THE visit to Cuba next month by US President Barrack Obama is a positive development which signals another step on the road to normalisation of relations between the two countries, according to Haleem Khan, President of the Guyana-Cuba Solidarity Movement (GCSM).President Obama has announced that he would be visiting Cuba during the period March 21-22, and Khan said this historic occasion will mark the first time that a sitting U.S. president has visited Cuba since Calvin Coolidge did some 88 years ago.

“For those of us in the solidarity movement to end the blockade of Cuba, Obama’s visit gives us an important opportunity to push the struggle forward. This is not the time for us to sit back and watch events unfold, but rather, we need to seize the moment to intervene with more determination than ever before while this window of attention on U.S.-Cuba relations remains open,” the GCSM President underscored.

He explained that President Obama’s visit is primarily symbolic, and shows that despite right wing reaction, the overall atmosphere of improved relations that began on December 17, 2014 remains the prevailing sentiment in most sectors of U.S. society.

Recent Gallup polls show that the majority of American people support an end to the blockade and the establishment of full normal relations with Cuba; and that gap continues to grow.

“Recently, there have been many high level meetings between the two governments, and agreements have been reached on direct U.S. commercial airline flights and mail service. However, the reality is that the unilateral and unjust blockade of Cuba remains completely intact.

“As long as that is the case, and regime change programmes remain funded and Guantanamo is occupied, normalisation will not happen,” Khan noted.

He pointed out that the onus for significant change rests with the U.S: “We know that taking the blockade out of law will ultimately have to be carried out by (the American) Congress, but there is still a lot Obama can do.
And if he wanted to make his trip in March more than a political gesture, he could announce, upon his arrival, that the U.S. was returning Guantanamo to its rightful owners – the Cuban people. It is fully in his power to do that,” Khan said.

Guyana and Cuba enjoy friendly relations. The two countries established diplomatic ties in 1972, and Cuba has agreed to provide medical supplies, doctors, and medical training to Guyana.