Green Party of California passes resolution to end the embargo and all coercive actions against Cuba

For more than 60 years Washington administrations whether Democrat or Republican have maintained an embargo amounting to a blockade of the island nation of Cuba. The express purpose, as presented in this U.S. Department of State memo has been to "bring about hunger, desperation and overthrow of government."

Despite a small temporary softening of relations between the U.S. and Cuba about 10 years ago, the hardships and struggles of the people of Cuba have continued to deepen, beyond what most people outside Cuba can imagine. Since then Cuba was irrationally placed on the U.S. list of State Sponsors of Terrorism, and left there except for a few days at the end of Biden’s presidency. This year Cuba was again placed on the SSOT list with additional "sanctions" imposed, in violation of the principles of the UN charter where these sanctions are accurately labeled as "unilateral coercive measures.”

Cuban diplomats based in Washington DC have requested that as many Americans as possible strongly assert support of resolutions to remove Cuba from the State Sponsor of Terrorism list, to remove the coercive measures against Cuba, and to remove the embargo altogether. A growing list of governmental entities, labor unions, and other organizations have answered the call and are listed here.

On Monday June 2, 2025, the Green Party of California Coordinating Committee officially joined these groups and passed a resolution urging the U.S. government to remove Cuba from its list of State Sponsors of Terrorism (SSOT), and remove the embargo and all economic sanctions against Cuba.

The Green Party platform has long rejected the economic blockade of Cuba; calls for the U.S. to respect national sovereignty; and demands that the U.S. government end its veto of U.N. resolutions pertaining to Cuba. Since 1992, many U.N. resolutions to end the embargo have been supported by almost every nation with the exception of the U.S. and Israel.

The full resolution is below and can be downloaded HERE.

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A Resolution Urging that Cuba Be Removed from U.S. List of State Sponsors of Terrorism and that Congress votes to end all economic sanctions against Cuba.

WHEREAS: For the past 64 years, the United States has imposed an economic, commercial and financial embargo on Cuba that prevents most engagement and trade with the United States, and punishes other countries that engage with Cuba; and

WHEREAS: The consequences of this embargo continues to inflict 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 the recent Hurricane Rafael; and

WHEREAS: The previous Trump administration imposed 243 new sanctions upon Cuba, including restrictions on Cuban Americans who send remittances to families and businesses in Cuba. These sanctions contribute to a mass migration of Cubans, creating U.S. border security concerns; and

WHEREAS: President Trump arbitrarily reinstated Cuba’s designation as a State Sponsor of Terrorism less than a week after the January 6th attempted coup in 2021, reversed the Obama-Biden administration’s 2015 decision to remove this status after an exhaustive review by the U.S. State Department. Cuba does not satisfy any criteria for inclusion on this list; and

WHEREAS: Cuba’s arbitrary designation has subjected them to further sanctions and international financial restrictions that even further limit the nation’s ability to carry out critical financial transactions, including to purchase food, medicines and oil to power its national electricity grid; and

WHEREAS: President Trump has the authority to remove Cuba from the State Sponsors of Terrorism list by executive order, and to commit to the normalization of relations with Cuba begun by the Obama administration; and

WHEREAS: The United Nations in 2024 estimated that this embargo had cost the Cuban economy $164 billion, and that current annual costs are about $5 billion each year; and

WHEREAS: The United Nations General Assembly voted to condemn the U.S. embargo against Cuba, for the 32nd time, on Oct 30, 2024, with 187 of 193 nations decisively voting in favor, and only the United States and Israel opposed

Therefore: Be it RESOLVED that the Green Party of California strongly urges the President to remove Cuba from the United States list of state sponsors of terrorism and to oppose all legislation that seeks to prevent the removal of Cuba from such list, including the FORCE Act (HR450); and

Be It Further RESOLVED that the Green Party of California urges our congressional delegation to pass legislation that will eliminate those aspects of the embargo that have been codified into law; and remove all sanctions against Cuba by the United States and allow the peoples of the United States and Cuba to travel and trade freely between the countries, and to oppose any legislation that seeks to codify the embargo, SSOT or other sanctions against Cuba; and

Be It Further RESOLVED that the Green Party of California issues releases regarding the details of this resolution to its contacts within its jurisdiction.

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