U.S. groups to defy blockade of Cuba
By John Catalinotto
A coalition of activists from IFCO/ Pastors
for Peace, African Awareness Association and the Venceremos
Brigade will unite on July 19 to once more defy the U.S.
blockade of Cuba. It will happen on their return from a trip to
the revolutionary island. All the delegations will re-enter the
U.S. on that date, some from Mexico and some from Canada.
Among those going on the trip are Workers World Party
members Teresa Guti errez and LeiLani Dowell, both candidates
for office in the upcoming elections in the United States.
Gutierrez is the WWP candidate for vice president, has visited
Cuba many times, and has been a leader for decades in
organizing solidarity for Revolutionary Cuba within the United
States.
In the recent past Gutierrez has played a leading role in
organizing support for the Cuban 5 political prisoners. These
are Cubans convicted for alleged espionage activities in the
United States. The five prisoners explain that what they were
really doing was tracking the activities of the terrorist
anti-Castro organizations in southern Florida that have been
responsible for the murders of hundreds of Cubans.
LeiLani Dowell is a candidate for U.S. Congress in
California's 8th District, which includes most of San
Francisco. She is a WWP member running on the Peace and Freedom
Party ticket, who is also taking part in this trip with the
Venceremos Brigade.
Dowell said, "The Venceremos Brigade has been challenging
the travel ban to Cuba since 1969. This year is especially
important due to heightened restrictions that the Bush
administration has placed against those wanting to travel to
Cuba. The travel ban is part and parcel of a greater offensive
against Cuba by the Bush administration. It even restricts the
visits of family members here to their relatives in Cuba,
allowing them only once every three years.
"We want to take part in defending the sovereignty of Cuba.
While the Bush administration claims to be bringing freedom to
peoples across the globe, he's attacking Cuba--a society where
the people have free health care, there is virtually no
illiteracy, housing is very inexpensive and education is free,"
said Dowell.
None of the delegations will apply to the U.S. government
for permission to visit Cuba. All will join to openly reject
the travel ban as they cross the border back into the United
States, either into Texas or New York state. The delegations
are preparing to leave from the U.S. on July 3. Approximately
200 people, all U.S. citizens, are taking part.
"We are running election campaigns this year," said Dowell,
"to show everyone that there is an alternative to the
capitalist system as well as to the capitalist political
parties. By going to Cuba, we have an opportunity to see that
alternative in a living, breathing society.
"When we come back and I get back campaigning, I'll be able
to speak with first-hand experience about Cuba and how
socialism works there," Dowell said.
Solidarity with Cuban 5
In Cuba the delegations will meet with the Cuban Institute
for Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP). They will visit some of
the neighborhood Committees to Defend the Revolution and
various organizations representing youths, labor, women and
other mass organizations. On July 17 they will attend an
anti-imperialist rally in Havana.
WWP's vice presidential candidate Gutierrez said she
expected that "we will learn while in Cuba how much the Cuban
people support the Cuban 5. From what we have seen in the past,
these five people trapped in U.S. prisons are heroes to over 11
million Cubans. At our campaign meetings and other rallies we
will have a great opportunity to continue to publicize the case
of the Cuban 5. We plan to double our efforts to free these
heroes."
Gutierrez added that it would be "important to use the
election campaign speaking engagements to bring up the battle
against the travel ban and build solidarity with the Cuban
people and educate the U.S. population about the advantages to
the workers brought by socialism in Cuba."
Reprinted from the July 8, 2004, issue of
Workers World newspaper
This article is copyrighted
under a Creative
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