CARTA ENVIADA AL CONGRESO DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMERICA

REFLEXION Y COMPROMISO CIUDADANO
Rev. Pablo Penton

viernes 3 de abril de 2009
A LOS MIEMBROS DEL CONGRESO

March 31, 2009

Dear Member of Congress:
As leaders of national and local Cuban-American organizations, we are writing to urge you to co-sponsor “The Freedom to Travel to Cuba Act (S. 428 and H.R. 874),” which would restore the right to travel to Cuba for all Americans.
President Obama said, “There are no better ambassadors for freedom than Cuban Americans,” and he promised in his campaign to remove all restrictions on the right of Cuban Americans to visit their families in Cuba and provide them with financial support.
While it is our hope and expectation that President Obama will honor this commitment to our community, we strongly believe that Americans of all backgrounds should have the legal right to travel to Cuba and stand with us as ambassadors for the values, ideas, and freedoms that our country represents.
It is up to Congress to change the law, and empower all Americans to engage in cultural, religious, humanitarian and educational contacts with the Cuban people, and we believe that the time for making that change is now.
The primary sponsors in the Senate are Senators Dorgan, Enzi, Lugar and Dodd. In the House, the primary sponsors are Representatives Delahunt and Flake
Cuba is the only country in the world to which the United States prevents its citizens from traveling. By supporting and working to pass this bill, you will take the historic step of ending this counterproductive and unjust policy and replacing it with one that is consistent with America’s values and the best interests of the people of the United States and Cuba.
We urge you to co-sponsor Senate Bill S. 428 or the House bill H.R. 874. Please contact Senator Dorgan’s office or Senator Enzi’s office; or, in the House please contact Representative Delahunt’s office or Representative Flake’s office with questions or to cosponsor this important and timely legislation.

Respectfully,

Jose M. Estevez
La Alianza Martiana
California

Sandra M. Alfonso
President
American Health Inc.
Louisiana

Ariel Fernandez
Founder
Asho Productions
New York

Marisela Perez
Boston Police Department
Massachusetts

Patricia Gutierrez Menoyo
Cambio Cubano
National

Dr. Alberto N. Jones
President/Founder
Jennifer and Silvia Jones
Alicia Bailey
The Caribbean American Children Foundation
Florida

Sgt Carlos Lazo
Veteran of the Operation Iraqi Freedom
Center for Democracy in the Americas
Seattle, Washington

Delvis Fernandez Levy, PhD
Founder and President
Cuban American Alliance Education Fund (CAAEF)
California/ National

Elena E. Maroth
Cuban American Alliance Education Fund (CAAEF)
California

Luis Rumbaut
Attorney
Cuban American Alliance Education Fund (CAAEF)
Washington D.C. / National

Patricia L. Morán
Cuban American Alliance Educational Fund (CAAEF)
Washington DC, Maryland

Regino Diaz
Cuban American Alliance Education Fund (CAAEF)
Texas/ National

Alvaro Fernandez
Cuban American Commission for Family Rights
Miami, Florida

Juan M. Alamo
Director/ Treasurer
The Cuban Artists Fund
New York

Alfredo Duran
Cuban Committee for Democracy (CCD)
Miami, Florida / National

Jose Manuel Palli
Cuba Legal Forum
Miami, Florida

Rubén G. Rumbaut
ENCASA- Emergency Network of Cuban American Scholars and Artists
Professor at the University of California, Irvine
California/ National

Dr. Lillian Manzor
ENCASA - Emergency Network of Cuban American Scholars and Artists for Change in US-Cuba Policy
Cuban/Latino Theater Archive
University of Miami, Florida

Juan C. Artigas
EMRN Group, Inc.
The U.S.- Cuba Lift the Embargo PAC, Inc.
Florida

Geni Gomez
Director
Freddie Mac
Virginia

Isidro (Chilo) Borja
President
Foundation for Normalization of US/Cuba Relations
National

Elena R. Freyre
Executive Committee
Foundation for Normalization of US/Cuba Relations
Miami, Florida

Julio V Ruiz, MD
Secretary to the Board of Directors
Foundation for Normalization of US/Cuba Relations
Miami, Florida

Marisela Fleites Lear
Green River Community College
Washington

Omar Martinez
Student
Juris Doctor/Master of Public Health
Indiana University Bloomington
Indiana

Ariel Hidalgo
Bureau of Human Rights
INFOBURO
Florida

Instituto de Estudios Cubanos
Miami, Florida

Margarita Fazzolari
Interreligious Foundation for Community Organization
Casa de las Americas
New Jersey/ National

Joe Perez
COB & CEO
J Perez Associates, Inc.
Long Beach, California

Manuel Hildalgo
Latino Economic Development Corporation
Washington DC

Eileen Del Pino
Register Nurse
Los Angeles County Department of Public Health
California

John Paul Cabrera, BASW, PPS, MSW
Los Angeles Unified School District
California

Ricardo A. Gonzalez
President
Madison-Camaguey Sister City Association
Wisconsin

Carmen Rumbaut
Madison-Camaguey Sister City Association
Wisconsin

Rev Leonides Penton Amador
President
La Mano Amiga Internacional Inc.
Florida

Teresa Gutierrez
Activist
New York Committee to Free the Cuban Five,
New York City, NY


Andres Hernandez
Partido Democrata Cristiano
National/ International

Silvia Wilhelm
Executive Director
Puentes Cubanos
Miami, Florida

Lorenzo Gonzalo
Sub director de Radio Miami
Broward County, Florida

Siro del Castillo
Solidaridad de Trabajadores Cubanos
National

Laura Urgelles
The Washington Ballet
Washington, DC

Jorge Milanes Pino President/Founder
West Coast Cuban American Alliance
California

Anthony O. Perez
California

Daniel Batista
Virginia

Ernesto J. Sallés
Alexandria, Virginia

Fidel Garcia
Washington DC

Lisa R. Zuccato-Perez
California

Rafamali and Heather Ramirez
Georgia