Mayor Eduardo Martinez
City of Richmond
June 3, 2025
Vice Mayor Cesar Zepeda
City of Richmond
June 3, 2025
Urging that Cuba Be Removed from U.S. List of State Sponsors of Terrorism and that Congress vote 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 consequence 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, in 2021 Cuba was reinstated on the State Sponsor of Terrorism list, reversing the Obama-Biden administration’s 2015 decision to remove this status; and WHEREAS, Cuba’s arbitrary designation has subjected it 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; and
WHEREAS, on Tuesday, June 3, 2025, officials from the Cuban Embassy in the United States will visit Richmond, including Yasser Ibarra, First Secretary, who works with labor unions, Cuba solidarity, and the sports sectors, and David Ramirez Alvarez, Second Secretary, who served from 2018 to 2022 at the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs organizing international events, including the 500th anniversary celebration of the City of Havana; and
WHEREAS, the City of Richmond, California, established a Sister City relationship with Regla, Cuba , on September 14, 1999, through Resolution #147-99, with the mission of fostering mutual understanding, cultural exchange, and humanitarian cooperation between the people of Richmond and Regla; and WHEREAS, the Richmond-Regla Sister City Committee continues to strengthen ties between the two cities through exchanges and collaboration in the areas of medicine, education, culture, municipal practices, and humanitarian support, in solidarity with the Cuban people; and THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, I, Eduardo Martinez, Mayor of the City of Richmond, on behalf of the Richmond City Council, do hereby 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, I, Eduardo Martinez, Mayor of the City of Richmond, on behalf of the Richmond City Council, do hereby urge 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.
Councilmember Claudia Jimenez
City of Richmond
June 3, 2025