Statement by Harriet Tubman Center for Social Justice Coordinator John Parker at the Los Angeles City Council hearing on May 24.

Hello, my name is John Thompson Parker. I’m the coordinator of the Harriet Tubman Center for Social Justice. I also ran for the U.S. Senate on the Peace & Freedom Party ticket in 2022, when I received 105,000 votes. 

I was planning on running again for the U.S. Senate. Unfortunately, I may not be able to do that because a few weeks ago, I had a very dangerous stroke that required surgery to get a blood clot out of my brain. I temporarily lost the ability to move my right side. My communication ability is still challenged.

My surgeon said it would be important to be seen by a neurologist and a cardiologist, in addition to a speech therapist, as soon as possible. Unfortunately, my HMO medical plan made it impossible to schedule these specialists until more than a month after my stroke. This wait is a problem since a stroke is more likely to repeat within a month, which could create dire medical consequences or death.

People who look like me share that same situation of lack of health care. The Los Angeles Times quoted a report in the Journal of the American Medical Association this month that showed the higher mortality rate among African Americans, which resulted in 1.63 million excess deaths relative to white people in this country over more than two decades. These deaths are fueled by the higher rate of heart disease and the enormous number of Black people who died from COVID-19 in 2020.

But Cuba is making a difference for people who look like me in Latin America and on the African continent because they’re getting health assistance from the Cuban government – especially during the COVID crisis. Vaccines and doctors and clinics. Cuba developed four new COVID vaccines along with a new diabetes drug that prevents amputations. 

This makes a huge difference in the world, and it could make a difference in South Central and East LA, where your Black and Brown constituents reside. Cuba tried to show up for Black people here in the U.S. Remember Hurricane Katrina and the flooding in New Orleans. Cuba had hundreds of doctors and relief workers ready to help and could have prevented deaths, but then-President George W. Bush refused to allow that Cuban-provided aid. 

We recently invited delegates of the Cuban Mission to the United Nations to talk, among other things, about the health care that could help your constituents. The mayor’s office found out the Cuban diplomats were in LA, and the vice-mayor met with the Cuban delegates before our event at the Harriet Tubman Center.

Our meeting showed how our communities can benefit with more doctors and more clinics. Cuba can also provide urgently-needed diabetes drugs and preventive COVID medicine. Cuba even trains doctors for free – young constituents in your districts can go to Cuba, become doctors, and come back and serve in our oppressed communities debt free.

The meeting with the two Cuban diplomats occurred on April 19, one day before I almost died from a stroke on April 20. I now understand how Cuban-provided health care that prioritizes the most oppressed communities would help me. I continue to be in jeopardy, waiting to see specialists. That is the same situation of Black and Brown members of your constituency and my community. 

One thing that is stopping Cuba from being able to help us is the designation of Cuba as a State Sponsor Of Terrorism (SSOT). President Obama took Cuba off the list. The Trump administration put Cuba back on that list, and unfortunately, President Biden has continued that policy. We are here today to ask you to join with others to call on President Biden to help Cuba and help us.

I have a long list of 100 or so city councils, labor unions, and community organizations – including the city council of Washington, D.C., the capital of this country – that have passed resolutions that call on President Biden to take Cuba off of the list of State Sponsors of Terrorism and lift the U.S. blockade of Cuba, policies that deeply harm the ability of the Cuban government and its people to carry on with the basic functions of life.  

This request for the Los Angeles City Council to pass the resolution to take Cuba off the SSOT list and end the U.S. blockade is supported by many groups and individuals, including the Harriet Tubman Center for Social Justice; the Black Alliance For Peace; Unión del Barrio; Pastor William Smart Jr., president of the Southern California Southern Christian Leadership Congress; and Code Pink. 

Hopefully, this wish won’t be a dying request as I wait for the time when I can finally see the brain and heart specialists in June. Hopefully, my experience will help you see that passing this resolution will benefit your constituents in our oppressed communities, who also suffer from the same life-threatening lack of health care. Take this resolution seriously.

