SOLIDARITY WITH CUBA

More than 70 cities join the world campaign against the blockade: 20 countries have participated to date

Cubadebate, May 30, 2021

Friends of Cuba, emigrants and members of the solidarity movement with the island are participating today in more than 70 cities around the world in the Third World Caravan of Solidarity with this Antillean nation.

  • Miami, Florida
  • Miami, Florida
  • Miami, Florida
  • Miami, Florida
  • Miami, Florida
  • Miami, Florida
  • Miami, Florida

With marches, parades and other initiatives, the demonstrators are demanding an end to the economic, commercial and financial blockade maintained by the United States against Cuba for more than six decades, which has been intensified to unprecedented levels in recent years despite the international repudiation of this policy.

Cuba held today a regatta and caravans in support of the international day to demand an end to the U.S. blockade against the island.

The maritime activity took place in the Bay of Cienfuegos, in the center-south of the country, and brought together state and private vessels, water bicycles, boats, sailboats, canoes and kayaks, with flags and banners denouncing the U.S. blockade.

Due to the epidemiological situation caused by Covid-19, which prevents mass mobilizations, in several territories parades were held in cycles, conventional or electric motorcycles, among other means, such as the one scheduled to take place in the city of Ciego de Avila (center).

These actions are part of the Third World Caravan of Solidarity with the Island, which will also take place on social networks, to demand the end of the blockade imposed for six decades by the United States on Cuba, which has been intensified to unprecedented levels during the administration of Donald Trump (2017-2021).

The day before, hundreds of people mobilized in 40 cities in some twenty countries as part of this global day of support for the island, to be held until June 23.

Solidarity organizations in Angola demand an end to the U.S. blockade against Cuba

Organizations in solidarity with Cuba demanded today in Angola the end of the economic, financial and commercial blockade of the United States government against the Caribbean nation.

The statement, released by the Association of the Community of Cuban Residents in Angola (Accra), summarizes the feelings of several entities, Jorge Pantoja, one of the coordinators of the group in the city of Kilamba, on the outskirts of Luanda, told Prensa Latina.

The text, he said, points out the joint vision of Accra and the associations of Angolan-Cuban families, of former students trained on the island (the so-called Caimaneros) and of Angola-Cuba Friendship.

Likewise, it synthesizes the position of numerous people, who individually sent messages and photos as a sign of condemnation to Washington’s aggression, said Féliz Arozarena, member of the national board of Accra, who appreciated the growing contacts through social networks.

For the claimants, the blockade is ‘a genocidal and criminal policy against the Cuban family’, which has been in force for more than 60 years.

At the same time, they regret the decision of the White House to maintain Cuba on a list of state sponsors of terrorism; “with this action the government of President Joe Biden acts with cynicism”, the document indicates.

According to the denunciation, the current government of the northern power is determined to asphyxiate the Cuban people by maintaining the 243 additional measures dictated during the administration of President Donald Trump.

President Biden publicly stated that, although Cuba is not a high priority issue for the U.S. executive, a review process of the policy towards the Antillean country is underway.

So, if Cuba is not a priority and the review has not yet concluded, “how does the State Department explain the unfounded and mendacious singling out of our country on the issue of terrorism?” the letter asks.

Following the same logic, the organizations called attention to the incongruence between discourse and facts, as more than 240 unilateral coercive measures adopted by the Trump administration, including increased financial persecution and other extraterritorial provisions, remain in force.

On June 23, the General Assembly of the United Nations (UN) will vote on a new draft resolution on the need to put an end to the blockade, that is to say, this will be the 29th time that the highest body of the multilateral organization will pronounce itself on the issue.

Undoubtedly, the resolution will be approved by the vast majority of the international community, predicts the joint message disseminated by Accra.

The four groups also announced that they are preparing different initiatives to strengthen the voices of support for the Cuban people during the week prior to the UN vote.

