From: laborexchange@aol.com
Sent: Jun 24, 2007 12:44 PM
To: LaborExchange@aol.com
Subject: Cuban Workshops in the US Social Forum- Atlanta, GA
Dear Friends,
We are sending you information concerning the U.S. Social
Forum: "Another World Is Possible * Another U.S. Is Necessary" which
will take place from June 27-July 1, 2007 in Atlanta, GA. The
National Network On Cuba will be presenting four workshops at the
forum. The information which follows lists the Cuba workshops at the
USSF. Complete workshop details as well as logistical information is
available on the website for the Forum:
https://www.ussf2007.org/.
Be sure to check the times and locations in case of any changes.
Cuba and the US Social Forum
The USSF is of great importance to Cuba. Those of us who have
participated in the World Social Forum in the past know of the high
level of involvement of Cuban institutions, NGOs and cultural workers
in these activities. In fact, Cuban trade union and NGO
representatives have been key participants in the WSF process since
its inception.
Why are so few Cubans with us in Atlanta?
Because the Bush Administration does not want Cuba developing
relationships with US social movement organizations. There will be at
least 3 Cubans who have dual citizenship participating in workshops.
They are: Rev. Dora Arce and Rev. Reinerio Arce, and Roberto
Gonzalez, brother of Rene Gonzalez, one of the Cuban 5.
Workshops Related to Cuba at the USSF
(All schedules tentative, check program to confirm)
2376 Cuba's role in Global Health
In conjunction with YES magazine (editor Sarah
Van Gelder), we are proposing a 2 hour panel; session. This session will
address Cuba's important role in addressing the crisis in global health, and
in the necessity of expanding the global health workforce. The basic
foundation is that health is a human right. The panel will deal with issues
of social and economic equity, access to health, disparity, race, and
poverty. Participants will be engaged actively in role playing exercises and
discussions. The session will be conducted in English. Equipment will be
provided, as well as handouts. We plan to include in the panel several
experts on Cuba's health care system, as well as a student who has graduated
from Cuba's Latin American Medical School.
The biggest challenge our organization faces is
the U.S. Embargo against Cuba. We are committed to disseminate information
about the Cuban health care system, since it is very difficult for people to
travel to Cuba for first hand experiences. MEDICC does this by publishing a
quarterly journal, an on-line report on Cuba Health News and distributing
the film, SALUD.
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3559 Che's Living legacy of Internationalism: A Guide for the Antiwar
Movement
Fight imperialism Stand Together (FIST)
This session will be on: June 30, 2007 - 10:30am
It will be held at:
Georgia Ballroom East room at the Renaissance Atlanta Hotel Downtown
National Network On Cuba
Session Description:
The Cuban right wing in the US is increasingly powerful. Within this
sector are organizations bent on overthrowing Cuba through violence and
terrorism directed towards the island. Often in direct collusion with US
government entities, these groups – financed by wealthy right wing
Cubans – has sponsored, planned and carried out brazen acts of terrorism
against Cuba, including the mid-air bombing of a Cuban airliner in 1976,
sabotage of Cuban agricultural and industrial facilities, assassination
attempts against Fidel Castro (as late as 2000) and many other Cuban
leaders, the murder of Cuban citizens, and in more recent years the
bombing of hotels and nightclubs leading to the death of one Italian
tourist and the injuring of others.
The Cuban government has frequently
registered complaints at the international level and with the US
government about such activities, which these days are directed
primarily from south Florida. In 1998 the Cubans provided ample
information to the FBI regarding planned and carried out acts of
terrorism directed from Miami. Instead of acting on this information to
curtail the activities of such groups, the FBI moved to arrest a group
of Cuban intelligence agents who had gone to south Florida in order to
collect such information.
The “Cuban Five” are those who were
arrested, endured 17 months of solitary confinement and then went
through a seven month trial in Miami. They were convicted in 2001 and
received prison sentences ranging from 15 years to two life sentences.
They are housed separately in federal penitentiaries throughout the
country.
An appeal by the Five to the 11th Circuit in
Atlanta resulted in a reversal of their convictions by a three judge
panel in August 2005, based on the fact that they could not possibly
receive a fair trial in Miami, dominated as it is by the Cuban-American
power structure. Attorney General Alberto González took the unusual
measure of requesting a re-hearing of the appeal en banc, or by the
entire eleven judge panel. After another year of deliberation, the
majority of the Court of Appeals voted to reinstate the convictions. At
present, numerous points other than the venue issue are being appealed
before the smaller panel. The five remain in federal prisons in separate
locations throughout the US. Their case has received little publicity in
the United States.
The most important thing about the Five is
that they are people just like us, who have committed their lives to the
struggle for social justice, and they are paying a high price for doing
just that. They could have reached plea agreements with federal
prosecutors and probably been freed long ago.
We propose a Cuban Five workshop that will
cover different aspects of this important case, including human right
violations, family visitation rights, the legal aspect of the case, the
political implication, the history of terrorism against Cuba, the work
in the United States and abroad. The workshop will be in the form of a
panel, with most or all of the following themes/participants:
1. Legal Aspects of the Case: Leonard
Weinglass, leading attorney for the Cuban Five
2. US Terrorism Against Cuba: Andres Gomez, Editor of Areito Digital and
member of the Alianza Martiana based in Miami
3. The case of the Cuban Five: Gloria La Riva (National Committee to
Free the Cuban Five)
4. Family visitation rights and the human aspect of the case: Alicia
Jrapko (International Committee for the Freedom of the Cuban Five–US)
5. Ongoing US campaigns for the Five:
a) Rainbow for the Five Teresa Gutierrez (NY Committee to Free the Cuban
Five)
b) New York Times campaign Benjamin Ramos (The Popular Education Project
to Free the Cuban Five)
6. International Solidarity: Graciela Ramirez (International Committee
for the Freedom of the Cuban Five –Cuba)
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2948 The Latin American School of Medicine-Study Medicine in Cuba on full
Scholarship
IFCO