US should ‘lift blockade against Cuba’
The United States should lift its decades-long embargo imposed on Cuba in order to normalize relations with the country, a political commentator says.
“The US should immediately stop the blockade and open commercial and economic relations with Cuba,” James Petras, Bartle Professor of Sociology at Binghamton University, told Press TV on Friday.
He made the comments after the White House confirmed Friday that President Barack Obama and his Cuban counterpart Raul Castro spoke by phone about opening up embassies and other points of “diplomatic normalization.”
The two leaders are also expected to meet at this weekend’s Summit of the Americas.
“The summit is certainly an important meeting because of this encounter between the United States and Cuba,” the analyst said.
“The US still persists in maintaining the blockade despite the fact that the 99 percent of the countries in the world are opposed to that blockade,” he added.
Meanwhile, the United States is likely to remove Cuba from the State Sponsors of Terrorism List.
The Obama administration officials said that the US State Department sent a recommendation to the White House that Cuba be removed from the list.
In December, President Obama announced a historic diplomatic breakthrough with the Cuban government.
“No one in the world believes Cuba was supporting terrorism,” Petras said.
The United States broke off diplomatic relations with Cuba in 1961 and placed an official embargo against the country in 1962.
The two countries became ideological foes soon after the 1959 revolution that brought Fidel Castro to power and their ties remained hostile even after the end of the Cold War.
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