We are very grateful about the preoccupation you have expressed about human rights, and are very aware of your present considerations-in-progress vis a vis U.S. policy toward Cuba. In that context, we wish to request, with utmost respect and from our deepest convictions, that you condition your administration’s Cuba policy to the following requirements:
1. That the Cuban government issue a general amnesty for all political prisoners, much like the one a young Fidel Castro received in 1955 when he was a political prisoner of the Batista government;
2. That the Cuban government eliminate restrictions on the distribution of humanitarian aid from international organizations and from Cuban Americans to needy Cubans in the island;
3. That the Cuban government withdraw its troops and military leadership from Venezuela;
4. That the Cuban government return fugitives of justice and terrorists who are responsible for the deaths of American citizens to whom it has given shelter in the island, that they may be brought to justice in the U.S.; and
5. That the Cuban government allow remittances sent by Cuban Americans to their relatives to be received in U.S. dollars, that they may acquire goods and services as they see fit.
Mr. President: we trust that your personal concerns for the welfare of the Cuban people amidst repression, economic crisis and the pandemic, will prevent further harm and suffering to our people. May God bless you, your family and the American people.
Most respectfully,
Iván M. Acosta, playwright, filmmaker, composer
Julia Alemán, democracy and human rights advocate
Elías Amor, economist and journalist
Sebastián Arcos, human rights activist, assistant director, Florida International University’s Cuban Research Institute
Kristina Arriaga, former Vice Chair, United States Commission on International Religious Freedom
Reverend Demetrio Asprón Morales, Missionary Church of Cuba
Sirley Ávila León, human rights activist and former political prisoner
Daniel Avilés, Chaplain
Ariadna Barrenechea Martín, Cuban human rights activist
José Gabriel Barrenechea Chávez, Cuban writer and political activist
Raúl Ciriaco Borges Álvarez, United Christian Democratic Party of Cuba
Ambassador Everett Ellis Briggs, Cuba-born, member of the U.S. Foreign Service, retired
Humberto Calzada, visual artist
Frank Calzón, political scientist, human rights advocate, and author
Juan Manuel Cao, journalist, author and former political prisoner
Laida Carro, human rights activist
Olga Connor, former university professor, journalist and author
Luis Cruz Azaceta, visual artist
Belkis Cuza Malé, poet, journalist, founder and editor, Linden Lane Magazine
Erich de la Fuente, Adjunct Professor, Florida International University
Octavio Delasuareé, Professor Emeritus, William Paterson University, NJ
Sergio Díaz Briquets, international consultant and author
Ernesto Díaz Rodríguez, former political prisoner (served 22 years) and poet
Paquito D’Rivera, Grammy-winning musician and composer
Paul Echániz, engineer and businessman, retired
Vicente Echerri, author, opinion columnist
José Daniel Ferrer, former political prisoner, opposition leader, founder UNPACU
Silvia Font, writer, journalist
Ileana Fuentes, cultural consultant, author, feminist, independent journalist
Reverend Raudel Garcia-Bringas, Christian theologian
Nicolás Gutiérrez, Secretary, Cuban Exile History Museum
Basilio Guzmán, former political prisoner (served 22 years)
Aida Tomás Levitan, Ph.D., business leader, philanthropist, community activist
Reverend Mario Felix Lleonart Barroso, presbyter, founder and coordinator, Patmos Institute
Eduardo Lolo, Permanent Member, Royal Academy of the Spanish Language; Academia de Historia de Cuba en Exilio
Yoaxis Marcheco Suárez, Baptist missionary and author
Guillermo Mármol, businessman and Chairman, Center for a Free Cuba
Raúl Masvidal, business, entrepreneur, civic leader
Pablo Medina, poet, novelist, translator
Adriana Méndez Rodena, author and university professor
Carlos Alberto Montaner, journalist and author
Elena Montes de Oca, human rights activist, poet and educator
Vicente Morín Aguado, journalist
Ana Olema, artist, pro-democracy advocate
Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo, author, Ph.D. candidate at Washington U., St. Louis, MO
Rosa María Payá, founder and director, CubaDecide and Fundación para la Democracia Panamericana
Daniel I. Pedreira, political scientist, author and historian
Yuri Pérez, human rights activist, Victims of Communism Foundation
Julio C. Pita, MD, cardiologist
Joaquín Pujol, international civil servant, formerly with the International Monetary Fund
Ambassador Otto J. Reich, former Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemispheric Affairs, former U.S. Ambassador to Venezuela; President, Center for a Free Cuba
Janisset Rivero, writer and human rights activist
Seth Mateo Rock, college student, Colgate University
Father José Conrado Rodríguez, vicar, San Francisco de Paula Parish, Trinidad, Cuba
Pedro V. Roig, attorney
Perla Rosencvaig, author and retired university professor
Miguel Sales, former political prisoner, author; Unión Liberal Cubana
Araceli R. San Román, former political prisoner (served 15 years)
Jorge Sanguinetty, economist, founder and Chairman of DevTech Systems, Inc.
John Suárez, Executive Director, Center for a Free Cuba
Niovel Tamayo Formen, Cuban Association for the Preaching of Islam, Cuba
Olaine Tejeda Beltrán, Sephardic Jewish Community Bnei Anusim, Cuba
Reverend Mario Jorge Travieso Medina, "Viento Recio" Apostolic Movement, Cuba
Armando Valladares, former political prisoner (served 22 years), author, former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Human Rights Commission
Felipe Valls Sr., civic leader and business entrepreneur
A. Omar Vento, MD, physician
Josefina Vento, DDS, dentist
Camilo Vila, filmmaker
Eduardo Zayas Bazán, Professor Emeritus, East Tennessee State University, TN
Lourdes Zayas Bazán, President, National Association of Cuban American Educators
Petition source: https://www.change.org/p/president-joseph-biden-prioritize-human-rights-of-cubans-when-considering-a-new-us-cuba-policy