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4th Conference for the normalization of US-Cuba relations concludes its deliberations in NYC
The 4th International US-Cuba Normalization Conference took place March 11-12 in NYC.
Over 200 people attended in person and many more participated virtually from a number of cities in the US, Canada, and around the world.
A Plan of Action will guide the work to end the criminal US blockade of Cuba for the coming year.
For coverage and more information use this link:
https://amerika21.de/2023/03/263096/konferenz-new-york-fuer-kuba
https://amerika21.de/2023/03/263096/konferenz-new-york-fuer-kuba
Advances in Los Angeles:
Pushing to End US Blockade of Cuba,
Organizing a Labor Delegation to Visit the Island
In a spirited meeting at the Machinists Union Hall on February 12, 50 members of the Los Angeles Hands-Off Cuba committee gathered in person and online to discuss the next steps in building the movement to force Washington to remove Cuba from the list of so-called terrorist nations (SSOT), and end the blockade and sanctions it has imposed on the island.
The focus of the meeting was a report back from the Cuban conference "Towards a Balance of the World " by Luis Malik. Malik attended the conference and spoke on the youth panel there.
His report included video greetings to the meeting by North American ICAP Director Leima Martinez inviting people to Cuba, representatives of the South African Congress of Trade Unions, discussing Cuba’s solidarity in the fight against apartheid and Ismael Perez, central leader of the Cuban CTC trade union federation with an invitation to US trade unionists to come for May Day and union activities/workplace meetings, and other delegates attending the international conference of 1100 from 87 countries https://www.us-cubanormalization.org/viva-cuba/solidarity-video-from-cuba/
A featured speaker was Nannette Plascencia, the lead organizer of the Amazon Labor Union in the Inland Empire just outside of Los Angeles. She reported on the victory of the Amazon Labor Union in winning National Labor Relations Board recognition, despite stalling for nine months, hearing unfounded election challenges by Amazon management. She called for broader union support for the organizing drive, collection of union authorization cards underway at ONT8 and defense of fired union activist Ivan Baez.
An important addition to the meeting was a representative of the African People’s Socialist Party, Mwezi Udon, describing in detail, and with video footage, the brutal assault on their offices in Florida.
Statements of solidarity were given also by Jaz Tabar, a leader of BAYAN (a Filipino activist group fighting the construction of five new US military bases in the Philippines), and Lisa Davis of the Black is Back coalition. Written greetings were received from National Network on Cuba (NNOC) leader Calla Walsh.
A business meeting followed which adopted the following tasks:
Part of ensuring participation of all 7 ALU leaders & activists is raising money. We urge everyone to help in this effort. It is really a national task. Here is the link to make your contribution—no matter how small.
https://www.gofundme.com/send-amazon-union-leaders-activists-to-caribbean
Thank You, Diana Cervantes, Linh Co Trinh, Mark Friedman
The focus of the meeting was a report back from the Cuban conference "Towards a Balance of the World " by Luis Malik. Malik attended the conference and spoke on the youth panel there.
His report included video greetings to the meeting by North American ICAP Director Leima Martinez inviting people to Cuba, representatives of the South African Congress of Trade Unions, discussing Cuba’s solidarity in the fight against apartheid and Ismael Perez, central leader of the Cuban CTC trade union federation with an invitation to US trade unionists to come for May Day and union activities/workplace meetings, and other delegates attending the international conference of 1100 from 87 countries https://www.us-cubanormalization.org/viva-cuba/solidarity-video-from-cuba/
A featured speaker was Nannette Plascencia, the lead organizer of the Amazon Labor Union in the Inland Empire just outside of Los Angeles. She reported on the victory of the Amazon Labor Union in winning National Labor Relations Board recognition, despite stalling for nine months, hearing unfounded election challenges by Amazon management. She called for broader union support for the organizing drive, collection of union authorization cards underway at ONT8 and defense of fired union activist Ivan Baez.
An important addition to the meeting was a representative of the African People’s Socialist Party, Mwezi Udon, describing in detail, and with video footage, the brutal assault on their offices in Florida.
Statements of solidarity were given also by Jaz Tabar, a leader of BAYAN (a Filipino activist group fighting the construction of five new US military bases in the Philippines), and Lisa Davis of the Black is Back coalition. Written greetings were received from National Network on Cuba (NNOC) leader Calla Walsh.
A business meeting followed which adopted the following tasks:
- Build the NYC international Cuba conference March 11-12 with an LA venue for the streamed event.
- Attend the labor meetings for the Cuban Mission representatives in Mid-April and organizing a public meeting
- Continuing to reach out to speak at union meetings, participate in solidarity actions (Two activists spoke at the Machinists union meeting which donated $1,000 for travel to Cuba for LA youth) and political groups, expanding the list of 45 groups and prominent individuals already supporting local LA Cuba committee activities.
- Prioritizing recruitment of active trade unionists and youth for the “LA Active Trade Unionists and Youth” delegation to Cuba April 23-May 3 hosted by the CTC and ICAP. (Initial members include Amazon Labor Union President Chris Smalls, VP Derrick Palmer, Sec'y/Treasurer Michelle Nieves, ALU newspaper editor Cassio Mendoza and others, Longshoremen’s Union (ILWU-IBU) leader Mike Vera, United Teachers of Los Angeles (UTLA), International Association of Machinists (IAM), Darwin Velasquez United Steelworkers of America (USW refinery worker and 15 student and youth activists)
Part of ensuring participation of all 7 ALU leaders & activists is raising money. We urge everyone to help in this effort. It is really a national task. Here is the link to make your contribution—no matter how small.
https://www.gofundme.com/send-amazon-union-leaders-activists-to-caribbean
Thank You, Diana Cervantes, Linh Co Trinh, Mark Friedman
What’s Driving ‘Irregular’
Cuban Emigration to the United States?
What’s Driving ‘Irregular’ Cuban Emigration to the United States?
BY HELEN YAFFE FEBRUARY 2, 2023
Photo by Ricardo IV Tamayo
In 2022, an unprecedented number of Cubans arrived in the United States through irregular, or ‘illegal’ channels. Historically the United States has encouraged and weaponized Cuban emigration. Cuban migrants fuel US propaganda about the failure of socialism and about political persecution and the lack of freedom and human rights on the island. However, it is an issue which can spiral out of control, forcing US administrations into dialogue with the Cuban government in the past. The current surge is creating political problems for President Biden as his opponents exploit the issue for electoral gain. As a result, in January 2023 the administration introduced legislation that it hopes will halt the wave of ‘illegal’ Cuban entrants and that threatens to undermine the blanket privileges granted to Cubans in the United States. However, until the United States alleviates the punishing blockade that is suffocating the Cuban people, economic hardship will continue to drive Cuban emigration. The United States’ policy towards Cuban migrants is characterised by paradox and contradictions.
In 2022, over 313,000 Cubans arrived in the United States, most of them without visas and entering from Mexico. This is more than double the previous peak of Cuban migration during the Mariel Boatlift of 1980. They were admitted after claiming asylum. However, these are economic migrants. Once settled, like many of the Cubans who preceded them, most will return to the island when possible to visit their families without the slightest fear of retribution from Cuban authorities.
Pull factors: Cubans are drawn to the United States by the unique privileges that Cuban migrants receive there; one year and one day after arrival, Cubans can petition for permanent residency under the Cuban Adjustment Act, whether they arrived legally or not and without needing to claim asylum or refugee status. Although formally discretionary, permanent residence is systematically granted. Cubans are the only nationals to receive this privilege in the United States. They resort to irregular channels and long, complicated journeys because from 2017 to 2022 legal channels for Cubans to travel to the United States for any reason or duration (study, work, family reunification, or residence) were effectively closed. In November 2021, the Nicaraguan government removed the visa requirement for Cuban travellers. This gave Cubans an alternative route: instead of risking the perilous Florida Straits seaborne, they could fly to Nicaragua and risk the journey north through Central America and Mexico, treading the same path as millions of Latin Americans en route to the United States. In the last fiscal year, more than two million people were arrested trying to cross into the United States, a 24% increase on the previous year. For many, the journey subjects them to human traffickers and criminal gangs who make a lucrative trade from migrant desperation.
Push factors: Those Cubans leave behind an economy in crisis as a result of suffocating US sanctions and the Covid-19 pandemic. The resulting scarcities and shortages of food, fuel, medicines, have made daily life exhausting. Economic problems have been compounded by inflation, following currency reunification and global prices rises. Even the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) acknowledged these factors in a 9 January 2023 report on high and rising numbers of Cubans encountered at the Southwest border and interdicted at sea: ‘Cuba is facing its worst economic crisis in decades due to the lingering impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, high food prices, and economic sanctions’.[1]
Between 2017 and 2021, the Trump administration pursued a ‘maximum pressure’ strategy against Cuba, introducing 243 new sanctions, actions and coercive measures. Among those contributing to the rise in irregular emigration are:
+ Withdrawal of US consular services in Cuba in 2017. This ripped up previous Migration Accords under which the United States committed to issue 20,000 visas annually to Cubans for travel to the United States and suspended the Cuban Family Reunification Parole Program, cruelly wrenching families apart. Cubans applying for visas were instructed to travel overseas to do so, with no guarantee of success.
+ Eliminating legal channels for Cubans in the United States to send remittances to their families back home, to support them through the pandemic and to cope with rising prices. Cash remittances are estimated to have fallen by nearly $1.8 billion from 2019 to 2021. Individuals’ consumption fell and national revenue was hard hit. Complicated and costly alternative channels had to found for sending cash.
+ Returning Cuba to the US list of State Sponsors of Terrorism, obligating international banks and financial institutions to categorize Cuba as ‘high risk’, placing it on their list of sanctioned countries, for which all transactions are avoided whether by individuals, businesses or the Cuban government, and regardless of their character; payment for goods and services, remittances or donations.
In 2020 and 2021, Cuba’s GDP plummeted 13%. Unlike most countries, because the United States blocks Cuba’s access to international financial institutions, Cuba has no lender of last resort to help it through economic crises.
President Biden left these suffocating measures in place, adding sanctions of his own in response to the 11 July 2021 protests in Cuba. In May 2022, Biden announced small steps would be taken to loosen Trump-era restrictions. Flights and travel from the United States were permitted to increase. The Cuban Family Reunification Parole Program resumed from August 2022, after a five year suspension, and consular services in Havana were reopened from 3 January 2023. Restrictions on remittance amounts were lifted, but the Cuban financial institution which processed the cash transfers remained prohibited, so sending remittances remained complicated and costly in 2022.