“Enough of hatred, it is time to build bridges of love”, summarizes the document, whose promoters circulate through digital platforms.

Germany joins the actions against the blockade with a bicycle rally in Berlin and Dusseldorf.

More than 200 people participated in a bicycle rally in Berlin against the economic, commercial, and financial blockade that the United States has applied to Cuba for more than six decades, diplomatic media reported today.

The demonstration, which was replicated in ten other German cities, is part of the worldwide UnBlock Cuba campaign as part of the actions seeking support for the vote in the United Nations General Assembly against this policy of Washington, on June 23.

The caravan here was organized by the Berlin-Cuba Friendship Association, with the cooperation of other organizations such as the Cuba Si Working Group of the Die Linke (The Left) party and the Interbrigadas youth group.

The six-kilometer route began in front of the diplomatic headquarters of Cuba in Germany, where artists from both countries performed.

The president of the Berlin-Cuba Friendship Association Jutta Kausch-Henken and Ambassador Ramón Ripoll referred to the effects of U.S. hostility against the Cuban people and the need to mobilize tirelessly until this policy is eliminated.

After making stops at central locations for public events, the caravan ended at the Brandenburg Gate, next to the U.S. Embassy in Germany.

Federal Deputy Sevim Dagdelen, vice-president of the parliamentary group of The Left party, in her central speech rejected the US blockade.

Demonstrations in support of Cuba and its Revolution were also held in several state capitals such as Bremen, Hamburg, Munich, Gera, Stuttgart, and Dusseldorf (another bicycle rally was held), and in Frankfurt 60 balloons were released in the colors of the Cuban flag.

While in cities such as Chemnitz, Dortmund, Hannover, Nuremberg, Oberhausen and Schwerte solidarity actions were carried out, characterized by the participation of German citizens, Cuban residents, and those from other countries, mobilized by various organizations, such as Cuba Solidarity Network, the RFA-Cuba, and Berlin-Cuba Friendship Associations, the Granma Solidarity Association, Humanitarian Aid, the working group of the La Izquierda Cuba Sí party, the Bremen-Cuba group, Ecomujer, the youth of Interbrigadas and the Tamara Bunke Project.

Hundreds of Cuban-Americans living in Miami, Florida, demanded today that U.S. President Joe Biden lift the economic, commercial and financial blockade against Cuba, imposed on the Caribbean island six decades ago.

“Biden, lift the sanctions, fulfill your electoral promises, said Carlos Lazo, coordinator of the Bridges of Love movement, whose main objective is to fight against these punitive measures that mainly affect Cuban families.

All of us who are gathered here are voting for you, in the hope that this siege that affects above all the Cuban people will be lifted, added the activist, one of the main organizers of the caravans against unilateral sanctions that are taking place this Sunday in more than 70 cities around the world.

During a live intervention through his Facebook account, Lazo reiterated his confidence that “we are going to lift the embargo (blockade), let there be no doubt about it,” and urged his compatriots to move forward “because we were never cowards, and may the Virgin of Charity of Cobre, Patroness of Cuba, cover us with her mantle”.

In information sent to Prensa Latina the day before, Lazo reiterated that the objective of these activities is to demand the end of those unilateral sanctions that affect the people of the largest of the Antilles and that were reinforced during the administration of Donald Trump.

According to Lazo, the participants in this Third Caravan also demand from President Biden the resumption of the family reunification plan suspended by his predecessor in 2017.

In particular, the participants demand the reopening of the consular services of the U.S. embassy in Havana and the remittance service to the largest of the Antilles.

According to the statement, the objective is also to demand the return of the Cuban territory illegally occupied by the Guantanamo Naval Base, in the east of the island, and the exit of the largest of the Antilles from the spurious list of nations that according to Washington sponsor terrorism or do not cooperate in the fight against that scourge.

In his note, the activist sent a partial list of the places where these events will be held, which in the city of Miami, Florida, already took place this morning, at the monument to the National Hero José Martí located in Coral Gables.

