USA*Engage Commits to Fight Ineffective Cuba Policies

Washington, D.C. - The USA*Engage coalition has agreed to support changes in three ineffective U.S. policies towards Cuba in 2002.

"Today, our members have committed USA*Engage to ending the travel ban, permitting private financing of sales of agricultural commodities, and repealing Section 211," said Don Deline, Co-Chairman of USA*Engage. "The United States made a choice forty years ago to isolate a dictator in Cuba. The results are clear. Today, the repressive regime is unchanged. The Cuban people are denied political freedoms. The Cuban economy does not afford the people an adequate standard of living. USA*Engage advocates bringing about much-needed positive change in Cuba through commercial engagement and cultural exchange."

USA*Engage supports:

• the provisions to defund the travel ban on Cuba that passed the House of Representatives in 2001;
• the repeal of Section 211 of the Omnibus Appropriations Act of 1999, which endangers over 5,000 trademarks of over 500 American companies registered in Cuba;
• the Senate-passed Farm Bill currently in conference that expands the Trade Sanctions Reform Act of 2000 to allow private financing of agricultural sales to Cuba.

USA*ENGAGE is a coalition of over 670 small and large businesses, agriculture groups and trade associations working to seek alternatives to the proliferation of unilateral U.S. foreign policy sanctions and to promote the benefits of U.S. engagement abroad. For more information on USA*ENGAGE and the harmful effects of unilateral trade sanctions, visit the USA*ENGAGE web site at www.usaengage.org.

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