The Cuban Adjustment Act and the ‘wet foot, dry foot’ policy
The Cuban Adjustment Act of 1966 applies to any Cuban inspected and admitted or ‘paroled’ into the United States after 1 January 1959. Initially the Act gave Cubans the right to request permanent residence after two years, but an amendment in 1976 reduced this to one year. Historically, those caught entering the United States without a visa were released by the DHS under ‘parole’ and instructed to turn up to a subsequent court hearing, which could take longer than their wait for permanent residency. Until the mid-1990s, Cubans only had to reach United States territorial waters to be eligible. This changed after the ‘rafters’ crisis’ of the early 1990s when, driven by the severe economic crisis following the collapse of the socialist bloc, known as the Special Period, tens of thousands of Cubans set out to cross the Florida Straits on rafts. In 1994, the US administration under President Clinton panicked about the influx of up to 45,000 Cuban rafters and entered talks with the Cuban government in which it was agreed that US authorities would stop admitting Cubans intercepted in US waters. From 1995, Cubans caught at sea by US coastguards (with ‘wet feet’) were sent back to Cuba or a third country, while those reaching the shore (with ‘dry feet’) could enter and be given parole.
In 2017, to disincentivize irregular Cuban immigration, President Obama eliminated the ‘wet foot, dry foot’ policy and instructed the DHS not to issue parole to Cubans entering illegally. Without parole, they should be disqualified from the Cuban Adjustment Act. Cuban-American immigration lawyer, José Pertierra, explains that the DHS simply changed the name of the mechanism used to release undocumented Cubans, from ‘parole’ to an ‘Order for Release on Recognizance’ (ORR). Then in 2021 an immigration judge in Miami effectively ruled that the ORR is parole by another name. This interpretation was followed by many immigration judges who continued to grant residency (under the Cuban Adjustment Act) to Cubans holding an ORR; the ‘wet foot/dry foot policy’ was back. This spurred irregular migration because, as Pertierra explains, Cubans entering the US border from Mexico knew, ‘that just by stepping on US soil they would receive permanent residence in the United States, even without having to seek asylum or claim persecution in their home country. Cubans continued to enjoy the privilege that US immigration laws have given them for decades.’[2]
Undermining Cuban ‘privilege’ through Title 42
On 9 January 2023, the Biden administration announced that a pandemic-related immigration policy introduced under Trump, Title 42, would be extended to send ‘illegal’ immigrants from Cuba, Nicaragua and Haiti caught crossing the US-Mexico border back to Mexico. Title 42 was initially introduced in March 2020 allowing border police to rapidly expel migrants, even those seeking asylum, on the pretext of slowing the spread of Covid-19 through detention centres. Biden had committed to eliminating Title 42 but has been blocked pending a ruling by the Supreme Court. In October 2022, his government began using Title 42 to expel Venezuelans from the United States. It simultaneously announced that 24,000 visas would be allocated annually to Venezuelans who apply online from outside the United States and have a US-based sponsor. There has apparently been a 90% reduction in Venezuelans arriving undocumented at the US border since then.
From 9 January 2023, Cubans, Haitians and Nicaraguans were included in the scheme. If Cubans caught at the US-Mexico border, or in the United States without documents, are expelled to Mexico, they will not be eligible for residence under the Cuban Adjustment Act. This ruling will likely face legal challenges on the basis of asylum laws. However, Biden announced that the government is preparing another regulation that disqualifies for asylum anyone who, en route to the United States, passes through a third country and does not apply for asylum there. ‘In other words, they want to close the border to Cubans trying to cross illegally’, concludes Pertierra. Trump’s efforts to pass similar legislation were blocked by federal courts. Although Title 42 cannot be applied retrospectively to recent Cuban immigrants, the courts could apply a strict interpretation of ‘parole’ and exclude them from the Cuban Adjustment Act. Their alternative would be to pursue an asylum claim but that requires evidence of fear of persecution, which will be hard for most Cubans to provide, even to biased US courts.
The Biden administration also announced that 30,000 visas will be granted every month to Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans who apply from outside the United States, have a US-based sponsor and undergo a rigorous background check. Citizens from those countries who cross irregularly will not be eligible for the US parole process and will be liable to expulsion to Mexico.
Small steps
On 3 January 2023, the US consulate in Havana finally resumed processing visas for Cubans. The online system for managed migration is operating and the first travel authorizations being processed. On 11 January, the US money transfer company, Western Union, announced that it had resumed sending remittances from the United States to Cuba on a limited basis. In the first three weeks of January, over 1,000 Cubans intercepted at sea en route to the United States were deported to Cuba. On 18 and 19 January, US and Cuban officials met in Havana for bilateral talks on law enforcement (terrorism, migrant smuggling, and immigration fraud); it was the first talks on these issue since 2018 and the third high-level meeting between the US and Cuban governments in less than a year. On 25 January, the DHS announced that unlawful crossings at the Southwest border by Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans had declined 97% compared to the previous month; the seven-day average had fallen from 3,367 per day on 11 December 2022 to 115 on 24 January 2023
Ending the US blockade of Cuba
‘The magnet that attracts immigrants historically has always been the economy’ points out Pertierra. ‘To get out of poverty, people are willing to scale steel walls and legal hurdles. Washington knows this and that is why it is investing $3.2 billon dollars to strengthen the economic infrastructure of El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala.’ While irregular immigration to the United States of nationals from those countries has declined, it has soared from Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua, countries being strangled by US sanctions. Pertierra is in no doubt, ‘when the Cuban economic situation improves, the illegal immigration of Cubans will decrease enormously. We’ve seen it before.’ He concludes, ‘If the Biden administration wants to reduce the illegal immigration of Cubans into the United States, it will have to do more than grant a limited amount of parole and try to seal the border. It must stop suffocating Cuba and allow it to breathe.’
* A version of this article was published in Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism! 292, February/March 2023.
Notes.
1. Federal Register, ‘Implementation of a Parole Process for Cubans’, 9 January 2023. https://tinyurl.com/5v5yxchj. ↑
2. Temas, interview with José Pertierra, 9 January 2023. http://temas.cult.cu/la-ley-de-ajuste-no-esta-sometida-a-norma-obligatoria-el-presidente-puede-desestimar-su-uso-entrevista-a-jose-pertierra ↑
Helen Yaffe is a lecturer in Economic and Social History at the University of Glasgow, specialising in Cuban and Latin American development. Her new book We Are Cuba! How a Revolutionary People have survived in a Post-Soviet World has just been published by Yale University Press. She is also the author of Che Guevara: The Economics of Revolution and co-author with Gavin Brown of Youth Activism and Solidarity: the Non-Stop Picket against Apartheid, Rouledge, 2017.
BY HELEN YAFFE FEBRUARY 2, 2023
Photo by Ricardo IV Tamayo
In 2022, an unprecedented number of Cubans arrived in the United States through irregular, or ‘illegal’ channels. Historically the United States has encouraged and weaponized Cuban emigration. Cuban migrants fuel US propaganda about the failure of socialism and about political persecution and the lack of freedom and human rights on the island. However, it is an issue which can spiral out of control, forcing US administrations into dialogue with the Cuban government in the past. The current surge is creating political problems for President Biden as his opponents exploit the issue for electoral gain. As a result, in January 2023 the administration introduced legislation that it hopes will halt the wave of ‘illegal’ Cuban entrants and that threatens to undermine the blanket privileges granted to Cubans in the United States. However, until the United States alleviates the punishing blockade that is suffocating the Cuban people, economic hardship will continue to drive Cuban emigration. The United States’ policy towards Cuban migrants is characterised by paradox and contradictions.
In 2022, over 313,000 Cubans arrived in the United States, most of them without visas and entering from Mexico. This is more than double the previous peak of Cuban migration during the Mariel Boatlift of 1980. They were admitted after claiming asylum. However, these are economic migrants. Once settled, like many of the Cubans who preceded them, most will return to the island when possible to visit their families without the slightest fear of retribution from Cuban authorities.
Pull factors: Cubans are drawn to the United States by the unique privileges that Cuban migrants receive there; one year and one day after arrival, Cubans can petition for permanent residency under the Cuban Adjustment Act, whether they arrived legally or not and without needing to claim asylum or refugee status. Although formally discretionary, permanent residence is systematically granted. Cubans are the only nationals to receive this privilege in the United States. They resort to irregular channels and long, complicated journeys because from 2017 to 2022 legal channels for Cubans to travel to the United States for any reason or duration (study, work, family reunification, or residence) were effectively closed. In November 2021, the Nicaraguan government removed the visa requirement for Cuban travellers. This gave Cubans an alternative route: instead of risking the perilous Florida Straits seaborne, they could fly to Nicaragua and risk the journey north through Central America and Mexico, treading the same path as millions of Latin Americans en route to the United States. In the last fiscal year, more than two million people were arrested trying to cross into the United States, a 24% increase on the previous year. For many, the journey subjects them to human traffickers and criminal gangs who make a lucrative trade from migrant desperation.
Push factors: Those Cubans leave behind an economy in crisis as a result of suffocating US sanctions and the Covid-19 pandemic. The resulting scarcities and shortages of food, fuel, medicines, have made daily life exhausting. Economic problems have been compounded by inflation, following currency reunification and global prices rises. Even the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) acknowledged these factors in a 9 January 2023 report on high and rising numbers of Cubans encountered at the Southwest border and interdicted at sea: ‘Cuba is facing its worst economic crisis in decades due to the lingering impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, high food prices, and economic sanctions’.[1]
Between 2017 and 2021, the Trump administration pursued a ‘maximum pressure’ strategy against Cuba, introducing 243 new sanctions, actions and coercive measures. Among those contributing to the rise in irregular emigration are:
+ Withdrawal of US consular services in Cuba in 2017. This ripped up previous Migration Accords under which the United States committed to issue 20,000 visas annually to Cubans for travel to the United States and suspended the Cuban Family Reunification Parole Program, cruelly wrenching families apart. Cubans applying for visas were instructed to travel overseas to do so, with no guarantee of success.
+ Eliminating legal channels for Cubans in the United States to send remittances to their families back home, to support them through the pandemic and to cope with rising prices. Cash remittances are estimated to have fallen by nearly $1.8 billion from 2019 to 2021. Individuals’ consumption fell and national revenue was hard hit. Complicated and costly alternative channels had to found for sending cash.
+ Returning Cuba to the US list of State Sponsors of Terrorism, obligating international banks and financial institutions to categorize Cuba as ‘high risk’, placing it on their list of sanctioned countries, for which all transactions are avoided whether by individuals, businesses or the Cuban government, and regardless of their character; payment for goods and services, remittances or donations.
In 2020 and 2021, Cuba’s GDP plummeted 13%. Unlike most countries, because the United States blocks Cuba’s access to international financial institutions, Cuba has no lender of last resort to help it through economic crises.
