Nova Scotia Cuba Association

2012-01-24T00:41:00.006-04:30

Los Primos Project

45 White St.,

Dartmouth, NS, B2X 2P6

(902) 401-2104

www.losprimos.ca

Celebrating 14 years of inspiring youth through music and cultural exchange

Los Primos –Annual Dance for All Ages

COME OUT FOR A NIGHT FILLED WITH LIVE MUSIC & SALSA DANCING

OLYMPIC COMMUNITY HALL

(ACROSS FROM MUSICSTOP), CUNARD ST., HALIFAX

SATURDAY, February 25, 2012 at 7:30pm – 12:30am

Tickets Available at the Door (Doors open at 7:00)

ADULTS $12 / STUDENTS $7 / FAMILY OF FIVE $30

Advance Tickets Available at: Stayners Wharf (near Hfx Ferry Terminal)

Young and old come together to dance the night away Cuban Style. Learn a few moves under the guidance of the Halifax Salseros or just hang out up stairs where you get a bird’s eye view of some serious salsa steps, in front of our 13-piece “Latin Groove”.

MUSIC: Los Primos Satellite Bands; NSCC RB

DANCING:Halifax Salseros (dance lessons/show)

“LATIN GROOVE”

Be there to enter your name in our annual
RAFFLE DRAW for:

ALL- INCLUSIVE TRIP FOR 4 TO CUBA

Canteen downstairs and licensed bar upstairs.

Special guests:

Tony Rodriguez, Avi Garcia & Maikel Ante Fajardo

Listen to Tony Rodriguez at the piano.

Los Primos – Spanish for “The Cousins”

In 1998, the Los Primos Project brought the first band of Cuban music students to Nova Scotia to share their incredible talent and good will. The piano player in that first band was Tony Rodriguez.

Tony has become one of the most sought after piano players in Cuba, has been the musical director for Issac Delgado, and now plays with the most popular Cuban songwriter, Carlos Varelas. Lucky for us, Tony has time off in his busy schedule to join us for the Dance for All Ages!

After the success of Havana Nights with Augusto Enriquez, we know that Halifax is ready for more. Maikel Ante Fajardo, singer for Chucho Valdez and Irakere, will be part of Latin Groove this year!

Everyone in Halifax knows Avi Garcia on the bass. He has been helping the Los Primos Project since his first visit in 2001. Don’t expect to be able to sit still with this line up in our 13-piece band, “Latin Groove”.

Come celebrate 14 years of Los Primos !
For Further info, call Jeff at: 401-2104 or
losprimos@eastlink.ca

2012-01-09T18:46:00.009-04:30

Thanks for your solidarity with Cuba and with the Cuban Five

ICAP - Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples.

Children First
Cuba tops the list of countries in the continent with less than 5 percent infant mortality, same as Canada. The province with the lowest infant mortality rate in Cuba was Las Tunas, followed by Artemisa, Pinar del Rio & Holguin, Havana, and Ciego de Avila & Granma.

Pope visiting Cuba from March 26 to 28, 2012
The Pope will be arriving at the province of Santiago de Cuba to visit the Sanctuary of the "Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre." The Virgin of Charity’s effigy was discovered, according to legend, by fishermen about 400 years ago. The Pope plans to celebrate mass at Plaza de la Revolucion, Revolution Square.
The Virgin of Charity, called Virgen Mambisa, has been on the meantime on a pilgrimage throughout Cuba since August 8, 2010 and just arrived in Havana on December 31^st at the end of the Conference of the Catholic Bishops of Cuba. The effigy was welcomed by people and youth along the Malecon and, a mass officiated by the Archbishop of Havana, Cardinal Jaime Ortega, ended the Conference.

Telling President Obama to free the Cuban Five

The International Solidarity Committee to Free the Cuban Five is calling on people around the world to begin the year 2012 with a collective action for the Cuban Five. A press release sent by the Committee urged people to send an e-mail, fax, or make a telephone call to President Obama on January 5th to demand the freedom of the Cuban Five. The press release emphasizes that the action would be much more effective if all the contacts were made from all over the world at the same time.

