FBI Raids and the Fires in Matanzas

Many Cuba groups are joining in criticizing and condemning the FBI raids and attacks on the Uhuru Movement and African People’s Socialist Party offices in St. Petersburg and St. Louis (stories here). July 26.org has signed onto the IFCO/Pastors for Peace condemnation statement and more.

Most immediate are the horrific on-going fires in Matanzas that began Friday and are in the fifth day — see the Resumen story among others, the Belly of the Beast on the ground report, and the on-going reports and support options posted in Walter Lippmann’s CubaNews. CodePink, IFCO/Pastors for Peace, the International People’s Assembly, and the People’s Forum say: Sanctions Fuel the Fire — Here’s what you can do.

July 26, 1953, as Isaac Saney tells us in “Resistance, Resilience and Renewal: Cuba Commemorates Moncada,” is annually celebrated all over Cuba as the beginning of the movement that paved the way for the Cuban Revolution. Join Isaac and our comrades and colleagues in Canada for a special commemorative program at 8:00 pm today. Note that Cuba is celebrating with an on-site ceremony. And for more on July 26, see Charles McKelvey’s analysis.

The Boston City Council voted today to pass an amended version of Resolution 0618 calling for the End to the U.S. Embargo Against Cuba and for greater medical, cultural, and educational ties between the two countries. Kendra Lara, Boston City Councilor for District Six and member of DSA, introduced the resolution. A press release has been issued by the resolution’s support organizations. For more on this, see the previous post on “The Ambassador’s Visit and the Brookline & Boston Resolutions.”

Pictured are Boston City Councilor Kendra Lara, Cuban Ambassador Lianys Torres Rivera, and Boston Mayor Michelle Wu from a recent meeting at Boston City Hall.

The Ambassador’s Visit and the Brookline & Boston Resolutions

Following up a meeting with friends of Cuba in Miami last month, Cuban Ambassador to the U.S. Lianys Torres Rivera paid a visit to metro-Boston at the end of June to become familiar with the area and meet with political and governmental leaders and groups and supporters working to normalize US-Cuba relations. A special report on the full visit should be available soon and added/linked to this partial account.

Click to enlarge. (clockwise from upper left) At the dinner and meeting with July26.org – (l to r) Second Secretary Yuliette Tain Domínguez, Ambassador Torres Rivera, Judy Freiwirth, Sussen Gazal, Yoav Elinevsky, Marilyn Frankenstein, Peter Miller, Bob Mulcahy, Nalda Vigezzi (missing Diane Stradling, Susan Mirsky); from the Brookline Meet and Greet, Tim Rupprecht, State Representative Tommy Vitolo, the Ambassador and Second Secretary, Sarah Miller; panel at the University Lutheran Church activist/supporter forum, Merri Ansara, the Ambassador and Second Secretary, Nalda Vigezzi, participants/audience during Q&A, Boston City Councilor Kendra Lara at the microphone (photo credits include Sussen Gazal, Bob Mulcahy).

It’s been a busy time for all. July26.org and others just completed a special June 14th program on “60 Years of Resistance – Perspectives on the U.S. Blockade of Cuba” with scholar and solidarity activist Helen Yaffe, the finale to her virtual spring tour across the country. The visit’s timing has been fortuitous and reinforces the importance of the recent passage of Brookline’s Town Meeting Resolution calling for an End to the Embargo and a Boston City Council resolution well on its way. Among her activities, the Ambassador participated in a forum for metro-area friends and activist supporters, met with each of the three primary groups doing Cuba support work, attended a special meet and greet gathering in Brookline, met with Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and the City Council, and sat for an interview with WHMP radio host Bill Newman.

Approximately 60 participated in the special forum on June 29 at the University Lutheran Church in Harvard Square, organized by Massachusetts Peace Action, Democratic Socialists of America/Boston, and the July26.org Boston-Cuba Solidarity Coalition. The event was preceded by a dinner and meeting with July26.org. The Ambassador graciously accepted a special copy of the Brookline resolution in honor of her visit at the gathering there after her meetings at Boston City Hall. A public hearing on the Boston Resolution on July 11* preceded a formal vote at the City Council meeting on July 13.

(Last updated 7/12/22)

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* Note that July 11 is the one year anniversary of the protests in Cuba that were so misunderstood, misrepresented and misreported in most mainstream and right wing media (for more on this, see the reports and analyses here).

Program video on YouTube and Facebook —
Provide Medical Supplies Now & Support Medical Collaboration

60 Years of Resistance:
Perspectives on the U.S. Blockade of Cuba
Tuesday, June 14, 7:00-8:30 EDT
Register at BDSA.us/Cuba

A program with Helen Yaffe, professor of economic and social history at the University of Glasgow and leading spokesperson for the Cuba Solidarity movement, and Daniel Montero, major team member of Belly of the Beast and its award-winning “War on Cuba” series.