Resolution Urging that Cuba Be Removed from the U.S. List of State Sponsors of Terrorism

Presented to the Los Angeles City Council on May 24, 2023

WHEREAS: President Biden has the authority to remove Cuba from the State Sponsors of Terrorism list by executive order, and to recommit to the normalization of relations with Cuba begun by the Obama-Biden administration; and

WHEREAS: For the past 62 years, the United States has imposed an economic, commercial and financial embargo on Cuba that prevents most engagement and trade with the United States, and punishes other countries that engage with Cuba; and

WHEREAS: Los Angeles would benefit from the economic and health care exchanges – due to the lack of health care suffered by Black and Brown communities, with especially higher deaths from COVID and heart disease; and 

WHEREAS: Cuba can also provide urgently-needed diabetes drugs and preventive COVID medicine, provide doctors and clinics in the City of Los Angeles, and whereas Cuba has programs so that Los Angeles residents go to Cuba, train to become doctors and come back and serve in our oppressed communities debt free; and

WHEREAS: The only thing stopping Cuba from being able to provide these essential health care needs to Los Angeles is the designation of Cuba as a State Sponsor Of Terrorism (SSOT) and the U.S. embargo; and

WHEREAS: The consequences of this embargo continue to inflict daily hardships and deprivations on the Cuban people, creating shortages of basic necessities like food and medicine, and severely restricting international financial and trade opportunities; prevents Cuba from obtaining vital medical equipment and supplies, and even impedes humanitarian aid responses to catastrophic events like Hurricane Ian which devastated both Florida and Cuba, thus harming the Cuban people who President Biden’s administration claims to support; and

WHEREAS: The United Nations in 2017 estimated that this embargo had cost the Cuban economy $130 billion, averaging more than $2 billion each year; and

WHEREAS: The United Nations General Assembly voted to condemn the U.S. embargo against Cuba for the 30th time on Nov. 3, 2022, with 185 of 193 nations decisively voting in favor, and only the United States and Israel opposed; and

WHEREAS: The Trump administration imposed 243 new sanctions on Cuba, including restrictions on Cuban Americans who send remittances to families and businesses in Cuba. These sanctions contribute to a mass migration of Cubans, creating U.S. border security concerns; and

WHEREAS: Former President Trump arbitrarily reinstated Cuba’s designation as a State Sponsor of Terrorism less than a week after the Jan. 6, 2021, attempted coup, reversing the Obama-Biden administration’s 2015 decision to remove this status after an exhaustive review by the U.S. State Department, although Cuba does not satisfy any criteria for inclusion on this list; and

WHEREAS: Cuba’s arbitrary designation has subjected it to further sanctions and international financial restrictions that limit the nation’s ability to carry out critical financial transactions, including those needed to advance efforts to combat the COVID pandemic and improve its economy; and

WHEREAS: In 2021, 117 members of the U.S. Congress called for the removal of Cuba from this list, noting in a letter, “a policy of engagement with Cuba serves U.S. interests and those of the Cuban people”;

Therefore:

Be it RESOLVED that ____________________strongly urges President Biden and Congress, each federal representative in its jurisdiction, to call on the federal government to remove Cuba from the United States list of State Sponsors of Terrorism; and

Be It Further RESOLVED that_______________________urges our congressional delegation to pass legislation that will eliminate those aspects of the embargo that have been codified into law; and remove all sanctions against Cuba by the United States. Allow the peoples of the United States and Cuba to travel and trade freely between the countries; and

Be It Further RESOLVED that_______________________issues a press release regarding the details of this resolution to its media contacts within its jurisdiction.

Conga, the traditional music and dance ensemble of Cuban carnival, with its pounding percussion, colorful costumes, and swirling dance, is beloved throughout the Caribbean and around the world. 

A very special Conga took place in Havana on May 13 – the Conga Against Homophobia and Transphobia. Much like Pride Month celebrations in the U.S., Conga is both a proclamation and celebration of Cuba’s LGBTQ+ community. 

This year was the first in-person Conga held since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. With 95% of Cuba’s population vaccinated with the country’s excellent locally developed vaccines, the event was able to go full-steam ahead.

