Anti-Torricelli bill introduced in US

By Ivonne Cunarro

On August 11, representative Jose Serrano, from New York, introduced to the House of Representatives a new anti-blockade of Cuba bill, HR 4941.

Serrano, an early co-sponsor of Charles Rangel's Free Trade with Cuba legislation, has drafted a simple and concise call specifically to repeal Torricelli's Cuban Democracy Act of 1992, which has transformed the US embargo into a blockade, with devastating impact on Cuban society. By August 19, Serrano had in excess of 40 co-sponsors for the new bill.

During a recent trip to Havana, I was able to visit with the directors of both the National Institute of Nephrology and the Juan Manuel Marquez Paediatric Hospital. Here, as is the case with hospitals throughout the country, it is clearly evident that the Torricelli Act is directly responsible for loss of life in Cuba.

Cuba has committed limited hard currency for the purchase and import of life-sustaining medicines for these institutions, but is often unable to obtain them as a direct result of Torricelli.

In the Institute of Nephrology, where kidney transplants are performed, transplant patients must each day take immuno-suppressant medication to prevent rejection of the transplanted organ. Cuba has purchased this medication for import but cannot find a shipper to transport it to Cuba who is not also scheduled to dock at a US port, which is prohibited by the Torricelli Act. As a result, supplies of this medication are completely exhausted in Cuba, and transplant patients who depend on it are dying.
[From Pegasus.]

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