Democrat Rep. Pramila Jayapal Admits to Working with Foreign Countries to Aid Cuba in Defiance of President Trump.
Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) is proudly admitting to working with foreign countries to aid Cuba in defiance of President Trump’s policies.
In April, Jayapal and Rep. Jonathan Jackson (D-IL) spent five days in Cuba. During the congressional delegation visit, the two met with Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel, Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez, and members of the Cuban Parliament.
She recently shared, “In January, Trump issued an executive order threatening tariffs on any country supplying fuel to Cuba. This was this January, just a few months ago.”
“And oil shipments from Venezuela, that’s where Cuba had been getting its oil, were halted after the US operations to kidnap Nicolás Maduro. Since January, only one Russian tanker of oil has made it to Cuba. In fact, it landed just a couple of days before I landed.”
“And one tanker has enough oil basically for 10 to 14 days of Cuba’s oil needs. So it’s a very limited amount of time. Now, Russia has said they’re going to send another tanker.”
“I was in conversations with the ambassadors from Mexico and some other places, and I know other countries in Latin America are trying to figure out how to get oil there. But it is a crisis beyond imagination.”
“Just this past Friday, on May 1st, Trump signed a broad executive order that widens sanctions and allows for new penalties similar to what we have for Iran and Russia against foreign banks and firms that are dealing with Cuba.”
“And it also reinforces the ban on U.S. tourism. I have called these sanctions an economic bombing of the infrastructure of Cuba. It is illegal. It is against the war.”
“We’ve been talking about this in Iran, obviously, to bomb the infrastructure of any country. That is against international law. This is essentially doing the same thing. It is bombing the infrastructure of Cuba with economic sanctions that essentially ensure that the infrastructure collapses.”
Following her comments, some wondered if Jayapal’s discussions with foreign nations might be in violation of the Logan Act.
Any citizen of the United States, wherever he may be, who, without authority of the United States, directly or indirectly commences or carries on any correspondence or intercourse with any foreign government or any officer or agent thereof, with intent to influence the measures or conduct of any foreign government or of any officer or agent thereof, in relation to any disputes or controversies with the United States, or to defeat the measures of the United States, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both. This section shall not abridge the right of a citizen to apply, himself or his agent, to any foreign government or the agents thereof for redress of any injury which he may have sustained from such government or any of its agents or subjects.