The sweltering heat and threatening clouds of previous days had relented, and there was much to celebrate. Last autumn, Cubans overwhelmingly approved a national referendum on a new Families Code – one that vastly expands the legal rights of queer families and all families. 

That victory was encapsulated in the theme of this year’s Conga, “Por todas las familias, el amor es ley”: For all families, love is the law.

Congas in Havana and Sancti Spíritus are highlights of the annual Cuban Days against Homophobia and Transphobia, marked this year from May 3-20. A visiting delegation of LGBTQ+ activists from the U.S., organized by Women in Struggle-Mujeres en Lucha, joined the Havana march.

As a crowd gathered near the Malecon in the late afternoon, friends old and new embraced, groups held aloft banners and flags, and activists posed for photos. A huge orange truck festooned with blue, white, and pink Trans Pride flags rounded the corner, carrying loudspeakers and drag performers, waved in by Malú Cano Valladares, coordinator of the Transcuba Nacional network.

Conga musicians and dancers took their places and warmed up while dozens of hands took hold of the massive rainbow flag brought by Cenesex – Cuba’s National Center for Sex Education. 

At the front of the march, holding a long banner nearly the width of the street, an array of activists from Cenesex, Transcuba, HSH gay men’s network, and the Network of Lesbian and Bisexual Women, were joined by international guests, including Puerto Rican trans matriarch Dianne Trinidad and Deirdre Deans, a Black lesbian member of the U.S. delegation.

They marched alongside Cuban First Lady Lis Cuesta Peraza, Cenesex director Mariela Castro Espín, Vice Minister of Public Health Carilda Peña, and Jorge Luís Broche, head of the Department of Attention to the Social Sector of the Communist Party of Cuba.

As the march stepped off, families, neighbors, and coworkers gathered on sidewalks and leaned out of windows to watch and cheer on the Conga. Some brought signs and banners of support.  Parents hoisted children on their shoulders to watch. No hate groups were jeering or protesting from the sidelines – only solidarity and joy.

The day’s most popular chant was “Socialismo sí, homofobia/transfobia, no!” – yes to socialism, no to homophobia and transphobia. Other chants celebrated the Families Code and denounced the U.S. blockade that causes grave harm to Cuba’s queer community and all Cuban people.

As the march concluded, the thousands of participants joined a festival prepared in their honor. People ate, danced, talked, and flirted long into the night. Tomorrow, the work continues to educate and enact “the most advanced family code in the world,” in the words of Cenesex’s Castro Espín.

Taimur Rahman of the Mazdoor Kisan Party explains the current political crisis in Pakistan, where mass protests have broken out following the arrest of former Prime Minister Imran Khan. He talks about why Imran Khan was arrested at this point, and the conflict between him and the establishment over the past year. He also talks about the role of the left in the current moment.

Richard “Watergate” Nixon declared, “I am not a crook.” Subway vigilante Daniel Penny – who choked to death Black homeless man Jordan Neely – says, “I am not a white supremacist.”

Penny made that statement to the New York Post, which, like Fox News, is owned by Rupert Murdoch’s media empire. The racist rag put Penny’s picture on its Sunday, May 21, front cover with the headline “Nothing about race.” 

It was all about race when Daniel Penny strangled Jordan Neely for 15 minutes in a New York City subway car. That doesn’t stop the capitalist media and politicians from defaming the dead victim and trying to make his killer a hero.

As Malcolm X pointed out, the media “…have the power to make the innocent guilty and to make the guilty innocent.” We have to use the power of the people to turn that around.

Over $2.6 million has been raised for the vigilante on the GiveSendGo site, which describes itself as “the #1 Christian fundraising site.” 

GiveSendGo collected dough for the fascists who were allowed to storm the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Another recipient was Kyle Rittenhouse, who killed two anti-racists during a Black Lives Matter demonstration in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

Super bigot Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, now a presidential candidate, wants to ban Black history and has banned gender-affirming care for transgender youth. He’s urging his followers to donate for the killer.