Join us for a virtual conversation to learn:
• How Cuba has resisted an economic war waged by the U.S. for over 60 years.
• How the Blockade effects Cuba’s work on climate change and Covid-19.
• What everyday people can do to end the U.S. Embargo.

Presented by the Boston-Cuba Solidarity Coalition and Boston DSA
Cosponsors: Mass Peace Action, Brookline PAX & the First Baptist Church in JP
program flyer

On May Day and More
A special resource list for this program is here.

Click to enlarge; download flyer here.

The anti-Cuban bias of U.S. mainstream media has been documented throughout this website’s pages. Posted. We publish this related letter to the Boston Globe by July 26^th member Calla Walsh to demonstrate our concerns and encourage their further expression. For other examples see the page on “July26.org Member Letters to the Boston Globe and Elsewhere.”

American hypocrisy is glaring

Published in Opinion, p.8 in the print edition and online with the above photo from a previous Marathon by Allison Dinner/NYT and quote: “Runners from Russia and Belarus will not be allowed to compete in the Boston Marathon, the race organizers said on Wednesday, April 6.” Text edited out in red.

The letter drew 39 comments. Note, too, the March Globe article on the attention Calla’s social media comments were receiving­ at www.bostonglobe.com/2022/03/22/metro/cambridge-high-schoolers-homework-assignment-list-positive-effects-imperialism-goes-viral/ —

When I saw that the Boston Athletic Association is banning Russian athletes from the Boston Marathon as punishment for “the invasion [of Ukraine] and subsequent atrocities wrought by Russian armed forces” (”BAA: Russia, Belarus runners out,” Sports, April 7), my first thought was: Does this mean that all American athletes are also banned from the marathon for the hundreds of invasions, war crimes, and atrocities committed by the United States throughout its existence?

Or does the B.A.A. not value the lives of Iraqis, Afghans, Palestinians, Yeminis, and other recent victims of U.S.-led or funded atrocities as much as they value Ukrainian lives? There is a racist double-standard when it comes to which groups the West sees as worthy victims, and it has been evident across the Western media, with networks like the BBC broadcasting remarks such as, “It’s very emotional for me because I see European people with blue eyes and blonde hair being killed.”

Banning Russian and Belarusian athletes from the marathon does nothing to support Ukrainians, promote diplomacy, or move the world toward peace. It only promotes Cold War xenophobia, manufactures consent for military escalation with Russia, and exposes the hypocrisy of the American war machine.

Calla Walsh
Cambridge

Webinar video here. Short video re previous May Day Brigade.
2022 Info & Application at nnoc.org/mayday-brigade-call

The 2022 International May Day Work Brigade (April 24-May 8)
Webinar to Learn More:  Wed, March 16, 7:00-8:30 pm EDT
Register at bit.ly/maydaybrigade

Click graphic to enlarge — flyer available here —
and the 15^th May Day Brigade Call from The Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP) and its Travel Agency Amistur Cuba SA

A video of the program is available here.
Sergio Reyes on Chile from the 2019 Revolts to the 2021 Presidential Election: What’s Next?
Sunday, January 16, 6:30 pm — Join Online Here

Sergio Reyes, political prisoner in Chile and exiled in the U.S., was an organizer, activist, and performer in Boston for 30 years (e.g., from www.sreyes.org), several of them as a leading member of the July 26th Coalition. He moved back to Chile a few years ago and will give us his impressions of the profoundly democratic process happening over the past few years from the 2019 revolt to the rewriting of the Pinochet era constitution to the present presidential election.

Follow-up: Reports and Analyses
Boston Answer Coalition Rally Monday, 5:00, Park St. MBTA (more here)

Reuters, “Fact Check-Photo shows 2018 Cuba May Day march, not 2021 protests,” 14 July 2021, exposed misreporting
of “anti-government demonstration,” one of many mislabeled, misidentified photos in reporting on July 11.
What will November 15 bring?

The partial selection of posts from Walter Lippmann’s CubaNews leading up to the demonstrations being planned for Monday, November 15, in Cuba (see below) give some useful evidence of the disruptions and media war going on since the July 11 protests. Planned for the day when Cuba opens up for tourism, the new school year begins, and the IFCO/Pastors for Peace Friendship Caravan lands in Havana, they illustrate the troubling failure of many of those who previously looked with a critical eye and grasped the role of U.S. government subversion as part of its embargo/blockade (El Bloqueo) regime change policies and practices.

Two pieces from this collection in particular clarify the U.S. role in instigating these disruptions: The US Army Training Circular TC18-01 on Unconventional Warfare cited and linked in the piece on “The United States government is the true organizer and promoter of the provocation mounted for November” and the recent postings from the Cuba Money Project.        Continue reading →