Similar actions are taking place in Tampa, also in Florida, as well as in Albuquerque, New Mexico; Albany, New York, Atlanta, Georgia; Detroit, Michigan; Las Vegas, Nevada, New Haven, Connecticut, New York, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Other events are also taking place in Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego, California; as well as in Seattle, Washington; while in Canada there will be demonstrations like these in Vancouver, Ottawa and Montreal, all with the objective of demanding the end of the economic, commercial and financial blockade against Cuba.

MALAGA: Balloons in the colors of Cuba against the U.S. blockade

From Malaga, members of the La Avellaneda Association and Andalusians of the Hispanic-Cuban Association of Malaga, held a rally for the lifting of the US blockade against Cuba in the Plaza de la Alameda Principal.

1976 bombing of a Cuban airliner

The U.S. government, an accomplice of terrorists, accuses Cuba of terrorism

The U.S. government, an accomplice of terrorists, accuses Cuba of terrorism
Biden maintains brutal policy toward Cuba, following the steps of previous administrations and resorting to the most fallacious, absurd arguments to justify U.S. aggression

Author: Delfin Xiqués | xiques@granma.cu
may 28, 2021 10:05:00
The political intolerance of an empire that has witnessed a Revolution taking place under its nose has hardened to the extent that – after 62 years of Cuba’s heroic resistance – the most fallacious and absurd arguments are deployed to justify the hostility, including accusations linking Cuba to terrorism, a scourge that the island has in fact suffered at the hands of self-confessed terrorists to whom the U.S. government has provided financing, logistics and immunity. Is it really necessary to recount the criminal U.S. record against Cuba? Apparently another repetition is needed, although its promoters in the immoral north are well aware of the history.

INTENT ON DESTROYING THE REVOLUTION, AT ANY COST

One of the first terrorist attacks against the nascent Revolution occurred on October 21, 1959. On that day, a traitor pilot exiled in Miami, Pedro Luis Díaz Lanz, who had been an officer in the Cuban Air Force, flying a twin-engine B-25, bombed several Havana neighborhoods, causing 45 injuries and the death of two persons.

Diaz Lanz himself would later confirm his responsibility for the attack. With full impunity and protection from U.S. authorities, he departed from Pompano Beach, Florida, where no one created any obstacle to his plans.

Thus began the terrorist war against Cuba, sponsored by the U.S. government and conceived as state policy, fully documented and denounced by Cuba in international forums.

A wide variety of political, military, economic, biological, diplomatic, psychological, propaganda, espionage and sabotage methods have been utilized in the attacks. Armed gangs have also been organized and logistically supported, while desertion has been encouraged and plots hatched to assassinate leaders of the Revolution.

Numerous declassified secret documents provide evidence of these crimes, along with the millions of dollars approved annually for this purpose, an amount which is published in the media as just another line item in the government budget, behind the backs of taxpayers, who are largely unaware of the allocation’s final destination.

Continue reading The U.S. government, an accomplice of terrorists, accuses Cuba of terrorism →
1959 The Triumph, CUBA

Behind the neon lights of 1950s Cuba

Behind the neon lights of 1950s Cuba
Counterrevolutionaries long for an era that never was

Raúl Antonio Capotemay 25, 2021 09:05:47

The poverty and abandon in which the majority of campesinos lived were among the dire realities faced, and transformed, by the nascent

Revolution. Photo: Korda, Alberto
Whenever the media at the service of the U.S. government, the corporate press or the network of counterrevolutionary digital sites refer to pre-1959 Cuba, they paint a picture of a country that never was.

They present a magazine photo, something fit for commercial advertising, and since they are desperately attempting to sell us a return to that “golden era,” they must get rid of everything in their way, sweeping away, one by one, all the steps taken by the Revolution to uphold the dignity of the people, returning our fields and cities to the social reality overcome by the Rebel Army victory of 1959.