The press release specified that President Obama knows that the Five are innocent, as affirmed by intellectuals, religious and union leaders, students, actors, activists, parliamentarians, Nobel prize winners and thousands of others all around the world.
The United States, said the Committee, should put an end to this injustice lasting for more than thirteen years; Washington can gain the respect of the international community awaiting this humanitarian gesture.

Scientific Workshop:
Afro American Social and Cultural Anthropology &
the V Festival of Oral Narration

Havana, Jan 4 (Prensa Latina) Academics, researchers and artists from Spain, Venezuela, Argentina, Brazil, Equatorial Guinea, Portugal and Cuba met on Wednesday in Havana to celebrate the XVI Scientific Workshop on Afro American Social and Cultural Anthropology and the V Festival of Oral Narration. Events held in the House of Africa, attached to the Office of the Historian in Havana City.

The focus of both forums: to stimulate reflection on issues of culture and identity, on the African Diaspora, on resistance and maroons, on oral history visual anthropology, on religion and the role of museums in the community.

Havana City Historian, Eusebio Leal Spengler, delivered a lecture marking the 26 anniversary of the foundation of the House of Africa. Herman van Hoff, general director of the Regional Office for Culture of Latin America and the Caribbean of UNESCO, presented on topics related to the forum.

Two examples of the work shown were the photo exhibition of musical instruments and dances of Equatorial Guinea and the Maferefum painting exhibition of Cuban artist Nelson Jose Garcia exploring African roots through Art. Bienvenido Rojas, researcher, presented the books “The Silence of the Garifuna” and “The Voice of the Garifuna” thus opening the cultural program at the historic centre for 2012.

South Americans travelling to Cuba in 2011

Nearly 134,000 South American travelled to Cuba up until December 25, according to statistics from the Cuban Office of Information and Promotion of Tourism for the Southern Cone. The leading country source of tourists was Argentina, with 74,473 visitors, a more than 30 percent growth compared to 2010. Chile followed with 23,377 travellers to Cuba, an annual increase of close to 35 percent. Uruguay travellers also increased more than 35 percent over previous year with 6,800 visitors. Brazil increased only slightly with 13,751 travellers while Peru was below the previous year level with almost 14,700 tourists.

During the International Tourism Fair of Latin America (FIT 2011) which closed last November in Buenos Aires, Cuban authorities offered full guarantees for the success of the largest air operation with Argentina scheduled for January to April 2012. The director of the Office of Information and Promotion of Tourism of Cuba for the Southern Cone explained that in the mentioned period the number of direct weekly flights between Buenos Aires and Havana, Varadero, Cayo Largo, Cayo Coco, Santa Clara and Holguin will increase to eight.

Ruta del Esclavo Museum: More than Seven Thousand People Visiting in 2011

Matanzas,Cuba.- Close to 7,700 people, more than 1,000 of them foreigners, visited the Ruta del Esclavo (Slave Route) Museum in 2011, paying tribute with their visit to victims of slavery. The Museum, the only one like this in Latin America, is located in what was the San Severino Castle, and offers visitors a perspective of Black people lives when brought from Africa as slaves.

Anabell Diaz, cultural promoter of the Museum, which is also a National Monument, explained that people are mainly interested in the hall of ancestral traditions of the slaves, the cult of the Orishas of Yoruba Pantheon, also known as Regla de Ocha or Santeria.

On the year devoted to African descendants by the United Nations Organization (UN), the Museum dedicated its program to the event with a “Miradas a la Cultura Africana” (Views of African Culture) exposition that remains open to the public.

Yaimarelys Hernandez, specialist of the Museum, stressed the public's interest in Wilfredo Lam's exhibition, in and of itself an act of decolonization with original pieces from the well known Cuban artist, presented by Alexis Leyva Machado (Kcho). The piece will stay in the museum until next February.

The Museum is located at the entrance of Matanzas bay; the facility, a former military fortress of the Spanish metropolis in Cuba, preserves its colonial architecture telling the living history by passageways, dungeons and instruments of torture used on slaves who worked and lived there.

