Res 0882-2025

Whereas, According to the Council on Foreign Relations, the relationship between the United States and Cuba has been plagued by distrust and antagonism ever since Fidel Castro overthrew the U.S. backed regime in Havana, in 1959; and Whereas, President John F. Kennedy would issue Proclamation 3447 on February 3, 1962, which placed an all-encompassing trade embargo on Cuba, effective as of 12:01 A.M., Eastern Standard Time, February 7, 1962; and Whereas, Cuba was first placed on the State Sponsors of Terrorism list ("List") on March 1, 1982, after the United States Department of State ("State Department") found that it had repeatedly provided support to the Colombian M19 terrorist group which was battling to overthrow a United States-backed government in Colombia, according to the Center for a Free Cuba; and Whereas, Cuba was removed from the List in 2015 by the Obama administration, returned to the list in 2021 under the Biden administration, then removed once again by the Biden administration briefly on January 14, 2025, before being placed pack on the list by the Trump administration upon his inauguration; and Whereas, While the relationship between the United States and Cuba has thawed partially, with the Obama administration reopening the United States Embassy in Havana in July of 2015 and announcing numerous nonbinding bilateral arrangements, and with President Barack Obama becoming the first president to visit Cuba since 1928, the trade embargo on Cuba has remained in place since President Kennedy issued Proclamation 3447; and Whereas, According to Columbia Law School, most international studies find that sanctions, such as those imposed by the embargo on Cuba, negatively impact a nation's Gross Domestic Product growth rate, foreign investment flows, and financial stability; and Whereas, The United States has largely failed to achieve the goals for which the embargo was put in place, as most authors find that the sanctions failed to isolate Cuba economically, and that the economic effects are felt mostly by regular Cuban families and have not led to regime change or the promotion of democratic reforms in Cuba, according to Columbia Law School; and Whereas, United States Senate Bill S.136, introduced by Senator Ron Wyden, would lift the trade embargo on Cuba but would not remove Cuba from the List; and Whereas, International trade is a major driver of cultural exchange, with the sugar trade between New York City and Havana in the 19th century being a prime example of this, eventually spreading baseball to Cuba, Cuban music to the United States, and giving birth to the thriving Cuban community that still lives in New York City today, according to the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History; and Whereas, Lifting the trade embargo and removing Cuba from the State Sponsors of Terrorism list would allow this cultural exchange to resume, greatly benefiting New York City and Cuban New Yorkers, would lift the burden the economic sanctions place on regular Cuban citizens, and would allow the United States to reorient its foreign policy towards promoting democratic reforms and the free exchange of ideas; now, therefore, be it Resolved, that the Council of the City of New York calls on the United States Congress and President to end the Cuban embargo and Cuban travel ban and to remove Cuba from the State Sponsors of Terrorism list due to the unjust harm it causes the Cuban people. JN LS 19420 4/30/2025