For immediate release: Thursday May 9, 2002

Press contact: Brian Alexander with Cuba Policy Foundation

Cell (202) 321-CUBA (2822)

CARTER TRIP TO CUBA REFLECTS U.S. SENTIMENT

ENGAGEMENT SUPPORTED BY AMERICAN PEOPLE, CONGRESS

Thursday, May 9, 2002, Washington – When President Carter travels to Cuba next week, he carries with him the message that the U.S. embargo has failed to achieve political and economic reform in Cuba and that engagement is the most effective means toward promoting U.S. interests and advancing the goals of freedom and prosperity in Cuba. A spokesperson for President Carter has said, “This trip symbolizes his strong belief that this new century is the time to open our two countries to each other.”

Recent public opinion polls and actions by the U.S. Congress indicate that Carter’s support for an opening with Cuba is shared by the American people and by the U.S. lawmakers.

In addition to promoting dialogue and engagement, the former President will address Cuba’s human rights record and the absence of basic civil liberties on the island. Ambassador Sally Grooms Cowal, president of Cuba Policy Foundation says of the former president’s trip, “It’s a clear signal to the Cuban people that Americans support engagement and dialogue as a means of addressing political differences and promoting reform in Cuba.” Ambassador Cowal continued, “The embargo represents a forty year failure. President Carter’s trip represents one of the most promising opportunities to steer U.S. policy toward Cuba in the right direction.”

Evidence is Clear: The American People WANT a Lifting of the Embargo:

According to recent independent polls conducted for the Cuba Policy Foundation:

· Two thirds (66.8%) of Americans think that Americans should be allowed to travel to Cuba.

· 71.3% of Americans believe that the United States should sell food to Cuba.

· 75.8% believe the United States should sell medicine to Cuba.

· Over half (52.4%) of Americans agree that American companies should be allowed to do business with Cuba.

· 69.1% of Texans agree that American companies should be allowed to sell food to Cuba.

· 69.6% of Louisianans agree that American companies should be allowed to sell food to Cuba.

· Among Florida adults, 61.2% say the United States should “give Cuba a taste of democracy by allowing American companies to trade with Cubans and invest in Cuba.”

· 70.3% of Floridians agree that Cuban Americans should be able to send more money to their relatives in Cuba than the law currently allows.

Also, more than half of Cuban-Americans believe that the 40-year-old policy of confrontation between exiles and the Cuban government has been a failure, according to a 2001 poll by Sergio Bendixen, a Miami-based pollster.

The U.S. Congress FAVORS Easing the Embargo:

In a series of recent votes, both the House and the Senate have supported measures to ease the embargo, which contrasts the White House’s support for the embargo. Only through procedural manipulations by the anti-engagement House leadership has the majority will of the Congress been prevented from passing laws to ease the embargo. A look at recent floor votes demonstrates that the U.S. Congress favors easing the embargo of Cuba:

· April 2002: In the House, Dooley Motion to Instruct, supporting language to allow private finance of food sales to Cuba, making it easier to sell food to Cuba, PASSES: 273-143.

· December 2001: In the Senate, an effort to strike aforementioned language on farm finance FAILS: 61-33.

· July 2001: in support of allowing Americans to travel to Cuba, the House PASSES provision that would end funding for enforcement of the travel ban, 240-186.

· October 2000: Language allowing sales of food to Cuba for first time in 40 years passes both the House and Senate and is signed into law by President Clinton.

Several signs in the Congress indicate that support for lifting the embargo among U.S. lawmakers is growing. In March 2002, the House Cuba Working Group was formed to oppose the embargo. The Cuba Working Group supports policies that would use engagement as a tool for promoting political and economic reform in Cuba and as a means for advancing U.S. national trade and security interests toward the island. Comprised of 18 Republican and 18 Democratic members of Congress, the Cuba Working Group sends a signal that ending the embargo is bipartisan issue that extends to all Americans.

In other signs that the Congress increasingly supports lifting the embargo, a bill sponsored by New York Congressman Charles Rangel that would end the U.S. embargo entirely has gained support in the past two years, failing by only 174 to 241 in 2000, and then by only 201-227 in 2001. This year’s vote promises to show even more gains. Additionally, a striking number of Senators and Representatives are traveling to Cuba to explore ways of easing the embargo and expanding U.S. ties with the island. In 2002 alone, over two-dozen members of Congress will have visited to Cuba.

For more information, please contact the Cuba Policy Foundation.

Cuba Policy Foundation

2300 M Street, NW, Eighth Floor

Washington, DC 20037

Tel. (202) 835-0200

Fax (202) 835-0291

Email: alexander@cubafoundation.org

Web: www.cubafoundation.org