2011-12-13T01:36:00.004-04:30

Cuba

Denounces USA for Preventing Actions Against Israel
Cuba denounced the US and other western nations on November 30 at the United Nations for preventing the Security Council's condemnation of

Israel because of Israel's

illegal actions and crimes against the Palestinian people.

There is enough proof, argued the Cuban delegation, for the Council to adopt not only political but also binding decisions to stop

Israeli

crimes and to sanction those responsible. it "reveals the hypocrisy and double standard of some developed countries" and their self-proclaim human rights paradigms that this is not so. The document criticized the passivity and lack of action of the Council in the face of Israeli actions and wondered why crimes against the Palestinian people were not sanctioned.

The issue of Palestine,first included in the agenda of the Assembly 64 years ago, but

Israeli

crimes against the Palestinian people continue and the occupation of Palestinian territory has not been reverted. Cuba supports the cause of the Palestinian people to defend their rights and Palestine´s entry as a full member of the UN. Cuban Foreign Minister, Bruno Rodriguez had stated already last September the inescapable moral, political and legal obligation to guarantee the recognition of the new Palestine State,the Cuban delegation reiterated the point again during this meeting.

Palestinian Ambassador Thanks Cuba for its Expressions of Solidarity
The Palestinian ambassador to Havana, Akram Samhan, in his visit to Ciego de Avila and during a meeting between students from both countries at the University of Medical Sciences because of the celebration of the International Day in Solidarity with Palestine, highlighted the solidarity shown by the Cuban people and its government for his nation and its struggle for the right to be free and independent.

Samhan explained that, every day, fraternity and support towards Arab peoples struggle to achieve peace in the region, and for the right of refugees to return to their countries, increases.

Cuba

has always offered help to Palestine, he said, an example of this are the more than 600 Palestinian youngsters who have graduated from Cuban universities. At present, he added, some 160 Palestinians are studying at Cuban universities. It will be their responsibility to contribute to the construction of their new nation, he said. It is important to note, he explained, that more than 85 percent of the nations of the world favor the Palestinian cause even though discrimination against Palestinians continues.

Washington: Int´l Conference of Experts Advocating for Cuba

Analysts, professors and politicians from different countries met in Washington to analyze what they consider Cuba´s arbitrary inclusion in the list of nations "sponsors of terrorism." The main sponsors of the seminar are the Latin America Working Group and The Center for International Policy (CIP). The event took place at the National Press Club's Zinger Room in Washington D.C

Since 1982, the U.S. government arbitrarily inserted

Cuba

in the controversial list of nations "sponsors of terrorism." This was at the request of the then Secretary of State Alexander Haig and was ratified by a resolution from President Ronald Reagan.

The current event, mainly academic in nature as it was sponsored by two

U.S.

think tanks that have clear positions regarding the improvement and normalization of U.S.-Cuba relations, included among the lecturers Wayne Smith, former U.S. diplomat in Cuba and CIP analyst, Robert Muse, of Muse and Associates Company, and Havana University professor Carlos Alzugaray. Also expected are Sarah Stephens, of the Center for Democracy in the

Americas

, and Arturo Lopez, linked to the Josef Korbel International Studies School, University of Denver. What is very significant is that Cuban delegates were included, such participation was prohibited for the past nine years. In the previous seminar which took place in February 2010, Muse referred to the dangerous legal consequences emerging from the Washington resolution in view of the lack of evidence for keeping Cuba in the mentioned category.

CELAC, Common Space for Agreement...

Caracas, Nov 29 (Prensa Latina) Cuban ambassador to Venezuela Rogelio Polanco stated on Tuesday that the birth of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) will be a common space for agreement, based on complementarity and regional integration.

Interviewed by Toda

Venezuela

program, the Cuban diplomat stated that the coming event, which will be attended by 33 regional nations on December 2-3, show those peoples' willingness to join a common space where they could debate the genuine thing of each country.

In that sense, Polanco stated that Latin America is experiencing new times and a clear example of that is the strengthening of relations between Venezuela and

Colombia

, after a meeting carried out on Monday between those countries. They signed many accords to contribute to integration and the economic and social development of both states.

Polanco insisted on the importance of regional unity to face those global challenges, of a social and economic nature, to face food, economic and environment crises that engulf the developed countries and of which developing nations are not exempt.

