The following petition containing 100 signatures and supported by the DeKalb Interfaith Network for Peace and Justice has been sent to Senators Paul Simon and Alan Dixon and to Congressman Dennis Hastert and to President Bush with a cover letter:

“We call upon you to immediately lift the economic embargo against Cuba, normalize diplomatic relations, and end the travel restrictions. The time has come for an end to the Cold War against Cuba.”

The mainstream media in this country has conducted several campaigns during the past year to try to convince the American people that the socialist government of Cuba is about to topple like the ones in Eastern Europe did. This is far from the truth. There are problems facing the Cuban people, primarily because of the embargo, which even includes medicines. The Bush administration is exerting major efforts to force other nations to join the embargo, but the bulk of the Cuban people support their government. Illiteracy has been almost completely abolished. No one goes hungry. Racism is almost nonexistent. They do not suffer from extreme poverty, homelessness, or unemployment. Infant mortality is the lowest by far in the Third World and is even lower than in Washington, D.C., and some other major cities in this country.

It is time for us to put into practice the “good neighbor policy” which we used to boast about!

Allen D. Weaver

Professor of Physics

Emeritus