President Biden left these suffocating measures in place, adding sanctions of his own in response to the 11 July 2021 protests in Cuba. In May 2022, Biden announced small steps would be taken to loosen Trump-era restrictions. Flights and travel from the United States were permitted to increase. The Cuban Family Reunification Parole Program resumed from August 2022, after a five year suspension, and consular services in Havana were reopened from 3 January 2023. Restrictions on remittance amounts were lifted, but the Cuban financial institution which processed the cash transfers remained prohibited, so sending remittances remained complicated and costly in 2022.
The Cuban Adjustment Act and the ‘wet foot, dry foot’ policy
The Cuban Adjustment Act of 1966 applies to any Cuban inspected and admitted or ‘paroled’ into the United States after 1 January 1959. Initially the Act gave Cubans the right to request permanent residence after two years, but an amendment in 1976 reduced this to one year. Historically, those caught entering the United States without a visa were released by the DHS under ‘parole’ and instructed to turn up to a subsequent court hearing, which could take longer than their wait for permanent residency. Until the mid-1990s, Cubans only had to reach United States territorial waters to be eligible. This changed after the ‘rafters’ crisis’ of the early 1990s when, driven by the severe economic crisis following the collapse of the socialist bloc, known as the Special Period, tens of thousands of Cubans set out to cross the Florida Straits on rafts. In 1994, the US administration under President Clinton panicked about the influx of up to 45,000 Cuban rafters and entered talks with the Cuban government in which it was agreed that US authorities would stop admitting Cubans intercepted in US waters. From 1995, Cubans caught at sea by US coastguards (with ‘wet feet’) were sent back to Cuba or a third country, while those reaching the shore (with ‘dry feet’) could enter and be given parole.
In 2017, to disincentivize irregular Cuban immigration, President Obama eliminated the ‘wet foot, dry foot’ policy and instructed the DHS not to issue parole to Cubans entering illegally. Without parole, they should be disqualified from the Cuban Adjustment Act. Cuban-American immigration lawyer, José Pertierra, explains that the DHS simply changed the name of the mechanism used to release undocumented Cubans, from ‘parole’ to an ‘Order for Release on Recognizance’ (ORR). Then in 2021 an immigration judge in Miami effectively ruled that the ORR is parole by another name. This interpretation was followed by many immigration judges who continued to grant residency (under the Cuban Adjustment Act) to Cubans holding an ORR; the ‘wet foot/dry foot policy’ was back. This spurred irregular migration because, as Pertierra explains, Cubans entering the US border from Mexico knew, ‘that just by stepping on US soil they would receive permanent residence in the United States, even without having to seek asylum or claim persecution in their home country. Cubans continued to enjoy the privilege that US immigration laws have given them for decades.’[2]
Undermining Cuban ‘privilege’ through Title 42
On 9 January 2023, the Biden administration announced that a pandemic-related immigration policy introduced under Trump, Title 42, would be extended to send ‘illegal’ immigrants from Cuba, Nicaragua and Haiti caught crossing the US-Mexico border back to Mexico. Title 42 was initially introduced in March 2020 allowing border police to rapidly expel migrants, even those seeking asylum, on the pretext of slowing the spread of Covid-19 through detention centres. Biden had committed to eliminating Title 42 but has been blocked pending a ruling by the Supreme Court. In October 2022, his government began using Title 42 to expel Venezuelans from the United States. It simultaneously announced that 24,000 visas would be allocated annually to Venezuelans who apply online from outside the United States and have a US-based sponsor. There has apparently been a 90% reduction in Venezuelans arriving undocumented at the US border since then.
From 9 January 2023, Cubans, Haitians and Nicaraguans were included in the scheme. If Cubans caught at the US-Mexico border, or in the United States without documents, are expelled to Mexico, they will not be eligible for residence under the Cuban Adjustment Act. This ruling will likely face legal challenges on the basis of asylum laws. However, Biden announced that the government is preparing another regulation that disqualifies for asylum anyone who, en route to the United States, passes through a third country and does not apply for asylum there. ‘In other words, they want to close the border to Cubans trying to cross illegally’, concludes Pertierra. Trump’s efforts to pass similar legislation were blocked by federal courts. Although Title 42 cannot be applied retrospectively to recent Cuban immigrants, the courts could apply a strict interpretation of ‘parole’ and exclude them from the Cuban Adjustment Act. Their alternative would be to pursue an asylum claim but that requires evidence of fear of persecution, which will be hard for most Cubans to provide, even to biased US courts.
The Biden administration also announced that 30,000 visas will be granted every month to Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans who apply from outside the United States, have a US-based sponsor and undergo a rigorous background check. Citizens from those countries who cross irregularly will not be eligible for the US parole process and will be liable to expulsion to Mexico.
Small steps
On 3 January 2023, the US consulate in Havana finally resumed processing visas for Cubans. The online system for managed migration is operating and the first travel authorizations being processed. On 11 January, the US money transfer company, Western Union, announced that it had resumed sending remittances from the United States to Cuba on a limited basis. In the first three weeks of January, over 1,000 Cubans intercepted at sea en route to the United States were deported to Cuba. On 18 and 19 January, US and Cuban officials met in Havana for bilateral talks on law enforcement (terrorism, migrant smuggling, and immigration fraud); it was the first talks on these issue since 2018 and the third high-level meeting between the US and Cuban governments in less than a year. On 25 January, the DHS announced that unlawful crossings at the Southwest border by Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans had declined 97% compared to the previous month; the seven-day average had fallen from 3,367 per day on 11 December 2022 to 115 on 24 January 2023
Ending the US blockade of Cuba
‘The magnet that attracts immigrants historically has always been the economy’ points out Pertierra. ‘To get out of poverty, people are willing to scale steel walls and legal hurdles. Washington knows this and that is why it is investing $3.2 billon dollars to strengthen the economic infrastructure of El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala.’ While irregular immigration to the United States of nationals from those countries has declined, it has soared from Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua, countries being strangled by US sanctions. Pertierra is in no doubt, ‘when the Cuban economic situation improves, the illegal immigration of Cubans will decrease enormously. We’ve seen it before.’ He concludes, ‘If the Biden administration wants to reduce the illegal immigration of Cubans into the United States, it will have to do more than grant a limited amount of parole and try to seal the border. It must stop suffocating Cuba and allow it to breathe.’
* A version of this article was published in Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism! 292, February/March 2023.
Notes.
1. Federal Register, ‘Implementation of a Parole Process for Cubans’, 9 January 2023. https://tinyurl.com/5v5yxchj. ↑
2. Temas, interview with José Pertierra, 9 January 2023. http://temas.cult.cu/la-ley-de-ajuste-no-esta-sometida-a-norma-obligatoria-el-presidente-puede-desestimar-su-uso-entrevista-a-jose-pertierra ↑
Helen Yaffe is a lecturer in Economic and Social History at the University of Glasgow, specialising in Cuban and Latin American development. Her new book We Are Cuba! How a Revolutionary People have survived in a Post-Soviet World has just been published by Yale University Press. She is also the author of Che Guevara: The Economics of Revolution and co-author with Gavin Brown of Youth Activism and Solidarity: the Non-Stop Picket against Apartheid, Rouledge, 2017.
Hear the Greetings sent from COSATU, the Congress of South African Trade Unions, to Cuba Conference in the US
Greetings from South African leaders of the COSATU at Cuba conference to US workers and LA Cuba cttee meeting on why they support Cuba and why the US blockade should be ended.
Click on link below:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hk1_Q4fayyseaJBSHRtr9Ul_ytPp8jkm/view?usp=drivesdk
Click on link below:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hk1_Q4fayyseaJBSHRtr9Ul_ytPp8jkm/view?usp=drivesdk
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hk1_Q4fayyseaJBSHRtr9Ul_ytPp8jkm/view?usp=drivesdk
Elections in Cuba:
Reality vs. US Propaganda
When it comes to the truth about Cuba, the US media is careful to hew very closely to the talking points set by the US State Department. This negative propaganda is very often picked up and repeated uncritically by news services around the world, magnifying for free the lies that have been part of the doctrine that drives US foreign policy.
For more than 60 years all US administrations have said repeatedly that there is no democracy in Cuba, that it is a heartless and repressive dictatorship and a one-party state, and that working people have no say.
The reality, however, is quite different. In the face of relentless pressure and a suffocating commercial, financial and economic blockade by the US, plus countless sanctions, the Cuban people in fact put their stamp on their own political reality through mechanisms of real, participatory democracy.
One recent example is the New Families Code in Cuba, approved by a decisive majority in a referendum submitted to a transparent and democratic vote. But the most important part of the process was the inclusive, democratic, and participatory discussion throughout the island that was carried out in thousands of meetings over several months BEFORE the vote—a discussion that saw so many suggestions and improvements that half of the original text was rewritten to reflect the input of ordinary Cubans.
In spite of a concerted campaign by evangelical churches and other conservative forces in Cuba, the YES vote was the culmination of a long political fight to transform the consciousness of Cuban society on issues like same-sex marriage, the right for gay couples to adopt children, and other remnants of machismo inherited from Cuba’s colonial past.
The Cuban people have more recently cast their vote to elect their neighborhood representatives to the local Municipal Assemblies on December 12. Watch this short video to see the truth about Cuban democracy in action.
Click on this link: https://youtu.be/20DgWZtImUk
For more than 60 years all US administrations have said repeatedly that there is no democracy in Cuba, that it is a heartless and repressive dictatorship and a one-party state, and that working people have no say.
The reality, however, is quite different. In the face of relentless pressure and a suffocating commercial, financial and economic blockade by the US, plus countless sanctions, the Cuban people in fact put their stamp on their own political reality through mechanisms of real, participatory democracy.
One recent example is the New Families Code in Cuba, approved by a decisive majority in a referendum submitted to a transparent and democratic vote. But the most important part of the process was the inclusive, democratic, and participatory discussion throughout the island that was carried out in thousands of meetings over several months BEFORE the vote—a discussion that saw so many suggestions and improvements that half of the original text was rewritten to reflect the input of ordinary Cubans.
In spite of a concerted campaign by evangelical churches and other conservative forces in Cuba, the YES vote was the culmination of a long political fight to transform the consciousness of Cuban society on issues like same-sex marriage, the right for gay couples to adopt children, and other remnants of machismo inherited from Cuba’s colonial past.
The Cuban people have more recently cast their vote to elect their neighborhood representatives to the local Municipal Assemblies on December 12. Watch this short video to see the truth about Cuban democracy in action.
Click on this link: https://youtu.be/20DgWZtImUk
‘Journey for Justice’
Immigrants’ Rights March from Texas reaches San Diego
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By Angelica Cardona, Special report by a participant
Saturday December 17th, the ‘Journey for Justice’ by Witness at The Border marked the end of their journey across the southwestern US/Mexico border region beginning December 2 in Brownsville, Texas with their final stop here in San Diego.