The Cuban ambassador said there will be some attempts to weaken that unity process and there will be many challenges, "but the most important thing is we have that approach. The language of wars and confrontation cannot be imposed, because we are a peace zone, free of nuclear weapons."

The fact that the birth of CELAC is in this capital has a great importance, this being where the idea of independence of the American peoples emerged through Simon Bolivar, stated Polanco.

Cuban Medical Collaboration in El Salvador Lauded

San Salvador, Nov 29 (Prensa Latina) Salvadorian Health Minister Maria Isabel Rodriguez described

Cuba

''s medical collaboration, included in one of the most important social programs of the government, as excellent.

Rodriguez told Prensa Latina that a group of Cuban experts are advising local authorities on the implementation of the Comprehensive Health Reform as part of an agreement that involves the Pan-American Health Organization and whose first stage concluded on December 1.

Questioned about the collaboration from Cuban health experts, Rodriguez immediately responded that it was excellent. The work of the Cuban medical team was praised by President Mauricio Funes on July 20, when attending the inauguration of a Health Community Team (ECOS), the foundation of the Reform, in the northern city of Arcatao.

Rodriguez noted that she had met with the three Cuban advisors working in the development of the Health Reform, and recalled that the program also benefits residents of neighbouring Guatemala and

Honduras

Cuba: Forum on Alternative Media and Social Networks

A forum convened by the Cuban Foreign Ministry to discuss the role of alternative media and social networks took place in the Convention Center in Havana. It began with a speech from the Deputy Foreign Minister Ana Teresita Gonzales who emphasized the importance of the issue in current policy settings and international communications. Delegates from 12 countries participated including representatives from Bolivia, Ecuador, Nicaragua and El Salvador. Organizers hoped the forum be a space to share experiences and strengthen America's efforts in entering the global communication scenario.

Spanish Tour a Success for the Cuban National Ballet

Prima ballerina Alicia Alonso described as successful the three-month tour through

Spain

by the Cuban National Ballet, company she founded and heads. After her arrival from Spain Alonso offered a press conference at the Jose Marti National Airport where she shared about the warm welcome the company received from the Spanish audiences and of the coverage they received from mass media.

She praised the performances of the members of the company in sold-out theatres, and the energy and discipline of the new dancers, despite the rigours of the tour that took them to 29 Spanish cities.

They all felt gratified by the shows of love and respect in every theatre, and the experts appraisals of the academic training of the dancers, who played several roles in each performance, she added. The doble characterization by each dancer is unusual in these times in the ballet world.

She proudly showed the World Theater Ambassador title she was presented with at the Calderon Theater in the city of Valladolid; and spoke of the Spanish street named after her.
“It was very beautiful to see the new company members dance and the requests we received for teachers.” Cuban dancing style is something that draws attention abroad, she added.

Four members of the National ballet have been selected among the top 100 ballet dancers in the world: Viengsay Valdés, Alejandro Virelles, Dani Hernández and Osiel Gounod. But she expressed her disappointment when stars as Anette Delgado and Sadaisi Arencibia were not selected, showing a clear preference for male leading dancers something she dubbed "unfair."

International Choral Festival

in Santiago de Cuba

Groups from Colombia, Venezuela, the USA and Finland participated, along with some of the best from the Caribbean island, in the International Choral Festival in Santiago de Cuba. Choral concerts were scheduled for the Dolores Hall, the Esteban Salas Conservatory, the old Chapel of Saint Basil the Great, and the Cespedes Park. Once again, the Santiago Choral Society (Orfeon de Santiago), the legendary group founded 51 years ago by Maestro Electo Silva, was the host of this fiesta of vocal music that run until December 4.

Cuba: S

trengthening Fight against Cancer

Cuba has strengthened the fight against cancer through the development of a broad and successful biotechnological branch aimed at achieving therapeutic vaccines and diverse treatments to counteract the disease which is the second cause of death in Cuba. Annually 18000 people die of cancer in Cuba and every year there are 28000 new cases.