So have fascist members of Congress Marjorie Taylor Greene and Matt Gaetz. Greene calls the vigilante a “hero.”

The campaign to defend Penny comes right from the filthy top of capitalist society.

“Free Daniel Penny” was the title of William McGurn’s May 15 column in the Wall Street Journal, another Murdoch publication. McGurn was chief speechwriter for war criminal George W. Bush, who lynched Iraq. At least 280,000 Iraqi civilians have been killed since the U.S. invasion. 

Capitalism’s last refuge is hate 

Food prices are soaring, rents have gone through the roof, and an inevitable economic recession is coming sooner than later. So how can apologists for capitalism hope to defend their rotten system?

Hate is their weapon, including hatred against homeless people like Jordan Neely. The greatest crime under capitalism is to be poor.

The New York Post claimed that 20 homeless veterans were kicked out of two Orange County, New York, hotels to make room for immigrants. The May 13 story was a complete hoax intended to stir up hatred against migrant families and their children.

Every bigoted politician is targeting trans folk, particularly children. The capitalist war drive needs you to hate Russia and China.

“The United States of Lyncherdom” was how Mark Twain described the U.S. in 1901. The year before, South Carolina Senator Ben Tillman defended lynching before the U.S. Senate. 

The first Hollywood blockbuster was “Birth of a Nation,” which showed and justified a lynching. It was shown in the White House to President Woodrow Wilson, a racist who segregated federal office buildings. 

The film glorified the Ku Klux Klan and was used for decades by the cross-burners to recruit more members.

The five “Death Wish” movies starring Charles Bronson hailed vigilante violence. The New York Post and racist politicians celebrated the vigilante Bernard Goetz, who shot four Black youths in a subway car in 1984. Today they’re hailing the vigilante Daniel Penny.

As Ben Tillman did a century ago, the defenders of Penny are supporting lynching. Poor and working people have to reject their slimy campaign and demand that Daniel Penny be jailed.

Upholding the legacy of Malcolm X and commemorating the Palestinian Nakba, Nkosi Zwelivelile Mandela — grandson of Nelson Mandela — spoke to a gathering at San Francisco State University on May 19.

Mandela was on a tour of the U.S. commemorating the 75th anniversary of the Nakba. Nakba is an Arabic word meaning “catastrophe” that refers to the 1948 expulsion of 750,000 Palestinians from their homes upon the formation of the settler-colonial state of Israel.

Today, nearly five million Palestinian refugees continue to demand their right to return to the homes and lands from which they were exiled.

To commemorate the Nakba, the U.S. Palestinian Community Network (USPCN) and the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (NAARPR) arranged the U.S. tour.

The tour’s keynote speaker was political activist Nkosi Zwelivelile Mandela, an elected member of the South African National Assembly and chief of the Mvezo Traditional Council.

In an interview before speaking at a tour event in Milwaukee, Mandela said, “As South Africans, we have been in the struggle against colonialism for hundreds of years and 60 years against a brutal apartheid regime. We have been able to gain our freedom … with support from the global community.

“We have been able, through the United Nations, to declare apartheid a crime against humanity. That should mean there would be no other apartheid state anywhere.”

He said his grandfather’s cause “that’s very close to me is being a voice for the oppressed. In 1995, on his visit to Gaza, Nelson Mandela said to the Palestinians that our freedom in South Africa is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians.”

Mandela continued: “In my visit to the West Bank in 2017, I witnessed the daily lives lived by Palestinians under occupation. I could not look away from the clear evidence of the violence and atrocities made against ordinary men, women and children, political prisoners in detention without trial. I came away from that experience with the realization that Palestinians are witnessing the worst apartheid regime we’ve ever seen.”

Another featured speaker on May 19 was Clarence Thomas, a retired International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Local 10 member in San Francisco.

In 1968, Thomas was a student at San Francisco State and a member of the Black Student Union Central Committee. They initiated the longest student strike in U.S. history and established the first Black Studies Department and a School of Ethnic Studies.