This pilgrimage was in solidarity with immigrants, while calling attention to the brutal conditions they face and also showing support for them.
Their press release explains their overall purpose.
“We travel in honor and remembrance of the lives of all immigrants and asylum seekers who have suffered and even perished at the US-Mexico border. We travel to call for change in our immigration policies.”
A welcome rally for all of the folks on the journey took place in San Ysidro’s Larsen’s Field drawing an intergenerational crowd, hosted by Witness at The Border featuring speakers & participants from local SD activist groups including, International Migrants Alliance, African People’s Socialist Party, Anakbayan SD (Filipino students), Malaya SD (Filipino), Union del Barrio, SD, We Are One (Anti-US blockade of Cuba committee) and others.
This was followed by a spirited march to the “old” border wall & to the new asylum processing office/center under construction. For more info visit witnessattheborder.org
Saturday December 17th, the ‘Journey for Justice’ by Witness at The Border marked the end of their journey across the southwestern US/Mexico border region beginning December 2 in Brownsville, Texas with their final stop here in San Diego.
This pilgrimage was in solidarity with immigrants, while calling attention to the brutal conditions they face and also showing support for them.
Their press release explains their overall purpose.
“We travel in honor and remembrance of the lives of all immigrants and asylum seekers who have suffered and even perished at the US-Mexico border. We travel to call for change in our immigration policies.”
A welcome rally for all of the folks on the journey took place in San Ysidro’s Larsen’s Field drawing an intergenerational crowd, hosted by Witness at The Border featuring speakers & participants from local SD activist groups including, International Migrants Alliance, African People’s Socialist Party, Anakbayan SD (Filipino students), Malaya SD (Filipino), Union del Barrio, SD, We Are One (Anti-US blockade of Cuba committee) and others.
This was followed by a spirited march to the “old” border wall & to the new asylum processing office/center under construction. For more info visit witnessattheborder.org
REPORT FROM HAVANA:
US-Cuba Youth, Union and Women's Conference
Largest Rally Ever in LA
Against US Blockade of Cuba!
Ahead of UN meeting on US embargo, 45 organizations sponsor rally in LA calling for an end to the US blockade and removal of Cuba from US list of state sponsors of Terrorism
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At right: Cassio Mendoza, young Cuban American and leader of the Amazon Labor Union speaks at the rally. Gallery, clockwise from top left: Carlos Sirah from Black Alliance for Peace; ELAM graduate Steve Singh; IBU leader Mike Vera; and James Lafferty from the National Lawyers Guild.
Bruno Rodríguez at UN:
"US blockade is an act of economic war in peacetime"
Speech by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Cuba, Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, in the General Debate of the High Level Segment of the United Nations General Assembly. New York, September 21, 2022
Click Here for the full speech transcription in Spanish
English transcription below:
Delegates:
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed, as never before, the true essence of the unjust and unsustainable prevailing international order.
Humanity never had this formidable scientific-technical potential, nor this extraordinary capacity to generate wealth and well-being, and yet, never before has the world been so unequal and inequality so profound.
Eight hundred and twenty-eight million people, 10% of the world's population, suffer from hunger, and about 50 million children suffer from wasting, the deadliest form of malnutrition.
Unemployment will affect 207 million people in 2022, 21 million more than in 2019. In the middle of the fourth industrial revolution, 773 million human beings do not know how to read or write.
About 6.5 million people have died due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Vaccines to deal with it are inaccessible to a billion people in low-income countries. In 2021, pharmaceutical transnationals earned $84,588 million.
The foreign debt has been paid several times, but it multiplies. Paradoxically, global military spending is growing rapidly and exceeds two billion dollars for the first time.
There is no justification for humanity to continue to be threatened by the existence of almost 13,000 nuclear weapons. We advocate for the universality of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
How much more could we do if these resources were used to promote health and development? How many deaths from COVID-19 and other causes could have been avoided? How many children would be saved from hunger and preventable or curable diseases?
Mr. President:
Greenhouse gases recorded record concentrations in 2021, and it will be the same in 2022. The average sea level has reached a new high. The last seven years are the warmest ever registered.
We can't continue ignoring the alarms that warn about the imminent climate catastrophe. We have only one Earth, the only home of all, rich and poor. We have to act without further delay.
The "philosophy of war and dispossession," and the irrational patterns of production and consumption of capitalism, denounced by President Fidel Castro, will lead to catastrophe.
International relations are on a very dangerous path. The American offensive aimed at subjugating States through economic, military and political-diplomatic threat and coercion, to subject them to an order based on their capricious rules, together with the expansion of NATO and the development of an aggressive doctrine and the fifth-generation unconventional war, inevitably lead to a climate of tension and conflict, the consequences of which are unpredictable.
Mr. President:
Cuba, a small island developing state, has paid a high price for defending its legitimate right to exist as a sovereign and independent nation.
For more than six decades we have resisted a ruthless and unilateral economic, commercial and financial blockade that has intensified to extreme extent, at unprecedented levels since 2019 and during the pandemic.
Thirty years after the first resolution of this Assembly against the blockade, the Government of the United States continues to ignore the almost unanimous demand of the international community to cease its illegal and cruel policy against Cuba.
The effort persists to generate material shortages, scarcity, suffering, sow discouragement, dissatisfaction and cause damage to the Cuban people.
The Government of the United States reinforces the pressures on governments, banking institutions and companies around the world interested in interacting with Cuba, and obsessively pursues all sources of income and entry of foreign currency into the country, to provoke economic collapse.
As a result, the Cuban economy has experienced extraordinary pressures, which are manifested in industry, the provision of services, the shortage of food and medicine and the deterioration of the level of consumption and general well-being of the population.
The human damage that this policy generates for all Cuban families, impossible to quantify, is enormous, cruel and immoral.
The blockade is an act of economic war in peacetime.
The current Government of the United States maintains the most aggressive pressure measures against our country adopted by President Donald Trump's government.
The unjustified inclusion of Cuba in the arbitrary and unilateral list issued by the State Department of countries that are supposed to sponsor terrorism continues.
This slanderous rating imposes a stigma on our entities and institutions, and makes financial and commercial transactions extremely difficult, and the possibilities of payments and credits.
Cuba, which has been a victim of state terrorism, never promotes and will never promote terrorism. On the contrary, we condemn it in all its forms and manifestations.
The United States Government deals with opportunism with high sensitivity issues such as terrorism, religion, democracy, justice, corruption and human rights.
Double standards, incoherence, selectivity, political manipulation, damage the cause of human rights.
The previous speech of the Czech Foreign Minister, who does not dare to mention the crime of the blockade of Cuba, is a sad example.
We have clearly warned the Government of the United States that the factors that encourage irregular migration and cause loss of life must be solved, such as the failure, on its part, since 2017, of its obligation, according to the bilateral agreements in force, to grant no less than 20,000 visas per year for migrants; the existence of the Cuban Adjustment Act, privileged treatment with political motivation, restrictive pressures on regular transit countries and the reinforced economic blockade.
Today's announcement that the processing of migrant visas will return to the United States Embassy in Havana, is a positive step.
Cuba reiterates its willingness to move towards a better understanding with the Government of the United States, and to develop civilized and even cooperative relations between the two countries, on the basis of mutual respect, sovereign equality, and without prejudice to our independence and
sovereignty, despite profound differences.
We highlight the valuable commitment and recent demonstrations by Cubans and descendants of Cubans in all latitudes and in this country, of respect for Cuba's sovereign rights, and the rejection of the ruthless aggression of the United States, in particular the economic blockade.
I also deeply appreciate the statements of Heads of State and Government in this general debate, the historical support of this Assembly and the expressions of solidarity with Cuba by governments, personalities, political organizations and solidarity, social and popular movements around the world.
Today, that solidarity and support are still essential.
Mr. President:
Despite the enormous challenges, the Cuban people and government have not ceased in their efforts to advance in the construction of a more just, democratic, prosperous and sustainable socialist society.
We defeated COVID-19 with resources, our own vaccines, and the strength of our Public Health and science system. We were able to collaborate modestly with the sending of 58 medical brigades, at the worst moment of the pandemic, to 42 countries and territories.
We work to recover the economic and social life of the country; support the transformation of our communities, and sustain and expand social programs.
We continue to improve our legal system, of our socialist state of law and social justice, to ensure the full enjoyment of all human rights for all Cuban women and men, and to enrich the social justice system that several generations have enjoyed.
On September 25, after an extensive process of participation and popular consultation, the legislative referendum on a novel and inclusive Families Code will take place. It will be an exercise of genuine direct democracy and effective power of the Cuban people.
Mr. President:
The "unity in diversity" proposed by then President Raúl Castro, is possible in the countries of the South and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, which is becoming increasingly strengthened, and is creating the conditions for our region to move towards higher forms of integration and cooperation, based on the postulates of the Proclamation of Latin America and the Caribbean as a Zone of Peace.
We appreciate the dignified position taken by several countries in our region in the face of arbitrary exclusions in hemispheric forums.
We renew our support and solidarity with the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, its constitutional president, Nicolás Maduro Moros, and the civic-military unity of its people, in the face of attempts to destabilize and subvert the internal order of that sister country. We reject the application of unilateral coercive measures against Venezuela.
We denounce the imperialist attempts to destabilize the Government of Reconciliation and National Unity of Nicaragua. We reiterate our firm support for the sister Nicaraguan people and its president, Daniel Ortega.
We stand in solidarity with the Caribbean sisters and support their legitimate demand for reparation for the harmful effects of colonialism and slavery. They need and deserve to receive fair, special and differentiated treatment.
We reaffirm our historic commitment to self-determination and independence of the people of Puerto Rico.
Haiti needs a special contribution from the international community for its reconstruction and development. Humanity owes a debt to that founding Republic.
We support the legitimate claim of President Alberto Fernández and the people, of the sovereignty of the Republic of Argentina over the Falkland Islands, South Sandwich and South Georgia, and the surrounding maritime spaces.
We express our total solidarity with the Argentine vice president, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, who, victim of unjust and unfounded judicial and media harassment, recently suffered a vile assassination attempt.
We reiterate our firm commitment to peace in Colombia. The manifest readiness for peace of the current President Gustavo Petro, and the parties concerned, deserve the support of the region and the international community.
The necessary resources must be provided to support the Agenda 2063 of the African Union, which sets out the road map for the development of that sister continent.
We advocate the search for a peaceful and negotiated solution to the imposed situation on Syria, and we demand the cessation of external interference and full respect for its sovereignty and territorial integrity.
We support a just, comprehensive, and lasting solution to the Middle East conflict, which guarantees the real exercise of the inalienable right of the Palestinian people to build their own state within the pre-1967 borders, with their capital in East Jerusalem, and the end of the Israeli occupation of the occupied Palestinian and Arab territories.
