Reps. Ilhan Omar, Pramila Jayapal make unannounced trip to Cuba: Axios
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The visit has drawn fire from Republican lawmakers.
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Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., left, speaks about the threat of default as Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., during a news conference, on May 24, 2023, in Washington. (AP)
It has been confirmed to Axios by a spokesperson for the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) that two CPC leaders made an unannounced trip to Cuba while the House was on recess last week.
Initially reported by the Miami Herald, spokesperson Mia Jacobs stated that Reps. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) and Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), the chair and deputy chair of the CPC, respectively, met with "people from across Cuban society and government officials to discuss human rights and the U.S.-Cuba bilateral relationship," Jacobs said.
Both Jayapal and Omar are public critics of the American economic embargo on Cuba.
Even though US lawmakers occasionally travel to Cuba, those trips are usually open and overt in American and Cuban governments and news.
The Miami Herald reported that Cuban state media "traditionally highlight American lawmakers going to the island, usually framing their visit as a gesture of 'solidarity' with the Cuban people or support for ending the U.S. embargo".
Read next: How the US is still punishing Cuba 6 decades on
On X, Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY) said, "It's outrageous that Members of Congress would visit a country that jails, abuses, and murders their citizens and supports Iran, Russia, and Communist China against our interests."
.@nicholaswu12 and all members of the media should refer to the Progressive Caucus by their more accurate name - the Congressional Communist Sympathizing Caucus.
— Office of Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (@RepMalliotakis) February 27, 2024
It's outrageous that Members of Congress would visit a country that jails, abuses, and murders their citizens and… https://t.co/4gC50jVyu4
After the news went public, Rep. Carlos Gimenez (R-Fla.) said, "Communist Cuba must remain on the List of State Sponsors of Terrorism."
Earlier in January, a group of 160 lawyers, mostly American, called on US President Joe Biden to remove Cuba from the so-called "State Sponsors of Terrorism" (SSOT) list.
"Given the tremendous economic, social, humanitarian, and commercial effect placement on the SSOT list has had for the Cuba people, maintaining it for such pretextual reasons continues to be a stain on U.S. foreign policy," the letter considered.
The Reagan administration first placed Cuba on the SSOT list in 1982, after which Cuba witnessed decades of US sanctions, assassination attempts, and subversion to topple Cuban leader Fidel Castro.
In 2015, then-US President Barack Obama removed Cuba from the list. However, relations deteriorated under his successor Donald Trump, who reinforced sanctions on the Caribbean island nation.
