobuchar, Chris Murphy, and Elizabeth Warren joined Republicans Roger Marshall and Jerry Moran to present the initiative, which seeks to break the siege imposed by Washington for more than 60 years on the island.
According to a statement released the day before on Klobuchar’s official website, the Freedom to Export to Cuba Act would create new economic opportunities for U.S. businesses and farmers by boosting exports and allowing Cubans greater access to northern products.
The Freedom to Export Act repeals legal restrictions on trade with the island, including the original 1961 authorization to establish the blockade; subsequent laws required for its application; and other statutes prohibiting ties between U.S.-run companies and Cuba, and limitations on direct shipping between the ports of the two countries, the statement added.
The same source remarked that the U.S. International Trade Commission found that if the trade restrictions had been lifted, exports such as wheat, rice, corn, and soybeans could increase by 166 percent in five years, to a total of around 800 million dollars.
When presenting the report on the impact of the blockade on the island, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez denounced last year that the losses amounted to three billion 806 million dollars only between August 2021 and February 2022.
“The existence of the blockade is an undeniable reality, no one could seriously claim that it does not exist or that it is a mere pretext, it is tangible and it reaches and damages every family in the Caribbean country, Cubans living in the United States, American citizens and companies all over the planet”, Bruno Rodriguez said.
