Solidarity network in the U.S. ratifies the struggle against the blockade on Cuba

Representatives of more than 70 organizations of the National Network on Cuba in the United States (NNOC) concluded last night the annual meeting of this broad coalition with a call for the lifting of the blockade of the Caribbean country.

For two days, activists from Michigan and others from South Carolina, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, New York, Minnesota California, Tennessee, Virginia, Washington DC and others who participated on line, met in the city of Detroit to discuss strategies for solidarity work towards 2025. The weekend event was highlighted by an atmosphere of positive energy as this solidarity network continues to push the demand that calls for Biden to take Cuba off of the fictitious list of State Sponsors of Terrorism before he leaves office, while preparing for the next years of Trump in the White House.

On Saturday three other organizations joined the NNOC in the first day of discussions of the event: Arise for Cuba (Chicago); Community Movement Builders (Detroit) and Diaspora Pa’lante (New Jersey).

In its final statement, the NNOC celebrated achievements in “strengthening solidarity with Cuba and advancing the broader struggle to support the removal of Cuba from the list of countries sponsoring terrorism and ending the genocidal U.S. economic embargo against Cuba.”

For the coming year, the “objective is to continue our collaborative efforts with like-minded organizations,” the text stressed, emphasizing that its members will broaden and diversify networks to make the issue of the need to lift the blockade relevant at the local level.

The communiqué emphasized that to raise awareness they will link “the impacts of the blockade with tangible costs, both material and physical, here in the United States; our goal is to make our message resonate with ordinary people, galvanizing broader support,” it stressed.

At the meeting, it was announced that the International Conference on Normalization of U.S.-Cuba Relations will be held in March next year and that the next annual meeting of the NNOC will be held in November 2025 in South Carolina.

On Friday night at the Swords to Plow Shares gallery in downtown Detroit, as a lead up to the conference, there was an inauguration of the exhibition of photographs of the Latin American news agency Prensa Latina commemorating“65 Years in the Service of Truth”, which includes moments in the history of this Cuban media, founded on June 16, 1959 at the initiative of Fidel Castro.

In her account in the social network X, the Chargé d’Affaires of the Cuban Embassy in the United States, Lianys Torres, thanked the numerous expressions of solidarity of the American people, whose voices have been strongly raised against the blockade and the inclusion of the island in the unilateral list of sponsors of terrorism.

Photos: Bill Hackwell

Source: Radio Havana Cuba from Prensa Latina / Resumen