Protests in seven cities demand: Stop US economic war on Cuba!
https://themilitant.com/2021/03/06/protests-in-seven-cities-demand-stop-us-economic-war-on-cuba/
March 15, 2021
Feb. 28 rally in Seattle, one of actions in seven cities in U.S. and
Canada, protest U.S. embargo of Cuba. For more than 60 years Washington
has tried to overthrow Cuban Revolution.
MILITANT/MARY MARTIN
Feb. 28 rally in Seattle, one of actions in seven cities in U.S. and
Canada, protest U.S. embargo of Cuba. For more than 60 years Washington
has tried to overthrow Cuban Revolution.
Opponents of Washington’s economic war against Cuba took to the streets
in seven cities in the U.S. and Canada Feb. 28 — Miami, Seattle, New
York, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Montreal, and Ottawa, Ontario. Car
caravans and rallies demanded an end to punishing U.S. economic,
commercial and financial sanctions.
For more than 60 years Washington has sought to overthrow the workers
and farmers government that came to power after the July 26 Movement led
the overthrow of the U.S.-backed dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista.
With all attempts to destroy the revolution through military
intervention or armed counterrevolutionary bands ending in dismal
failure, every president, Democrat and Republican alike, has waged a
relentless economic war against the Cuban people. They make it as
difficult as possible for Cuba to import food, fertilizer, oil and
medical supplies, and to access international banking services and more.
In the latest move, on Feb. 24 President Joseph Biden renewed
Washington’s declaration of a “national emergency with respect to Cuba.”
First imposed by then President William Clinton in 1996, this gives the
Department of Homeland Security the authority to take possession of any
ship in U.S. waters that Washington says might travel to or from Cuba
without U.S. permission.
Below are reports from several of the Feb. 28 actions.
❖
Montreal
BY KATY LEROUGETEL
Over 50 people in nearly 25 cars drove through the streets here,
sporting Cuban flags and signs denouncing Washington’s embargo against
Cuba. The caravan also expressed support for Cuba’s internationalist
medical brigades, which provide health care in some of the most
underdeveloped regions in the world.
Feb. 28 rallies in Miami, top, and Montreal, bottom, protest
Washington’s economic embargo against Cuba, demand Washington return
Guantánamo military base to Cuban people.
MILITANT PHOTOS: TOP, CHUCK GUERRA; BOTTOM, BEVERLY BERNARDO
Feb. 28 rallies in Miami, top, and Montreal, bottom, protest
Washington’s economic embargo against Cuba, demand Washington return
Guantánamo military base to Cuban people.
The protest was organized by the Cuban Community in Canada group here
and by the Table de concertation de solidarite Quebec-Cuba.
“We will always be Cubans, wherever we are,” participant Yennar Warner,
a Cuban who lives here, told the Militant. “The embargo prevents Cuban
children from getting proper nutrition.”
Mohammed Abdul, a Walmart worker, was at his first protest. “I came to
see the unity among people who are against the embargo,” he said.
Jennie-Laure Sully, from Solidarity Quebec-Haiti, joined the caravan.
She noted that hundreds of volunteer Cuban doctors and nurses have
provided health care in Haiti, one of the poorest countries in the
world. “Without Cuban doctors I think the health situation in Haiti
would be very serious. They’ve been there ever since the [2010]
earthquake,” she said.
Supporters of the caravan greeted it as it arrived at the U.S.
Consulate, handing out informational leaflets to passersby.
“I have never heard of this embargo,” said Gurdeep Singh, a warehouse
worker who took a flyer. “It’s very cool to tell people about this.”
Originally from India, he supports the Indian farmers’ mass protests.
Miami
BY STEVE WARSHELL
“It doesn’t matter if you’re a communist, socialist or capitalist. It
doesn’t matter if you’re a Republican or a Democrat,” Robert Diaz told
the media during the caravan of 30 bicycles and over 100 cars, made up
mostly of Cuban Americans protesting here. “The only one who is
suffering this big problem is the Cuban family. We want to lift the
embargo for the Cuban family.”