When Thomas spoke, he said, “The longshore workers are responsible for loading and unloading maritime cargo. We are some of the most important workers in the global supply chain. There is no labor union in the world that has provided more solidarity support for sisters and brothers of Palestine than ILWU Local 10.

“In 2010, following the Israeli commandos’ attack upon the Gaza flotilla Mavi Marmara, a labor-community picket line prevented the working of a vessel from Zim, an Israeli shipping line. For 24 hours, longshore workers refused to work that ship in protest of the murder of humanitarian activists on their way to Gaza.

“In 2014, the ‘Block the Boat’ coalition kept the Zim ship Piraeus from unloading maritime cargo for four days. The Zim integrated shipping services website indicated that there were no more Zim dockings in Oakland beyond that date.”

Thomas continued, “Local 10 has been on the front lines in defending our sisters and brothers in Palestine. In June 2021 ‘Block the Boat 2’ took place at the Port of Oakland, and for several days, Local 10 dock workers refused to unload cargo from another apartheid Israel Zim ship.

“The Arab Resource and Organizing Center posted the following message: ‘After two blockades honored by ILWU Local 10, we have successfully turned away the apartheid profiteering Zim shipping line from the Port of Oakland. The international week of action continues to ensure that Zim is turned away everywhere!’

“That is the power of the working class at the point of production. An injury to one is an injury to all!”

La Habana – Lo primero que notas al venir de los EE. UU. a la hermosa isla de Cuba es lo relajada que es la gente. Pasan el rato hasta altas horas de la noche, charlando, jugando al dominó, escuchando música o simplemente pasando tiempo con sus vecinos. 

Lo segundo que notas es que los funcionarios del gobierno no temen a las personas que representan. Es verdaderamente un gobierno del pueblo y para el pueblo. 

A diferencia de los funcionarios del gobierno estadounidense que no se mezclan con la gente, Lis Cuesta Peraza, esposa del presidente cubano Miguel Díaz-Canel, y la diputada a la Asamblea Nacional Mariela Castro Espín marcharon entre la gente en la Conga Contra la Homofobia y la Transfobia sin ningún elemento de seguridad.

Cuando visitamos el Capitolio en La Habana el 12 de mayo, no había guardias armados rodeando el edificio donde se reúne la Asamblea Nacional del Poder Popular. En la entrada había dos guardias que dieron el pase a nuestra delegación de activistas LGBTQ+ de EE. UU. A través del edificio nos acompañó Sergio Martínez, un diputado de la asamblea, quien se reunió con nosotros y nos explicó el proceso político cubano. 

La Asamblea Nacional tiene 470 diputados electos. No reciben un salario por su servicio y no se les permite obtener fondos de campaña. También están sujetos a revocación por parte de la gente de sus distritos en cualquier momento. Por lo tanto, no se pueden comprar y no pueden traicionar a los distritos que representan allí. 

Los diputados deben mantener sus trabajos en las profesiones que eligieron. ¡Qué contraste con los miembros del Congreso de EE. UU. y otros funcionarios electos que son propiedad y están controlados por cabilderos corporativos y dinero oscuro!

En el Capitolio trabajan durante todo el año el presidente, el vicepresidente, el secretario de la asamblea, los presidentes de las comisiones y su personal. Pero la mayoría de los diputados electos trabajan en sus comunidades y se reúnen en La Habana dos veces al año. Si es necesario, el presidente puede convocar una reunión especial para discutir asuntos urgentes. 

A fines de mayo de 2023 se realizará una sesión especial para discutir y aprobar la legislación de Comunicaciones Sociales, para proteger al pueblo cubano de la constante guerra de desinformación que libra Estados Unidos. 

El gobierno de EE. UU. espera que esta guerra de desinformación pueda funcionar con la juventud cubana porque saben que no ha funcionado con los cubanos mayores, quienes recuerdan cómo era el país bajo el yugo de Washington antes de la revolución: donde los niños morían de hambre y otras enfermedades curables, la gente vivía en chozas, y la mayoría de la población era analfabeta.