What was lurking behind the neon lights of Cuba in the 1950s?

Behind the commercial scenery ran the blood left by the Batista dictatorship’s crimes, committed by institutions that served as models for repression in Latin America, including the Bureau for the Repression of Communist Activities (BRAC), the Military Intelligence Service (SIM), the Naval Intelligence Service (SIN), the Maritime Police, the Bureau of Investigations and the National Police, true academies of torture and death.

Havana was a paradise, yes, but for the mafias controlling gambling, alcohol, drug and prostitution in a kingdom of impunity that grew as a “sin city,” alongside Las Vegas, with great advantages over the pearl of Nevada.

What happened in Havana stayed in Havana. There was no popular site without a drug stash, a gambling table, and prostitutes on hand.

Dazzling hotels and casinos were built with the country’s money, and the profits they generated were sent daily to the United States. It was a big “bisnes” thanks to Batista, the strong man who protected every scheme to fleece the people, using public financing for dirty businesses that were of absolutely no use to them.

Among the great public works that are featured today in anti-Cuba propaganda, allegedly indicative of the success of the bourgeois republic, many were based on corruption. State funds were given to companies owned by the regime’s authorities, who received millions of pesos for projects that cost thousands.

Batista reaped 35% of all “transactions,” that is, 35% of absolutely all spurious profits from corruption.

In this “marvelous” Cuba, thousands of people occupied positions in ministries and were paid without lifting a finger. This was the famous “free ride” instituted in the republic, appointments made as payment for favors, political commitments, etc.

While the capital was filled with casinos and dream hotels, cathedrals to deceit and fraud, the other side of the city lived in painfully extreme poverty.

Hundreds of miserable slums were erected. Las Yaguas, the Cueva del Humo and so many other destitute neighborhoods grew in the shadow of the new ostentatious constructions.

In the neighborhood of Las Yaguas, as can be seen in the magazine Bohemia, thousands of families lived in subhuman conditions, sheltered under palm fronds, used by the cigar industry to wrap tobacco leaves, and recycled as walls and roofs after they were discarded outside factories.

Girls from the countryside were tricked into traveling to the capital, to be exploited in the infamous prostitution belt that served hotels, casinos and cabarets.

The island paradise belonged to Meyer Lansky, Santo Trafficante, Amleto Battisti Lora, Joe Stassi, Amadeo Barletta and Fulgencio Batista; five capos, one president, all in one and the same mafia.

The Sicilian Santo Trafficante, second in command of the so-called Havana Empire, the visible head of U.S. mafia operations in Cuba, with his headquarters in the Sans Souci cabaret, beginning in the 1930s took charge of bringing in cocaine from the Colombian city of Medellin and heroin from Marseilles.

For these trafficking operations, they founded airline companies in Cuba that flew in and out of military airports, serviced with equipment and by technicians from the Cuban air force, protected by the army and the national police. Havana was also the most important money laundering center in the Americas.

The Cuba which the counterrevolution presents toady as “a developed country,” was more accurately documented in the 1953 census, which determined that 68.5% of campesinos lived in miserable huts with palm roofs and dirt floors, 85% had no running water and 54% lacked any type of sanitary services.

Only 11% of families consumed milk, 4% meat and 2% eggs; 44% were illiterate, and, according to the National Economic Council, some 738,000 persons were unemployed – in a population of six million.

Almost 3,000,000 Cubans had no access to electricity, since the infrastructure reached only 56% of the country.

When the Revolution triumphed, there were 600,000 children without schools and 10,000 teachers without jobs. One and a half million inhabitants over six years of age had no schooling, barely 17% of young people between 15 and 19 years of age received any kind of education and the population over 15 years of age had an average educational level below the third grade.

In the cities, one out of every five inhabitants could not read or write; in the countryside, one out of every two campesinos was illiterate, and the few schools that existed were abandoned.