The protest in Miami was the largest here so far in the series of
end-of-the-month actions that began last September calling for an end to
the embargo, the repeal of the Helms-Burton Act and the return of the
Guantánamo military base to Cuba.
The caravan got a friendly response as it drove through Cuban
neighborhoods, with some residents coming out of local businesses to
wave as it drove by. Caravan participants were urged to meet again at
the same location March 28.
Seattle
BY MARY MARTIN
Twenty-five people participated in a picket line and rally followed by a
car caravan here to protest the U.S. embargo. The participants included
a half dozen Cuban Americans.
“I am glad to see people here of different generations and different
ideologies,” Carlos Lazo of the Bridges of Love, an anti-embargo group
he initiated, told the rally. “We are all of one mind to end the U.S.
embargo. We need to expand our numbers and keep up these monthly
actions.” He led everyone in chanting, “Cuba sí! Bloqueo no!”
Rebecca Williamson, Socialist Workers Party candidate for Seattle City
Council, pointed to the more than 200 new U.S. measures over the last
four years that have tightened the economic squeeze against the Cuban
people. She said it was important to demand that the U.S. get out of
Guantánamo, which it occupies against the will of the Cuban people. John
Waller from the Seattle Cuba Committee and Jane Cutter of the Party for
Socialism and Liberation also spoke.
As the caravan wound its way through South Seattle it was met with
thumbs up of support from many drivers and working people out shopping.
Los Angeles
BY LAURA GARZA
Some 35 people in 20 cars caravanned to protest Washington’s economic
embargo against Cuba and demand the opening up of the right to travel
and trade with the island.
This was the third monthly caravan sponsored by the LA-US Hands Off Cuba
Committee. Speaking at a brief rally at the start, 27-year-old Cuban
American Nia Mitchell said she had just returned from Cuba and the
situation is difficult for people there with shortages of many items as
a result of U.S. sanctions. “We have to let people know what is
happening,” she said. This was the first time she and her mother had
joined a protest against the embargo.
Mitchell noted that Cuba’s response to COVID-19 and steps to protect its
population stands in stark contrast to the lack of adequate care in the
U.S. Among others speaking at the kickoff of the caravan were Rachel
Brunke, a longtime Cuba solidarity activist from the San Pedro area;
Laura Garza, Socialist Workers Party; Mark Friedman, co-chair of the
sponsoring group; and Scott Scheffer, Socialist Unity Party.
At the busy intersection at La Brea Avenue and Obama Boulevard
participants got out of their cars to hold signs and distribute leaflets
demanding an end to Washington’s economic war.
Minneapolis
BY NICK NEESER and GABBY PROSSER
Passersby responded with honks, waves, raised fists, smiles and thumbs
up to the 20 protesters gathered here in solidarity with Cuba. When we
told one young man who rolled down his window that we are for ending the
U.S. economic embargo against Cuba he responded, “Hands off Cuba!”
“We are part of an international effort to denounce the criminal
blockade against Cuba that’s been imposed by the U.S. government for
more than half a century,” August Nimtz said for the Minnesota Cuba
Committee. “This new administration doesn’t mean anything will change.
We need to continue to put pressure on.”
New York City
BY SARA LOBMAN
Horns honking, a car caravan against the U.S. economic war on Cuba
rounded Columbus Circle three times and ended with a brief rally at the
statue of Cuban revolutionary hero José Martí at the south end of
Central Park. This was the third monthly caravan here sponsored by the
New York-New Jersey Cuba Sí Coalition. Ten cars and 30 people took part.
Andy Arango, a New York native of Cuban and Puerto Rican descent and a
pedicab driver, was one of the speakers at the rally. Arango said as a
teenager in Harlem he was attracted to the fight for Black rights.
Through that fight, he learned about Cuba’s role in helping to liberate
Africa from colonial rule and became a defender of the Cuban Revolution.
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