We reaffirm our invariable solidarity with the Saharawi people.
We reject the unilateral coercive measures imposed on the Islamic Republic of Iran.
We condemn the imposition of unjust unilateral economic measures against the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and external interference in its affairs.
We oppose interference in the internal affairs of the Republic of Belarus.
We reaffirm our rejection of the imposition of unilateral sanctions against the Russian Federation.
We condemn the unfounded campaigns of discredit against the People's Republic of China and the attempts to damage its territorial integrity and sovereignty. We reiterate our unwavering support for the One China principle.
We advocate a serious, constructive and realistic diplomatic solution to the current war in Ukraine, by peaceful means and in accordance with the rules of international law, which guarantees the security and sovereignty of all.
Mr. President:
Cuba will continue to raise its voice to reject domination and hegemony, unilateral coercive measures, genocidal blockades and the intention to impose one culture and one model on the world.
We will never renounce the defense of the independence, sovereignty and self-determination of peoples, without foreign interference or intervention.
For our glorious past, for the present and future of the new generations of Cubans, with the leadership of President Miguel Díaz-Canel, we will resist creatively and fight tirelessly until we achieve our dreams of peace and development, with equity and social justice for Cuba and for the world.
Thank you very much.
Click Here for the full speech transcription in Spanish
English transcription below:
Delegates:
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed, as never before, the true essence of the unjust and unsustainable prevailing international order.
Humanity never had this formidable scientific-technical potential, nor this extraordinary capacity to generate wealth and well-being, and yet, never before has the world been so unequal and inequality so profound.
Eight hundred and twenty-eight million people, 10% of the world's population, suffer from hunger, and about 50 million children suffer from wasting, the deadliest form of malnutrition.
Unemployment will affect 207 million people in 2022, 21 million more than in 2019. In the middle of the fourth industrial revolution, 773 million human beings do not know how to read or write.
About 6.5 million people have died due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Vaccines to deal with it are inaccessible to a billion people in low-income countries. In 2021, pharmaceutical transnationals earned $84,588 million.
The foreign debt has been paid several times, but it multiplies. Paradoxically, global military spending is growing rapidly and exceeds two billion dollars for the first time.
There is no justification for humanity to continue to be threatened by the existence of almost 13,000 nuclear weapons. We advocate for the universality of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
How much more could we do if these resources were used to promote health and development? How many deaths from COVID-19 and other causes could have been avoided? How many children would be saved from hunger and preventable or curable diseases?
Mr. President:
Greenhouse gases recorded record concentrations in 2021, and it will be the same in 2022. The average sea level has reached a new high. The last seven years are the warmest ever registered.
We can't continue ignoring the alarms that warn about the imminent climate catastrophe. We have only one Earth, the only home of all, rich and poor. We have to act without further delay.
The "philosophy of war and dispossession," and the irrational patterns of production and consumption of capitalism, denounced by President Fidel Castro, will lead to catastrophe.
International relations are on a very dangerous path. The American offensive aimed at subjugating States through economic, military and political-diplomatic threat and coercion, to subject them to an order based on their capricious rules, together with the expansion of NATO and the development of an aggressive doctrine and the fifth-generation unconventional war, inevitably lead to a climate of tension and conflict, the consequences of which are unpredictable.
Mr. President:
Cuba, a small island developing state, has paid a high price for defending its legitimate right to exist as a sovereign and independent nation.
For more than six decades we have resisted a ruthless and unilateral economic, commercial and financial blockade that has intensified to extreme extent, at unprecedented levels since 2019 and during the pandemic.
Thirty years after the first resolution of this Assembly against the blockade, the Government of the United States continues to ignore the almost unanimous demand of the international community to cease its illegal and cruel policy against Cuba.
The effort persists to generate material shortages, scarcity, suffering, sow discouragement, dissatisfaction and cause damage to the Cuban people.
The Government of the United States reinforces the pressures on governments, banking institutions and companies around the world interested in interacting with Cuba, and obsessively pursues all sources of income and entry of foreign currency into the country, to provoke economic collapse.
As a result, the Cuban economy has experienced extraordinary pressures, which are manifested in industry, the provision of services, the shortage of food and medicine and the deterioration of the level of consumption and general well-being of the population.
The human damage that this policy generates for all Cuban families, impossible to quantify, is enormous, cruel and immoral.
The blockade is an act of economic war in peacetime.
The current Government of the United States maintains the most aggressive pressure measures against our country adopted by President Donald Trump's government.
The unjustified inclusion of Cuba in the arbitrary and unilateral list issued by the State Department of countries that are supposed to sponsor terrorism continues.
This slanderous rating imposes a stigma on our entities and institutions, and makes financial and commercial transactions extremely difficult, and the possibilities of payments and credits.
Cuba, which has been a victim of state terrorism, never promotes and will never promote terrorism. On the contrary, we condemn it in all its forms and manifestations.
The United States Government deals with opportunism with high sensitivity issues such as terrorism, religion, democracy, justice, corruption and human rights.
Double standards, incoherence, selectivity, political manipulation, damage the cause of human rights.
The previous speech of the Czech Foreign Minister, who does not dare to mention the crime of the blockade of Cuba, is a sad example.
We have clearly warned the Government of the United States that the factors that encourage irregular migration and cause loss of life must be solved, such as the failure, on its part, since 2017, of its obligation, according to the bilateral agreements in force, to grant no less than 20,000 visas per year for migrants; the existence of the Cuban Adjustment Act, privileged treatment with political motivation, restrictive pressures on regular transit countries and the reinforced economic blockade.
Today's announcement that the processing of migrant visas will return to the United States Embassy in Havana, is a positive step.
Cuba reiterates its willingness to move towards a better understanding with the Government of the United States, and to develop civilized and even cooperative relations between the two countries, on the basis of mutual respect, sovereign equality, and without prejudice to our independence and
sovereignty, despite profound differences.
We highlight the valuable commitment and recent demonstrations by Cubans and descendants of Cubans in all latitudes and in this country, of respect for Cuba's sovereign rights, and the rejection of the ruthless aggression of the United States, in particular the economic blockade.
I also deeply appreciate the statements of Heads of State and Government in this general debate, the historical support of this Assembly and the expressions of solidarity with Cuba by governments, personalities, political organizations and solidarity, social and popular movements around the world.
Today, that solidarity and support are still essential.
Mr. President:
Despite the enormous challenges, the Cuban people and government have not ceased in their efforts to advance in the construction of a more just, democratic, prosperous and sustainable socialist society.
We defeated COVID-19 with resources, our own vaccines, and the strength of our Public Health and science system. We were able to collaborate modestly with the sending of 58 medical brigades, at the worst moment of the pandemic, to 42 countries and territories.
We work to recover the economic and social life of the country; support the transformation of our communities, and sustain and expand social programs.
We continue to improve our legal system, of our socialist state of law and social justice, to ensure the full enjoyment of all human rights for all Cuban women and men, and to enrich the social justice system that several generations have enjoyed.
On September 25, after an extensive process of participation and popular consultation, the legislative referendum on a novel and inclusive Families Code will take place. It will be an exercise of genuine direct democracy and effective power of the Cuban people.
Mr. President:
The "unity in diversity" proposed by then President Raúl Castro, is possible in the countries of the South and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, which is becoming increasingly strengthened, and is creating the conditions for our region to move towards higher forms of integration and cooperation, based on the postulates of the Proclamation of Latin America and the Caribbean as a Zone of Peace.
We appreciate the dignified position taken by several countries in our region in the face of arbitrary exclusions in hemispheric forums.
We renew our support and solidarity with the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, its constitutional president, Nicolás Maduro Moros, and the civic-military unity of its people, in the face of attempts to destabilize and subvert the internal order of that sister country. We reject the application of unilateral coercive measures against Venezuela.
We denounce the imperialist attempts to destabilize the Government of Reconciliation and National Unity of Nicaragua. We reiterate our firm support for the sister Nicaraguan people and its president, Daniel Ortega.
We stand in solidarity with the Caribbean sisters and support their legitimate demand for reparation for the harmful effects of colonialism and slavery. They need and deserve to receive fair, special and differentiated treatment.
We reaffirm our historic commitment to self-determination and independence of the people of Puerto Rico.
Haiti needs a special contribution from the international community for its reconstruction and development. Humanity owes a debt to that founding Republic.
We support the legitimate claim of President Alberto Fernández and the people, of the sovereignty of the Republic of Argentina over the Falkland Islands, South Sandwich and South Georgia, and the surrounding maritime spaces.
We express our total solidarity with the Argentine vice president, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, who, victim of unjust and unfounded judicial and media harassment, recently suffered a vile assassination attempt.
We reiterate our firm commitment to peace in Colombia. The manifest readiness for peace of the current President Gustavo Petro, and the parties concerned, deserve the support of the region and the international community.
The necessary resources must be provided to support the Agenda 2063 of the African Union, which sets out the road map for the development of that sister continent.
We advocate the search for a peaceful and negotiated solution to the imposed situation on Syria, and we demand the cessation of external interference and full respect for its sovereignty and territorial integrity.
We support a just, comprehensive, and lasting solution to the Middle East conflict, which guarantees the real exercise of the inalienable right of the Palestinian people to build their own state within the pre-1967 borders, with their capital in East Jerusalem, and the end of the Israeli occupation of the occupied Palestinian and Arab territories.
We reaffirm our invariable solidarity with the Saharawi people.
We reject the unilateral coercive measures imposed on the Islamic Republic of Iran.
We condemn the imposition of unjust unilateral economic measures against the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and external interference in its affairs.
We oppose interference in the internal affairs of the Republic of Belarus.
We reaffirm our rejection of the imposition of unilateral sanctions against the Russian Federation.
We condemn the unfounded campaigns of discredit against the People's Republic of China and the attempts to damage its territorial integrity and sovereignty. We reiterate our unwavering support for the One China principle.
We advocate a serious, constructive and realistic diplomatic solution to the current war in Ukraine, by peaceful means and in accordance with the rules of international law, which guarantees the security and sovereignty of all.
Mr. President:
Cuba will continue to raise its voice to reject domination and hegemony, unilateral coercive measures, genocidal blockades and the intention to impose one culture and one model on the world.
We will never renounce the defense of the independence, sovereignty and self-determination of peoples, without foreign interference or intervention.
For our glorious past, for the present and future of the new generations of Cubans, with the leadership of President Miguel Díaz-Canel, we will resist creatively and fight tirelessly until we achieve our dreams of peace and development, with equity and social justice for Cuba and for the world.
Thank you very much.
8.19.22
Meeting with Amazon Labor Union Leader Chris Smalls and Starbucks Workers United in Solidarity with Carlos Lazo and Puentes de Amor
Most Recent Caravan Media Coverage
Our July 16 Fundraiser Makes it on Cuban News!LA US Hands Off Cuba Committee Participates in Workers Summit in Tijuana
Showing our Support
May Day March Live Video
Cuba on Combating Climate Change
Most sustainable country in the world?