Pero incluso la juventud cubana, especialmente la de la Unión de la Juventud Comunista y la Federación de Estudiantes Universitarios, sigue defendiendo su revolución y su patria. “Aunque estamos agradecidos por la solidaridad que el mundo nos ha mostrado, no podemos esperar a que nadie defienda nuestra revolución; tenemos que seguir construyendo nuestra revolución y una Cuba mejor hoy”, aseveró una joven dirigente de la federación.

Elecciones en Cuba

Cuando se trata del proceso electoral en Cuba, inmediatamente se nota que las mentiras y la desinformación también se propagan a la gente de los EE. UU. con respecto a las elecciones “corruptas” en Cuba. 

Hay un solo partido político, el Partido Comunista de Cuba. Pero cualquiera puede postularse para un cargo. Los candidatos son seleccionados por la comunidad en la que viven y trabajan. Cada vecindario da de 2 a 8 nominaciones para delegados que son bien conocidos y respetados por su comunidad, por lo que las campañas de estilo capitalista no están permitidas ni son necesarias. Representan a sus barrios en la Asamblea Municipal.

De estos, se seleccionan los candidatos a la Asamblea Nacional. El cincuenta por ciento de los candidatos pasan por este proceso. El otro 50% de los candidatos postulados provienen de las organizaciones de masas de la sociedad civil, donde se encuentran la Federación de Mujeres Cubanas, Comités de Defensa de la Revolución, Central de Trabajadores de Cuba, y otras.

Todas las nominaciones luego van a la Comisión Nacional de Candidaturas, donde son examinadas minuciosamente. No se exige que un candidato sea miembro del Partido Comunista, aunque muchos lo son. Esto desacredita totalmente la afirmación del gobierno de los Estados Unidos de que el Partido Comunista de Cuba selecciona la legislatura.

Los políticos capitalistas estadounidenses nunca podrán entender la integridad, la honestidad o el servicio al pueblo porque se les pone en el poder para satisfacer las necesidades y los deseos de la clase dominante. 

La Comisión Nacional de Candidaturas propone una lista final de candidatos, que vuelve a las Asambleas Municipales para su aprobación, y finalmente a las elecciones generales. En cualquier parte de este proceso, los cubanos pueden rechazar a un candidato, pero deben proporcionar evidencia de por qué creen que el candidato no puede servir.

Actualmente, el 55% de los delegados a la Asamblea Nacional son mujeres. Un 73% de la gente votó en las últimas elecciones. Compare eso con los EE. UU., donde poco más de la mitad de la población votante participó en las elecciones generales de 2020. 

Una vez instalada la Asamblea Nacional, los diputados eligen al presidente, vicepresidente y secretario del parlamento, así como al presidente y vicepresidente de la República y a los miembros del Consejo de Estado. 

Por ley, un miembro del parlamento lleva el voto y los asuntos de su comunidad, reuniéndose con su electorado una vez al mes. El trabajo de un miembro de la Asamblea Nacional es uno de servicio sin remuneración. Viven en sus comunidades y se les puede pedir que respondan a un vecino constituyente en medio de la noche después de un largo día de trabajo. Están obligados por ley y por deber a responder con prontitud. El pueblo tiene derecho a solicitar la destitución de cualquier funcionario electo.

El papel del Partido Comunista es desarrollar las directrices para el desarrollo de una sociedad socialista. El mandato del Partido es satisfacer las necesidades de la mayoría de los cubanos, tener justicia social para todos y asegurar que cada cubano pueda expresarse y participar en el desarrollo del tipo de sociedad que los cubanos quieren. 

Contrariamente al papel declarado de los “representantes” en los EE. UU., la realidad para el pueblo es que la justicia no existe, hay falta de vivienda, no hay  atención médica,  hambre y violencia sancionada por el estado.

Proceso legislativo

Para que una legislación se convierta en ley, debe ser aprobada por la Asamblea Nacional. En el caso de leyes que afecten a toda la población, el pueblo deberá votar por ellas.

