Minneapolis, MN – On Thursday, April 18, about 30 members of the Minnesota Cuba Coalition gathered at U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar’s Minneapolis office, under the banner of “Minnesotans love Cuba,” to call for an end to the U.S. embargo of Cuba

While at the senator’s office, the coalition hosted a program of speakers, with veteran organizers, Cuban Americans and their allies new to the movement represented. During rush hour near the heart of Minneapolis’s downtown, cars honked in support and solidarity as they passed the crowd.

The coalition’s main demand is for Senator Klobuchar to sign a letter calling on the Biden administration to take Cuba off the list of State Sponsors of Terrorism (SSOT). As they arrived, SCOTA member Marcy Shapiro handed Klobuchar’s state director 500 petitions, with dozens of signatures each, supporting the call.

Many of the coalition members have taken educational trips to Cuba to study its culture, healthcare and education systems, its ecology and its environmental protection measures, its socialist government and its history of international solidarity with poor and oppressed peoples, including in the U.S. There is no legitimate reason Cuba should be on SSOT list. The listing and sanctions have caused immense damage and harm to Cubans as well their economy for over 60 years. The coalition urges the need to normalize relations with the U.S.'s neighboring country.

The coalition has lobbied the senator’s office to sign a letter to Biden calling on his administration to take Cuba off the list, hoping she would sign a similar letter as she did when Trump placed Cuba on the list. The senator has not responded in the four months that this campaign has been underway.

Robyn Harbison of Women Against Military Madness (WAMM), the founder of SCOTA, closed the rally. He reiterated that “Cuba is a friend of Palestine, and Palestine is a friend of Cuba. Historically we must remember who was on the right side of history during this era of anti-imperialist revolution. The U.S. has no right to intervene into other country’s affairs or sovereignty, and that includes Cuba and Palestine.”

The April 30 protest delegation was made up of MN Cuba Coalition member groups Minnesota Cuba Committee, Solidarity Committee on the Americas (SCOTA), and Witness for Peace Solidarity Collective

Reach out to [email protected] to learn more about how to get involved with the MN Cuba Coalition.

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