Only 20% of the arable land was cultivated, while 60% of the food was imported from the USA. More than half of the best land in the country was in foreign hands, and the properties of the United Fruit and West Indian companies stretched from the north coast all the way to the southern coastline of the former Oriente province.

According to data from Inter Press Service (ips), when the Revolution took power, the nation’s housing stock was seriously deteriorated, given the severe shortage of dwellings, notable differences between the countryside and the city, the variability of the materials used and the existence of poverty belts in the main cities, especially Havana. A 1953 study, coordinated by the U.S. Census Bureau, concluded that only 13% of homes could be considered in good condition.

In the capital, existing on the one hand was an ostentatious waterfront with exclusive bourgeoisie housing developments, luxurious apartment buildings and lavish residences, and on the other, huge areas of poor neighborhoods.

Given the conditions of economic underdevelopment that plagued Cuba, water resources were poorly administered. Of the 300 settlements with more than 1,000 inhabitants, only 114 had water distribution aqueducts and 12 had sewage systems.

At the beginning of 1959, 16 chlorination facilities were in operation and, of the four water treatment plants in Camagüey, Santa Clara, Palma Soriano and Cienfuegos, two lacked the required chemicals and one had not been operating for three years.

Havana’s sewage system was almost 50 years old and totally inadequate.

The only sewage treatment plant, located in Santa Clara, was abandoned, and sewage systems in Holguín, Guantánamo and Pinar del Río had been under construction for several years.

There were only 13 small reservoirs in the nation, located in Camagüey, Las Villas, Holguín and Santiago de Cuba.

This collection of facts, of course, does not match the commercial restoration presented by those who yearn for a return to the 50s, accepted by the naive who “swallow” the deception. Nor will they acknowledge that the cause of all this was Cuba’s status as a neocolony of the United States, a condition that plunged the country into the most brutal levels of underdevelopment and dependence, at the mercy of an oligarchy of military assassins, corrupt authorities and organized crime.

Nor will the restorers admit that the miserable reality suffered on the island was the driving force behind the warmth the people felt for the guerrilla insurgents in the mountains, fighting for a radical revolution in the country – the same Revolution that is today undefeated, heroically resisting, and aspiring to a prosperity obstructed by those who desire and invoke it, at the cost of selling the entire nation and our dignity, as was the case in the 50s they long for.

Palestine

Cuba calls for the end of the Israeli aggression against Palestine

Cuba calls for the immediate end of the Israeli aggression against Palestine
Cuban Foreign Ministry releases statement condemning Israel’s criminal military assault on the Al Aqsa Mosque in occupied Jerusalem and indiscriminate bombing of the Palestinian population in the Gaza Strip

Author: Granma | internet@granma.cu
may 18, 2021 12:05:07


Israel’s latest attacks constitute another serious and flagrant violation of the UN Charter. Photo: AFP
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Cuba expressed, through an official statement, its strongest condemnation of Israeli military forces’ assault on the Al Aqsa Mosque in occupied Jerusalem and indiscriminate bombing of the Palestinian population in the Gaza Strip, which have caused more than a hundred deaths and the destruction of infrastructure and considerable material damage.

The Ministry emphasizes that these aggressions constitute another flagrant serious violation of the United Nations Charter, international law and international humanitarian law by Israel and evidence the continuity of its practices of colonization and occupation of Arab and Palestinian lands, which enjoy impunity and the complicity of the United States government, which has prevented any action on the part of the United Nations Security Council.

Cuba makes an energetic appeal to the international community, to all states, and the United Nations, in particular its Security Council, to demand an immediate end to Israeli aggression.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Cuba also reaffirmed its full support for a comprehensive, just and lasting solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, on the basis of the creation of two states, allowing the Palestinian people to exercise their right to self-determination and an independent, sovereign state with the pre-1967 borders and East Jerusalem as its capital, and guaranteeing the right of return of refugees.