El Consejo de Estado se reúne entre las dos sesiones anuales. Veintiún diputados son elegidos por la Asamblea Nacional para servir en el consejo. Su cargo es servir a la legislatura mediante la organización y recopilación de información sobre los problemas presentados por sus electores u organizaciones de masas. 

La legislación es preparada por un grupo de expertos que desarrollan un borrador de propuesta. Luego va a los respectivos sectores para recibir aportes; por ejemplo, los agricultores tendrán aportes en cualquier legislación que afecte a los agricultores. Cualquiera que tenga interés en el tema puede solicitar su inclusión en la discusión y el  desarrollo de la ley.

Después de que la Asamblea Nacional aprueba una nueva legislación importante, puede ir a referéndum para que la gente vote sí o no. Tal fue el caso del Código de Familias, aprobado en Cuba el año pasado, una ley que está muy por delante de cualquier país, especialmente de Estados Unidos, en lo que se refiere a las familias y la comunidad LGBTQ+. (Un artículo futuro sobre el Código de Familias explorará esto más a fondo).

El interés del pueblo cubano es primordial para la Asamblea Nacional. Imagínese si nosotros en los EE. UU. realmente pudiéramos tener líderes que hicieran que nuestros intereses fueran más importantes que los intereses de Big Oil, Big Pharma o Big Banks. Imagine a nuestros representantes trabajando para el desarrollo de una vida mejor para todas las personas en los EE. UU.

Estos sinvergüenzas, nuestros llamados “representantes”, no saben nada de sacrificio, servicio o compromiso. Nunca renunciarán voluntariamente a sus donantes millonarios, sus mansiones y sus costosas vacaciones pagadas por estos donates. Solo una revolución socialista en los EE. UU. les arrebatará el poder y se lo devolverá al pueblo donde pertenece.

Impacto del bloqueo económico Estadounidense

El diputado Sergio Martínez terminó nuestra reunión como la mayoría de las personas con las que nos reunimos terminaron sus reuniones, con una discusión sobre cómo las sanciones más largas impuestas a cualquier país han impactado y continúan impactando al pueblo de Cuba. Habló de su impacto en la producción de energía, la agricultura y la medicina.

“La administración Biden no ha sido amiga y de hecho ha sido más dañina con la desinformación, el bloqueo y ahora poniendo a Cuba en la lista de estados patrocinadores del terrorismo”, explicó Martínez. 

Cuando visitamos el Memorial de la Denuncia en La Habana, me asqueó el descaro del gobierno imperialista norteamericano de tener una lista de los llamados “Estados patrocinadores del terrorismo”. Este mismo gobierno de Estados Unidos ha hecho llover torturas, violaciones y asesinatos sobre Cuba, en todo el mundo y sobre sus propios ciudadanos. Llamar a cualquier otro país  terrorista es simplemente hipocresía al más alto nivel. 

Una reunión reciente de países latinoamericanos votó en contra de la exclusión de Cuba y exigió el fin del bloqueo, así como sacar a Cuba de la lista de terroristas.

“No podemos esperar a que Estados Unidos ponga fin al bloqueo. Tenemos que desarrollar nuestro país con él todavía en su lugar. La soberanía es un derecho al que no renunciaremos a como dé lugar ni a ningún precio”, afirmó el humilde y revolucionario servidor del pueblo cubano.

SATURDAY, MAY 27, 2023, AT 3:30 PM CDT
Louisiana March for LGBTQ Youth
Louisiana State Capitol

Before a single anti-LGBTQ, anti-child bill lands on his desk, we need to put public pressure on the Governor to use his veto power now. We also need to send a strong message to legislators who might already be thinking of orchestrating another BS veto override session. We’re taking to the streets again to defend LGBTQ youth, and we want see folks from every part of Louisiana there with us.

