Versión Español
Español A new group called #CubaNow announced on Monday it will launch a media campaign urging Obama to end the Cuban embargo in place since 1960, which has not achieved its purported objective of overthrowing the island’s communist government. They want to expand the ability of US Americans to travel to Cuba and send money to its emerging business community.
Formed by young Cuban Americans and former Obama administration officials, CubaNow says the President of the United States should use his executive power to achieve what the US Congress is unwilling to do. Ever since Obama declared 2014 the “year of action,” alluding to a greater use of his executive authority, he has received similar requests from various advocacy groups.
One of the group’s first ads is scheduled to appear for a month throughout the subway system in Washington, and will feature a quote from the world-renowned and award-winning dissident blogger Yoani Sánchez: “People abroad should support the nascent sector of private micro businesses… because economic autonomy is political autonomy.”
The United States established its economic embargo against Cuba after Fidel Castro’s coup in 1959. Businesses in the United States are prohibited from operating in Cuba and most US Americans are banned from traveling there. While any significant changes must be approved by Congress, the president does have the authority to make some policy changes. Shortly after taking office, Obama expanded the ability of Cuban Americans to visit their relatives on the island and increased the limit on the amount of money they can send back home. He also allowed other US Americans to travel to Cuba for religious, educational, and cultural exchanges, which led to nearly 100,000 US residents visiting the island in 2012.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HA440bMj4Q
Source: USA Today.