CUBA! The country that is implementing a 100-year plan against global climate change? CUBA AGAIN! A long-standing care for the environment, sustainable policies regarding reforestation, care of spawning areas and fisheries, protection of endemic species, and science-based agricultural practices, among many other initiatives, make Cuba an example worth emulating globally. For this reason alone, the environmental movement should demand that the US end its criminal blockade of Cuba (243 trade and travel sanctions imposed by Trump, kept by Biden), exacerbated by the effects of the pandemic & the global economic dislocations due to the war in Ukraine. Watch this awesome YouTube video, Tarea Vida, on Cuba’s comprehensive, 25-, 50- and 100-year plans to confront global climate change. Cuba produced several vaccines against Covid-19, immunized its population from 2 years old by end of 2021, and is sharing its vaccines (which don’t need refrigeration) and its vaccine technology with other countries for free. The 60-year economic, financial, and commercial war on Cuba by the United States has no parallel in world history. In addition to being inhumane and immoral, its extraterritorial nature is fundamentally undemocratic and contrary to international law. Down with the US Blockade of Cuba!
Request From Cuba
The video is in Spanish only. Granma article in English below. 17 media attended the press conference of El pan and Saving Lives campaign
Donation of powdered milk from Cubans living in the U.S. arrives in Cuba. Canal Caribe: https://youtu.be/joeFiPqnGKs The 60 year old blockade is inhuman, illegal and an attempt to destroy the Cuban people. The US writes openly about this in a government state department memorandum. To create tensions, hunger that would lead to an overthrow of the socialist government. We are returning in 2 weeks with the delegation of youth for activities at the Cuban aquarium and an International conference in solidarity with ending the blockade. We shall march with one million Cubans on May Day for sovereignty. We are collecting items for the aquarium for their children's programs if anybody wants to make a donation of items or money so we can purchase colored paper, pencils and pens. They have none of those items due to the fact they have no hard currency coming in from tourism to buy them on the world market. We have a non-profit if you want, it is City2Sea. The check could be made out to them but mailed to me at. 1616 Esplanade #4 Redondo Beach, CA 90277. 
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Belly of the Beast x
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Myths and realities in the draft Families Code
"The variety of opinions expressed during popular consultation meetings will no doubt help us construct a better Code,
but comments based on false information, and myths emerging from ignorance, derail the process."
See Below for the Full Article!
but comments based on false information, and myths emerging from ignorance, derail the process."
See Below for the Full Article!
| myths_and_realities_in_the_draft_families_code_1_.docx |
Cuban Mission Reception in New York!
Apoyan en EE. UU. el fin del bloqueo!
Un llamado al levantamiento del criminal bloqueo contra Cuba realizó la Conferencia Internacional de Normalización Estados Unidos–Cuba, que sesionó en Nueva York, con representantes de organizaciones de solidaridad con la Isla, movimientos obreros y participantes de EE. UU., Canadá, Colombia y Sudáfrica
Autor: Redacción Internacional | internacionales@granma.cu
21 de marzo de 2022 00:03:08
Un llamado al levantamiento del criminal bloqueo contra Cuba realizó la Conferencia Internacional de Normalización Estados Unidos–Cuba, que sesionó en Nueva York, con representantes de organizaciones de solidaridad con la Isla, movimientos obreros y participantes de EE. UU., Canadá, Colombia y Sudáfrica.
El encuentro promovió acciones de concertación solidaria y de proyección del trabajo para condenar las sanciones contra la Revolución Cubana, principalmente aquellas que recrudecen el cerco económico, comercial y financiero, como las más de 243 medidas bajo el mandato del presidente Donald Trump y que su sucesor Joe Biden mantiene.
Al evento llegaron mensajes de organizaciones de varios países exigiendo el cese de las hostilidades contra Cuba, y se activaron las redes sociales con saludos al evento.
En su inauguración, el representante permanente de Cuba ante la ONU, Pedro Luis Pedroso, agradeció las innumerables muestras de sensibilidad y humanismo hacia el pueblo cubano. Invitó a los asistentes a intercambiar sobre el enfrentamiento a la pandemia de la COVID-19, el cambio climático y el adelanto de la mujer.
En el panel sobre cuestiones de adelanto de la mujer y paridad de género, intervino Teresa Amarelle Boué, miembro del Buró Político del Partido Comunista y secretaria general de la Federación de Mujeres Cubanas, así como otras integrantes de esa organización. Allí se actualizó sobre el proceso de análisis del nuevo Código de las Familias en todas las comunidades de Cuba y del Programa Nacional para el Adelanto de las Mujeres.
Los participantes elogiaron la información recibida y comentaron acerca de la historia de las sucesivas agresiones por los inquilinos de la Casa Blanca contra la familia cubana, con las cuales han buscado derrocar la Revolución.
Un llamado al levantamiento del criminal bloqueo contra Cuba realizó la Conferencia Internacional de Normalización Estados Unidos–Cuba, que sesionó en Nueva York, con representantes de organizaciones de solidaridad con la Isla, movimientos obreros y participantes de EE. UU., Canadá, Colombia y Sudáfrica
Autor: Redacción Internacional | internacionales@granma.cu
21 de marzo de 2022 00:03:08
Un llamado al levantamiento del criminal bloqueo contra Cuba realizó la Conferencia Internacional de Normalización Estados Unidos–Cuba, que sesionó en Nueva York, con representantes de organizaciones de solidaridad con la Isla, movimientos obreros y participantes de EE. UU., Canadá, Colombia y Sudáfrica.
El encuentro promovió acciones de concertación solidaria y de proyección del trabajo para condenar las sanciones contra la Revolución Cubana, principalmente aquellas que recrudecen el cerco económico, comercial y financiero, como las más de 243 medidas bajo el mandato del presidente Donald Trump y que su sucesor Joe Biden mantiene.
Al evento llegaron mensajes de organizaciones de varios países exigiendo el cese de las hostilidades contra Cuba, y se activaron las redes sociales con saludos al evento.
En su inauguración, el representante permanente de Cuba ante la ONU, Pedro Luis Pedroso, agradeció las innumerables muestras de sensibilidad y humanismo hacia el pueblo cubano. Invitó a los asistentes a intercambiar sobre el enfrentamiento a la pandemia de la COVID-19, el cambio climático y el adelanto de la mujer.
En el panel sobre cuestiones de adelanto de la mujer y paridad de género, intervino Teresa Amarelle Boué, miembro del Buró Político del Partido Comunista y secretaria general de la Federación de Mujeres Cubanas, así como otras integrantes de esa organización. Allí se actualizó sobre el proceso de análisis del nuevo Código de las Familias en todas las comunidades de Cuba y del Programa Nacional para el Adelanto de las Mujeres.
Los participantes elogiaron la información recibida y comentaron acerca de la historia de las sucesivas agresiones por los inquilinos de la Casa Blanca contra la familia cubana, con las cuales han buscado derrocar la Revolución.
Cuba has defied the odds in the fight against Covid-19!
LA Cuba Committee joins antiwar protests demanding Russia out of Ukraine, US out of Guantanamo
On Sunday, March 06, Code Pink organized a protest of several dozen against the war in Ukraine calling for an end to Russia’s invasion and opposing U.S.and N.A.T.O. intervention/troops. CodePink activists called for “peace” with chants such as “what do we want? Peace! When do we want it? Now!”
The L.A. US. Hands Off Cuba Committee attended, set up a table and distributed flyers promoting normalized US-Cuban relations. We drew parallels with the situation in the Ukraine, advocating for Ukrainian self-determination to the situation in Cuba where the U.S. maintains 243 sanctions against the Cuban people and continues to occupy Cuban land.
Our signs said:
Russia out of Ukraine.
No US/NATO intervention.
US out of Guantanamo.
Our committee members were interviewed by TV stations 7 and 9 and additionally called for self-determination for Ukraine.
-Regina and Mark
The L.A. US. Hands Off Cuba Committee attended, set up a table and distributed flyers promoting normalized US-Cuban relations. We drew parallels with the situation in the Ukraine, advocating for Ukrainian self-determination to the situation in Cuba where the U.S. maintains 243 sanctions against the Cuban people and continues to occupy Cuban land.
Our signs said:
Russia out of Ukraine.
No US/NATO intervention.
US out of Guantanamo.
Our committee members were interviewed by TV stations 7 and 9 and additionally called for self-determination for Ukraine.
-Regina and Mark
Cuban Statement on Ukraine
Declaration of the Revolutionary Government: "Cuba advocates a solution that guarantees the security and sovereignty of all"
-Havana, February 26, 2022
The American determination to continue the progressive expansion of NATO towards the borders of the Russian Federation has led to a scenario, with implications of unpredictable scope, that could be avoided.
The military movements carried out by the United States and NATO in recent months towards regions adjacent to the Russian Federation, preceded by the delivery of modern weapons to Ukraine, which together amount to a progressive military encirclement, are well known.
It is not possible to rigorously and honestly examine the current situation in Ukraine without carefully assessing the just claims of the Russian Federation to the United States and NATO and the factors that have led to the use of force and the non-observance of legal principles and international standards that Cuba subscribes to and vigorously supports and are an essential reference, particularly for small countries, against hegemonism, abuses of power and injustices.
Cuba is a country that defends International Law and is committed to the Charter of the United Nations, which will always defend peace and oppose the use or threat of force against any State.
We deeply regret the loss of life of innocent civilians in Ukraine. The Cuban people have had and have a close relationship with the Ukrainian people.
History will hold the US government accountable for the consequences of an increasingly offensive military doctrine outside NATO's borders, which threatens international peace, security and stability. Our concerns are reinforced by the decision recently adopted by NATO to activate, for the first time, the Response Force of that military alliance.
It was a mistake to ignore for decades the well-founded demands for security guarantees by the Russian Federation and to assume that the country would remain defenseless in the face of a direct threat to its national security. Russia has the right to defend itself. It is not possible to achieve peace by encircling or cornering the States.
The draft resolution on the situation in Ukraine not approved in the Security Council on February 25, which will be presented to the General Assembly, was not conceived as a real contribution to the search for solutions to the current crisis.
On the contrary, it is an unbalanced text, which does not take into account the legitimate concerns of all the parties involved. Nor is the responsibility of those who instigated or deployed aggressive actions that precipitated the escalation of this conflict recognized.
We advocate a serious, constructive and realistic diplomatic solution to the current crisis in Europe, by peaceful means, which guarantees the security and sovereignty of all, as well as regional and international peace, stability and security.