Want to volunteer? Need a ride? Visit linktr.ee/realnamecampaignnola

Organization or media inquiries can be sent to realnamecampaignnola@gmail.com

WE DEMAND:
-VETO ALL ANTI-LGBTQ, ANTI-CHILD BILLS
-NO VETO OVERRIDE SESSION
-LET MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS PROVIDE CARE TO YOUTH
-MAKE PUBLIC SCHOOLS SAFE FOR LGBTQ STUDENTS AND TEACHERS
-STOP ATTACKS ON LIBRARY AND INTERNET ACCESS
-STOP CRIMINALIZING KIDS

May 27, 2022 – Rally

From Chris Smalls, Amazon Labor Union president. 

May 22, 2023

“On May Day, I joined a delegation of organizers on a trip to Cuba to show solidarity with the Cuban people and call out the injustice that is an economic blockade designed to harm workers and the people on the island.

Let’s make one thing very clear: The blockade isn’t designed to hurt the political leaders in Cuba or whatever nonsense people say to defend a Cold War-era policy. The blockade is designed to hurt the people – full stop.

Our group had to fill our suitcases with medical supplies like syringes and antibiotics because hospitals literally cannot access even basic life-saving instruments. Just imagine losing a friend or a family member just because American politicians are still so stuck in the past. They are willing to let folks die.

Enough. Show solidarity with the workers of Cuba and all of the people who have suffered for literally no reason, and join us in demanding an end to the blockade.

Nearly every country in the United Nations has called out the United States for its brutal economic sanctions on Cuba, all because they want to propagate the lies spread by massive corporations about the island. Massive companies are actually that threatened by even just a small society that dares to exist without their profiteering.

Throughout its history, Cuba has been a bastion of workers’ rights. And that’s exactly why the rich and powerful are so dedicated to keeping the people there down.

But worker solidarity doesn’t stop at the border – or any border. After decades of completely avoidable economic struggle, it’s time for the United States to listen to the rest of the world and end this pointless blockade. Sign your name to show your solidarity.

In solidarity,

Chris Smalls
President
Amazon Labor Union

Spanish version

Pronunciamiento Sindicato Amazónico Sobre Cuba: ¡Terminen El Bloqueo!

De Chris Smalls, presidente del Sindicato de Trabajadores de Amazon… [Del sitio web de ALU.]

POR FAVOR COMPARTE AMPLIAMENTE.

“El Primero de Mayo, me uní a una delegación de organizadores en un viaje a Cuba para mostrar solidaridad con el pueblo cubano y denunciar la injusticia que es un bloqueo económico diseñado para dañar a los trabajadores y al pueblo de la isla.

Dejemos una cosa muy clara: el bloqueo no está diseñado para dañar a los líderes políticos en Cuba o cualquier tontería que diga la gente para defender una política de la Guerra Fría. El bloqueo está diseñado para lastimar a la gente, punto final.

Nuestro grupo tuvo que llenar nuestras maletas con suministros médicos como jeringas y antibióticos porque los hospitales literalmente no pueden acceder ni siquiera a los instrumentos básicos para salvar vidas. Imagínese perder a un amigo o familiar solo porque los políticos estadounidenses todavía están tan atrapados en el pasado. Están dispuestos a dejar morir a la gente.

Suficiente. Muestre solidaridad con los trabajadores de Cuba y todas las personas que han sufrido literalmente sin razón, y únase a nosotros para exigir el fin del bloqueo >>

Casi todos los países de las Naciones Unidas han criticado a Estados Unidos por sus brutales sanciones económicas contra Cuba, todo porque quieren propagar las mentiras difundidas por las corporaciones masivas sobre la isla. Las empresas masivas en realidad están tan amenazadas incluso por una pequeña sociedad que se atreve a existir sin su especulación.

A lo largo de su historia, Cuba ha sido un bastión de los derechos de los trabajadores. Y es exactamente por eso que los ricos y poderosos están tan dedicados a mantener a la gente ahí abajo.

Pero la solidaridad de los trabajadores no se detiene en la frontera, ni en ninguna frontera. Después de décadas de lucha económica completamente evitable, es hora de que Estados Unidos escuche al resto del mundo y ponga fin a este bloqueo sin sentido. Firma con tu nombre para mostrar tu solidaridad.

En solidaridad,

Chris Smalls-Presidente sindicato amazónico (Amazon Labor Union)