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U.S.: Immigrant Leaders Congratulate President on New Approach to Cuba
an article by Laurie R. Glenn, National Alliance of Latin American and Caribbean Communities
Today [December 17], President Obama
announced a major shift in the relationship
between the United States and Cuba. In the
President's own words, "It is time for a new
approach." As Latino immigrant leaders, NALACC
salutes the President for this clear-eyed and brave
action. In his speech, the President noted that the
policy of isolation that the United States has
pursued for the past fifty years has failed to
advance US interests and has harmed ordinary
Cubans. We welcome these first steps toward
normalizing relations with Cuba and harnessing
the "power of people to people engagement," as
the President mentioned in his speech today. 
click on photo to enlarge
Unfortunately, many of the punitive and isolating
measures that continue to pose a barrier to
normal relations with Cuba have been enshrined in
US Law. This is another instance, similar to
immigration reform, where Presidential actions
can move the debate forward, but eventually,
Congress must act. We hope that a bi-partisan
spirit will pervade and the necessary legislative
steps to end the embargo will be taken very soon.
We applaud the President's assessment that we
should not "continue doing the same thing over a
period of five decades and expect a different
result." This sentiment should guide other areas
of policymaking, including immigration policy, and
our foreign policy toward other nations in our
hemisphere.
On the eve of International Migrants Day, we echo
the President's inspiring words -- motivated by his
conversation with Pope Francis -- that we should
all be "pursuing the world as it should be instead
of settling for the world as it is." This action is a
step toward sensible relations in our hemisphere
that take us beyond the legacy of the cold war
and into the twenty-first century.
About NALACC: NALACC is a network of
community-based; Latino and Caribbean
immigrant-led organizations in the US that seeks
to raise the quality of life for immigrant
communities in the United States, as well as
communities in migrant-sending countries in Latin
America. Over the years, NALACC has built close
working relationships with key civil society
organizations throughout Latin America.
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