Cuba rejects hypocrisy and double standards. It must be remembered that the United States and NATO in 1999 launched a major aggression against Yugoslavia, a European country that they fragmented, with a high cost in lives, based on their geopolitical objectives, ignoring the UN Charter.
The United States and some allies have used force on multiple occasions. They invaded sovereign States to provoke regime changes and intervene in the internal affairs of other nations that do not bow to their interests of domination and that defend their territorial integrity and independence.
They are also responsible for the death of hundreds of thousands of civilians, which they call "collateral damage"; of millions of displaced people and of vast destruction throughout the geography of our planet as a result of their predatory wars.
-Havana, February 26, 2022
The American determination to continue the progressive expansion of NATO towards the borders of the Russian Federation has led to a scenario, with implications of unpredictable scope, that could be avoided.
The military movements carried out by the United States and NATO in recent months towards regions adjacent to the Russian Federation, preceded by the delivery of modern weapons to Ukraine, which together amount to a progressive military encirclement, are well known.
It is not possible to rigorously and honestly examine the current situation in Ukraine without carefully assessing the just claims of the Russian Federation to the United States and NATO and the factors that have led to the use of force and the non-observance of legal principles and international standards that Cuba subscribes to and vigorously supports and are an essential reference, particularly for small countries, against hegemonism, abuses of power and injustices.
Cuba is a country that defends International Law and is committed to the Charter of the United Nations, which will always defend peace and oppose the use or threat of force against any State.
We deeply regret the loss of life of innocent civilians in Ukraine. The Cuban people have had and have a close relationship with the Ukrainian people.
History will hold the US government accountable for the consequences of an increasingly offensive military doctrine outside NATO's borders, which threatens international peace, security and stability. Our concerns are reinforced by the decision recently adopted by NATO to activate, for the first time, the Response Force of that military alliance.
It was a mistake to ignore for decades the well-founded demands for security guarantees by the Russian Federation and to assume that the country would remain defenseless in the face of a direct threat to its national security. Russia has the right to defend itself. It is not possible to achieve peace by encircling or cornering the States.
The draft resolution on the situation in Ukraine not approved in the Security Council on February 25, which will be presented to the General Assembly, was not conceived as a real contribution to the search for solutions to the current crisis.
On the contrary, it is an unbalanced text, which does not take into account the legitimate concerns of all the parties involved. Nor is the responsibility of those who instigated or deployed aggressive actions that precipitated the escalation of this conflict recognized.
We advocate a serious, constructive and realistic diplomatic solution to the current crisis in Europe, by peaceful means, which guarantees the security and sovereignty of all, as well as regional and international peace, stability and security.
Cuba rejects hypocrisy and double standards. It must be remembered that the United States and NATO in 1999 launched a major aggression against Yugoslavia, a European country that they fragmented, with a high cost in lives, based on their geopolitical objectives, ignoring the UN Charter.
The United States and some allies have used force on multiple occasions. They invaded sovereign States to provoke regime changes and intervene in the internal affairs of other nations that do not bow to their interests of domination and that defend their territorial integrity and independence.
They are also responsible for the death of hundreds of thousands of civilians, which they call "collateral damage"; of millions of displaced people and of vast destruction throughout the geography of our planet as a result of their predatory wars.
Watch all episodes of Belly of the Beast
Religious Freedom in Cuba (YouTube)
Report from Pastors for peace from Cuba (YouTube)
Morning Star: Cuba under immediate threat from climate change
| cuba_under_immediate_threat_from_climate_change__1_.pdf |
Danny Glover and Arturo O’Farrill (Miami Herald): Biden Should Lift US Restrictions on Medical Aid so Cuba Can Share its COVID Vaccine
| biden_should_lift_us_restrictions_on_medical_aid_so_cuba_can_share_its_covid_vaccine.pdf |
Bruno R. excerpt on US destabilization
Cuban authorities rejected the holding of a "citizen" march through which Washington seeks to advance its strategy of destabilization against the Socialist revolution.
On Thursday, Cuba’s Foreign Affairs Minister Bruno Rodriguez rejected the stance adopted by U.S. State Secretary Anthony Blinken, who accused the Cuban government of preventing the holding of a march scheduled for Nov. 15.
“Such march is not an authentic initiative of our people, but an instance of the 'regime change' strategy which the U.S. trialed in Bolivia with the coup d'état against President Evo Morales. Trying to give such demonstration any legal or democratic foundation is to misrepresent its essence,” Rodriguez argued.
“We will not tolerate any interference in our internal affairs. If the United States is truly concerned about our country’s situation, it should consider ending the economic blockade,” Rodriguez insisted.
Previously, Blinken urged the Organization of American States (OAS) to speak out against the alleged violation of democracy and human rights in Cuba since the OAS Charter of the Inter-American Democracy establishes sanctions for governments that "violate" these principles.
"Cuba does not need the OAS nor does it want it reformed. We will never return to that Washington's old mansion,” Rodriguez said and recalled that this international institution has limited itself to observing so many humiliations to Latin America promoted from the United States.
On Thursday, the Nicaraguan ambassador to the OAS Arturo McFields also condemned that this organization did not recognize the results of his country's presidential elections even though over 200 electoral companions validated the transparency of the process.
"If this forum is called Towards a Renewed America, it must look to the future and not to the past with neo-colonialist and interventionist positions," McFields stated before the OAS General Assembly.
On Thursday, Cuba’s Foreign Affairs Minister Bruno Rodriguez rejected the stance adopted by U.S. State Secretary Anthony Blinken, who accused the Cuban government of preventing the holding of a march scheduled for Nov. 15.
“Such march is not an authentic initiative of our people, but an instance of the 'regime change' strategy which the U.S. trialed in Bolivia with the coup d'état against President Evo Morales. Trying to give such demonstration any legal or democratic foundation is to misrepresent its essence,” Rodriguez argued.
“We will not tolerate any interference in our internal affairs. If the United States is truly concerned about our country’s situation, it should consider ending the economic blockade,” Rodriguez insisted.
Previously, Blinken urged the Organization of American States (OAS) to speak out against the alleged violation of democracy and human rights in Cuba since the OAS Charter of the Inter-American Democracy establishes sanctions for governments that "violate" these principles.
"Cuba does not need the OAS nor does it want it reformed. We will never return to that Washington's old mansion,” Rodriguez said and recalled that this international institution has limited itself to observing so many humiliations to Latin America promoted from the United States.
On Thursday, the Nicaraguan ambassador to the OAS Arturo McFields also condemned that this organization did not recognize the results of his country's presidential elections even though over 200 electoral companions validated the transparency of the process.
"If this forum is called Towards a Renewed America, it must look to the future and not to the past with neo-colonialist and interventionist positions," McFields stated before the OAS General Assembly.
Why we don't need more than one party
| why_we_dont_need_more_than_one_party.pdf |
DEFENDAMOS A CUBA Y LA BIENAL DE LA HABANA, ANTE EL BOICOT, LA MANIPULACIÓN Y LA MENTIRA
Español (+ English auto-translation of article WE DEFEND CUBA AND THE HAVANA BIENNIAL, AGAINST THE BOYCOTT, MANIPULATION AND LIES)
bienalhabanasi.cult.cu/bienal-habana/si-la-bienal-de-la-habana/
bienalhabanasi.cult.cu/bienal-habana/si-la-bienal-de-la-habana/
Vaccines must be owned by humanity, not for monopolistic purposes
(automatic Spanish and English translation)
boletinelbohio.com/las-vacunas-deben-ser-propiedad-de-la-humanidad-no-con-fines-monopolisticos#.YYG6tZ5lCyI
boletinelbohio.com/las-vacunas-deben-ser-propiedad-de-la-humanidad-no-con-fines-monopolisticos#.YYG6tZ5lCyI
Cuba under immediate threat from climate change
special article, interview with Cuban delegation at Glasgow climate change conference. (Noted at "Cuba for Cubambiente 2019" conference).
| cuba_under_immediate_threat_from_climate_change.pdf |
Insights into the counter-revolutionaries organizing for Washington Nov. 15 in Cuba
| cuba_in_yunior_we_are_seeing_the_creation_and_performance_of_a_counter-revolutionary.pdf |
Canción dedicada a Yunior García y similares (Humorous video)
VERY SUCCESSFUL INTERVENTION AT THE PABLO MILANES (CUBAN MUSICIAN, SINGER SUPPORTER OF THE REVOLUTION) CONCERT --- OCT 17
THE LA COMMITTEE TO END THE US EMBARGO OF CUBA HAD A VERY SUCCESSFUL INTERVENTION AT THE PABLO MILANES (VERY FAMOUS CUBAN MUSICIAN, SINGER SUPPORTER OF THE REVOLUTION) CONCERT HERE OCTOBER 17. He is scheduled for several other US cities.
Six members, including 5 new activists, staffed a table,with a giant banner ("END THE EMBARGO AND SANCTIONS AGAINST CUBA. US OUT OF GUANTANAMO."), distributed 750 flyers against the embargo & sanctions, sold 60 "End the Embargo of Cuba" buttons, and got 15 new folks to sign up for more information.
WE RECEIVED A WARM RESPONSE. PEOPLE BOUGHT THE BUTTONS AND PROUDLY WORE THEM IN. hUNDREDS READ THE FLYER WHILE WAITING IN LINE. There was one lone, old, anti-Cuba protester outside.
ONWARD TO THE INTERNATIONAL CARAVANS OCTOBER 31.
EL COMITÉ DE LA PARA TERMINAR EL EMBARGO DE CUBA EN ESTADOS UNIDOS HIZO UNA INTERVENCIÓN MUY EXITOSA EN EL PABLO MILANES (MUY FAMOSO MÚSICO CUBANO, CANTANTE DE LA REVOLUCIÓN) CONCIERTO AQUÍ 17 DE OCTUBRE. Está programado para varias otras ciudades de Estados Unidos.
Seis miembros, incluidos 5 nuevos activistas, ocuparon una mesa, con una pancarta gigante, distribuyeron 750 volantes contra el embargo y las sanciones, vendieron 60 botones de "Poner fin al embargo de Cuba" y consiguieron que 15 nuevas personas se inscribieron para obtener más información.
RECIBIMOS UNA CÁLIDA RESPUESTA. LA GENTE COMPRÓ LOS BOTONES Y LOS UTILIZÓ CON ORGULLO. Afuera había un manifestante anticubano, viejo y solitario.
HACIA LAS CARAVANAS INTERNACIONALES 31 DE OCTUBRE.
Six members, including 5 new activists, staffed a table,with a giant banner ("END THE EMBARGO AND SANCTIONS AGAINST CUBA. US OUT OF GUANTANAMO."), distributed 750 flyers against the embargo & sanctions, sold 60 "End the Embargo of Cuba" buttons, and got 15 new folks to sign up for more information.
