Our Best Opportunity Ever to End the Embargo!

April 2009

Dear Friends,

I want to thank you for responding so overwhelmingly when I reported to you on the terrible devastation Cuba sustained from the triple punch of Hurricanes Gustav, Ike and Paloma. The first two hurricanes caused $10 billion in damage to Cuba's infrastructure, displacing millions of people and destroying homes, schools, hospitals, factories, and crops. The third, Paloma, struck the island just weeks later, disrupting relief efforts and compounding the disaster.

Your outpouring of generosity and concern enabled Disarm to move quickly to speed urgently needed medicine and medical supplies to Cuba's badly damaged public health system. Thanks to caring friends in the U.S. like you, Disarm stocked two 40-foot ship containers with 12 tons of medicine and equipment and delivered them to shattered healthcare facilities in Havana, Pinar del Rio, and the Island of Youth.

Now, I'm asking you to help Disarm seize on the best opportunity in decades to achieve a decisive change in the failed, cruel US policy toward Cuba.

As we expand our humanitarian work to save lives and take a stand against the US embargo, Disarm is ready, with your help, to mount our strongest drive ever to finally change Washington's recalcitrant policy. President Obama says he will reassess US-Cuba policy, but so far, he's pledged only to lift the most onerous Bush administration rules affecting Cuban-Americans.

While we welcome the Cuban exile community's increased ability to visit the island and send remittances to relatives, Obama's gesture falls far short of any fundamental policy shift. But Congress is now taking action to generate real change, starting with moving to ensure the right of all Americans to travel to Cuba. The resulting massive people-to-people contact and friendship would fatally undermine the irrational, failed embargo itself.

In February, Senators Richard Lugar (R-IN), Christopher Dodd (D-CT), Mike Enzi (R-WY), and Byron Dorgan (D-ND) introduced a bill, S428, to legalize travel to Cuba by all US citizens. A similar House bill, introduced by Representatives Bill Delahunt (D-MA) and Jeff Flake (R-AZ) bolstered this powerful bipartisan push. Prospects for passage of the House bill are bright; the toughest battle will take place in the Senate.

Lugar, the ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee signaled the strong momentum for change last month with an influential report and letter to his Senate colleagues pressing hard for a new Cuba policy. The report's title, "Changing Cuba Policy—In the US National Interest," reflects the forcefulness of Lugar's case.

While stopping short of calling for an immediate end to the embargo, Lugar presses for substantial engagement without imposing the drastic, unrealistic US preconditions currently in place. By preempting Obama with his own proposals, Lugar helps create a political climate increasingly favorable to changes beyond the lifting of restrictions on Cuban-American travel and remittances. As the White House reviews Cuba policy, pressure from Lugar and other mainstream political and business leaders is creating the political space for Obama to move more decisively than he otherwise might.

This is where you, me and Disarm can make the crucial difference, by widening that political space with a vigorous, vocal, and widespread movement to lift the embargo one and for all. This time is like no previous opportunity for change—real victory is truly in sight! Disarm has the skills, political savvy and bold plan to maximize this vital moment. With your generous support now, Disarm is ready to:

• Expand our defiance of the embargo by sending more medicine and medical supplies to Cuban hospitals and clinics staggering under the blows of three major hurricanes. Last month, Disarm's Executive Director, Bob Schwartz met with Cuban Health Ministry officials in Havana to assess the impact of our massive hurricane relief shipment. Schwartz delivered 42 pounds of surgical sutures to help meet a desperate shortage in Havana's operating rooms. He returned home with concrete plans to increase Disarm's humanitarian aid.
• Disarm will take the lead in building a nationwide grassroots lobbying campaign using letters, faxes, phone calls and email to directly reach key representatives and senators to enlist their support for the "Travel for All" bills; we'll join with others in reaching the broadest possible audience with media interviews, op-eds, letters to the editor, advertising and events.
• We'll help build a diverse national coalition of peace and justice groups, religious communities, labor unions and trade organizations to wage a highly visible campaign for passage of these two bills.

You can do two very important things immediately to aid in this crucial drive:

• First, contact your two US Senators and urge them to support S428. The Senate is the key political battleground on Cuba policy, and your strong advocacy is an important way to let your Senators know that you want freedom for all Americans to visit Cuba.
• Second, and equally important, please click here to make your tax-deductible gift to Disarm. With your support, Disarm can fulfill our commitment to pass these two bills, while sending urgently needed medical aid to Cuba.
• We can't stop now. We must expand our vital medical relief while raising our voices on the political front. The two bills now in Congress open the way to the change we've all been working for. I'm keeping the pressure on until this injustice finally ends. Please remain at my side—your generosity and strong voice will make the difference!

Very gratefully,

Edward Asner