The United Kingdom has welcomed the US government’s announcement of plans to ease some of the restrictions it has imposed on Cuba, Deputy Foreign Secretary Vicki Ford emphasized when responding in Parliament to a question posed by Labor MP Fabian Hamilton.
According to Ford, the deputy minister for Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean in Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservative government, the relaxation of measures dating back to the era of Republican President Donald Trump (2017-2021) is the first step to boosting economic growth, especially in the sector Private, enabling family reunification.
The official noted, however, that every year the UK votes in favor of a UN General Assembly resolution calling for the US embargo on Cuba to be lifted.
He added that London also opposes Washington’s activation of Chapters Three and Four of the Helms-Burton Act, which give an extraterritorial character to the six-decade economic, commercial and financial embargo on the Caribbean island. of international law.
“We have made our position clear on this matter, and we continue to communicate regularly with US officials on this matter through our embassy in Washington, as well as our embassies in Havana and London,” Ford said.
The administration of US President Joe Biden announced last week that it would scrap restrictions on transfers to Cuba and re-establish the so-called inter-people flights and family reunification program.
As part of canceling some of the measures imposed by Trump, Washington said that regular and chartered flights to Cuban provinces would resume, and consular services at its embassy in Havana would be expanded, among other items.
For its part, Cuba described the new US government rulings as a “limited step in the right direction”, as they do not modify the blockade or the “fraudulent” listing of the island as a state sponsor of terrorism.
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