WE RECEIVED A WARM RESPONSE. PEOPLE BOUGHT THE BUTTONS AND PROUDLY WORE THEM IN. hUNDREDS READ THE FLYER WHILE WAITING IN LINE. There was one lone, old, anti-Cuba protester outside.
ONWARD TO THE INTERNATIONAL CARAVANS OCTOBER 31.
EL COMITÉ DE LA PARA TERMINAR EL EMBARGO DE CUBA EN ESTADOS UNIDOS HIZO UNA INTERVENCIÓN MUY EXITOSA EN EL PABLO MILANES (MUY FAMOSO MÚSICO CUBANO, CANTANTE DE LA REVOLUCIÓN) CONCIERTO AQUÍ 17 DE OCTUBRE. Está programado para varias otras ciudades de Estados Unidos.
Seis miembros, incluidos 5 nuevos activistas, ocuparon una mesa, con una pancarta gigante, distribuyeron 750 volantes contra el embargo y las sanciones, vendieron 60 botones de "Poner fin al embargo de Cuba" y consiguieron que 15 nuevas personas se inscribieron para obtener más información.
RECIBIMOS UNA CÁLIDA RESPUESTA. LA GENTE COMPRÓ LOS BOTONES Y LOS UTILIZÓ CON ORGULLO. Afuera había un manifestante anticubano, viejo y solitario.
HACIA LAS CARAVANAS INTERNACIONALES 31 DE OCTUBRE.
¿Cómo financia EE. UU. las acciones sicológicas contra Cuba?
Español:
www.granma.cu/mundo/2021-10-01/como-financia-ee-uu-las-acciones-sicologicas-contra-cuba-01-10-2021-23-10-13
English:
walterlippmann.com/how-u-s-finances-actions-against-cuba/
www.granma.cu/mundo/2021-10-01/como-financia-ee-uu-las-acciones-sicologicas-contra-cuba-01-10-2021-23-10-13
English:
walterlippmann.com/how-u-s-finances-actions-against-cuba/
Cuban Revolution: A Challenge to US Imperialism
An interview with Carlos Fernández de Cossío
| interview_with_cuban_carlos_fernández_de_cossío.pdf |
American blockade is the main impediment to a wider access to the internet in Cuba
Español:
www.granma.cu/cuba/2021-05-26/bloqueo-estadounidense-es-el-principal-impedimento-para-un-mas-amplio-acceso-a-internet-26-05-2021-17-05-40
English:
www-granma-cu.translate.goog/cuba/2021-05-26/bloqueo-estadounidense-es-el-principal-impedimento-para-un-mas-amplio-acceso-a-internet-26-05-2021-17-05-40?_x_tr_sl=es&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en-US&_x_tr_pto=nui
www.granma.cu/cuba/2021-05-26/bloqueo-estadounidense-es-el-principal-impedimento-para-un-mas-amplio-acceso-a-internet-26-05-2021-17-05-40
English:
www-granma-cu.translate.goog/cuba/2021-05-26/bloqueo-estadounidense-es-el-principal-impedimento-para-un-mas-amplio-acceso-a-internet-26-05-2021-17-05-40?_x_tr_sl=es&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en-US&_x_tr_pto=nui
Newsweek: As Vaccine Mandates Face Resistance in U.S., Cuba Says It Doesn't Need Them
LA Abortion Rights Protest
Reports are coming in from around the country of local Cuba committees receiving AWESOME responses to educational materials on ending the US embargo and the gains of women in Cuba.
Los Angeles was no exception. The march and rally of 7,500 held downtown was young, militant and a wide array of very imaginative signs. Six other LA County actions totaled another 1,500. In Washington,DC-10,000+ . Phoenix 5,000, New York 3,500, Chicago 3,000. all where Cuba committees participated. Total nationally over 200,000!
Six LA Cuba Committee activists staffed a table, marched with a giant banner, distributed 1,500 flyers on ending US sanctions and highlighting gains of women in Cuba. Thirty people signed our mailing list and 24 bought buttons.
Special thanks to the ANSWER coalition, an integral part of our committee, for demonstrating in practice, how an organization joins in united action with others. An example for others who could learn from their example. We need less talk and more active commitment.
Los Angeles was no exception. The march and rally of 7,500 held downtown was young, militant and a wide array of very imaginative signs. Six other LA County actions totaled another 1,500. In Washington,DC-10,000+ . Phoenix 5,000, New York 3,500, Chicago 3,000. all where Cuba committees participated. Total nationally over 200,000!
Six LA Cuba Committee activists staffed a table, marched with a giant banner, distributed 1,500 flyers on ending US sanctions and highlighting gains of women in Cuba. Thirty people signed our mailing list and 24 bought buttons.
Special thanks to the ANSWER coalition, an integral part of our committee, for demonstrating in practice, how an organization joins in united action with others. An example for others who could learn from their example. We need less talk and more active commitment.
Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canal message to the United Nations General Assembly today (9/23)
Democracy Now!: Cuban Diplomat on U.S. Blockade, Havana’s Homegrown Vaccines & Biden’s Hypocrisy on Human Rights
Five myths about Cuba
Scientists Reject Biden Statements: A Country that Saves With Its Science Is Not a Failed State
Belly of the Beast: Cuba's July 11th Protests
What happened this July 11th during Cuba's biggest protests in decades? And most importantly, why?
US Religious Organizations ask for an End to the Embargo
| us_religious_organizations_ask_for_the_end_of_sanctions_on_cuba.docx |
U.S. Sanctions Amid Covid Crisis Show ‘Ruthless Nature of Imperialism’
world-outlook.com/es/2021/08/18/cuba-da-el-ejemplo-al-enfrentar-a-la-pandemia-i/
world-outlook.com/2021/07/01/cuba-sets-example-in-confronting-pandemic-i/
world-outlook.com/2021/07/01/cuba-sets-example-in-confronting-pandemic-i/
ILWU Resolution to Send Syringes to Cuba and to
End the US Embargo of Cuba
| ilwu_convention_resolution_to_send_syringes_to_cuba_and_end_the_embargo.docx__1_.pdf |
| introduction_to_ilwu_resolution_and_the_us_blockade_of_cuba_donates_syringes.pdf |
WBAI Interview with Brenda Lopez and Mark Friedman,
info on Syringes campaign, and more
Terrific interviews with Cuban leaders and discussion of the Syringes campaign, as well as discussion of the impact of the US embargo against Cuba with US Hands Off Cuba Committee (Begins at 47 minutes): www.wbai.org/archive/program/episode/?id=23615
Democracy Now: Cuban Americans Say Biden Broke Promise to Lift Cuba Sanctions & Thaw Relations
La Opinion Article on the July 25th
LA Demonstration to end the US Blockade of Cuba
| la_opinion_angelinos_de_origen_cubano_piden_poner_fin_al_bloqueo_de_estados_unidos_a_cuba.pdf |
| la_opinion._angelinos_of_cuban_origin_call_for_an_end_to_the_us_blockade_of_cuba.pdf |
Carlos Lazo and Cuban-Americans on pilgrimage from Miami to DC to demand President Biden end the US Blockade against Cuba
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| car_caravans_to_end_us_blockade_expand.docx.pdf |
| se_expanden_caravanas_para_dar_fin_al_bloqueo_estadounidense_de_cuba.pdf |
Coverage of July LA Caravan from Carson to Wilmington
Coverage from ABC7 News of the event, with interviews of LA committee activists, Cuban-American Luis Herrera and Committee leader Diana Cervantes:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vMrj26qxE2Q1WGC0RN4bRwCvx1N1FEqT/view
More Coverage (TV [3 English, 1 Spanish], and LATimes at caravan 50 +, 20 new people)
drive.google.com/file/d/1OtqjOVXTFl87W7umL17HeFdkpyz_eWX6/view
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vMrj26qxE2Q1WGC0RN4bRwCvx1N1FEqT/view
More Coverage (TV [3 English, 1 Spanish], and LATimes at caravan 50 +, 20 new people)
drive.google.com/file/d/1OtqjOVXTFl87W7umL17HeFdkpyz_eWX6/view
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Car Caravans to End U.S. Blockade of Cuba Expand
world-outlook.com/2021/07/09/se-expanden-las-caravanas-de-automoviles-para-exigir-fin-al-bloqueo-estadounidense-de-cuba/
world-outlook.com/2021/07/09/car-caravans-to-end-u-s-blockade-of-cuba-expand/
world-outlook.com/2021/07/09/car-caravans-to-end-u-s-blockade-of-cuba-expand/
NYC event to end the Blockade Action of 125
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Brenda speaking at the action
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US Hands Off Cuba members meeting with Amazon worker organizer Chris Smalls
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Poem by El Jones about the UN Vote on the blockade against Cuba
| poem_by_el_jones_to_end_the_us_blockade_of_cuba.docx.pdf |
Important message from Carlos Lazo for the Puentes de Amor caravanistas and supporters (Español / English subtitles)
Impactos de las sanciones de Estados Unidos en la población cubana y la vida de las mujeres
Materiales en Español
| cuban_videos-_belly_of_the_beast.docx |
| 2019_etb_brochurees-final.pdf |
| espanol_statement_on__cuba_on_terrorist_list.pdf |
| car_caravana_4.25_para_demandar_fin_del_bloque_de_cuba.pdf |
| la_colmenita.docx |
Video content
twitter.com/BrunoRguezP/status/1385252806332977154
bellyofthebeastcuba.com/videos
puentesdeamor.com/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEHEyiqcx0TSe5kpHXAyYew/videos
twitter.com/BrunoRguezP/status/1385252806332977154
bellyofthebeastcuba.com/videos
puentesdeamor.com/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEHEyiqcx0TSe5kpHXAyYew/videos
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Find a Cuba Committees near you!
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Map courtesy of nnoc.info
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About Us
Mission: To oppose the U.S. government's hostility toward the Cuba and to work toward normalizing relations.
- End the inhumane 60 year U.S. embargo against Cuba; lift the travel ban and trade blockade.
- Return the Guantanamo Naval Base to Cuba.
- Respect Cuba's Sovererignty; End "Regime Change" Policies and Practices.
- End the inhumane 60 year U.S. embargo against Cuba; lift the travel ban and trade blockade.
- Return the Guantanamo Naval Base to Cuba.
- Respect Cuba's Sovererignty; End "Regime Change" Policies and Practices.
We are committed to working to end US aggressive policies toward Cuba, as well as, other Caribbean and Latin countries including U.S. regime change efforts in Venezuela and Bolivia. We support the struggles of popular movements of poor, working, and indigenous peoples of the Americas to obtain peace (economic, political & social), as well as, an end to environmental destruction.
Contact Us
For more information please email us at la.us.handsoffcuba@gmail.com
Follow us on instagram @ushandsoffcuba
Follow us on instagram @ushandsoffcuba