Cuban scientists have widen the national production of anti-neoplastic and complementary drugs and created new biotechnological products. Local researchers confirm that

Cuba

has potential to avoid more than 10,000 new cases per year mainly using prevention programs, which already play a significant role. There is a higher incidence rate of this disease due to alcoholism, smoking, and bad feeding habits.

Last week Cuba and

China

signed joint agreements in the field of biotechnology for the development of vaccines and other biomedical products, and these agreements include bilateral prevention, early diagnosis, and cancer control actions.

Cuba is also moving forward cooperation programs with

Brazil

to produce cheaper medicines for world markets -if compared with prices imposed by the international pharmaceutical industry, and without decreasing the products' quality.

Havana: Int’l Conference on Biotechnology

The International Conference Biotecnologia Habana 2011 took place at the Center of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering (CIGB) in the Havana. Cuba has the most advanced biotechnological industry of all developing countries, “with almost 150 registered patents,” said the president of the event’s organizing committee, Carlos Borroto, during the opening
session of the meeting that was attended by Jose Ramon Fernandez, vice president of the Council of Ministers, and Jose Miyar Barrueco, minister of Science, Technology and the Environment.

Richard J. Roberts, a British Nobel Prize winner in Medicine, and Marc Van Montagu from Belgium and one of the pioneers in the field of molecular biology in plants, were the Presidents of Honor of the event.

Around 600 specialists involved or interested in the application of biotechnology in the agricultural sector attended the event. The president of the organizing committee for the event, Carlos Borroto argued that “improving food production and distribution is an urgent need for the world and particularly for Cuba” and “this improvement necessarily has to go hand in hand with sustainable development and in harmony with the environment.”

Van Montagu pointed out that one of the greatest challenges of humanity is to preserve biodiversity and the ecosystem while trying to feed a world population of more than seven billion people. “In order to succeed in this endeavor, it is essential to redesign the traditional systems of production, to implement biotechnological techniques with responsibility, and to count on the political will of the governments of the world,” he explained.

Van Montagu criticized the stance some non governmental organizations have taken rejecting or regarding as dangerous the advances in the biotechnology sector. In this sense, Van Montagu explained science gives new opportunities to explore and find solutions to global problems.

During the Commercial Fair eleven Cuban and foreign companies participated. Cuba's progress in the growing of genetically-modified maize hybrid was presented at the International Conference of Biotechnology. The crop, the result of an alteration on the plant’s genes and the combination with other corn varieties, is able to resist pests and Cuban weather conditions better than any other variety according to experts from the Havana-based Genetics Engineering and Biotechnology Center hosting the event.

20th International Chemistry Conference in Santiago de Cuba

The 20th International Chemistry Conference took place in Santiago de Cuba on December 6-9 with the participation of more than one hundred representatives from eleven countries.

Renowned personalities such as Doctor Santiago Vicente Luis Lafuente, from the Universitat Jaume I of Castellon, Spain, and Professor Luis Echegoyen, from the University of Texas, participated discussing topics such as Sustainable Chemistry and Nanochemistry.

The event’s program included lectures by doctors Luis Alberto Montero and Roberto Cao, both from the University of Havana, and by Rosa Catalina Bermudez, of the Center of Industrial Biotechnology Studies at Santiago de Cuba’s Universidad de Oriente.

The triennial meeting was first held in 1964, born as a space to exchange knowledge and experiences on the development of chemistry research in

Cuba

mainly in the mining and sugar industry sectors. On this occasion, representatives from Germany, Angola, Spain, Mexico, Brazil, Panama, Ecuador, Venezuela, the United States and the

Dominican Republic

were in attendance.

The Money the US Uses for Terrorist Actions against Cuba, by Assad Shoman

Havana, (Prensa Latina) While the US government is applying measures to reduce expenses in transport, technology and publicity by 20 percent, other US entities authorize funds to promote and finance actions against our country.

After criticizing the lack of work of the US Congress to fight the economic problems in this northern country, President Barack Obama signed an executive order on November 9 granting US government institutions a time limit of 45 days to prepare a saving plan.

However, while several sectors make cuts, the evidence on how many initiatives to favour subversion against the Cuban people and leaders are financed is every time greater, in a place like the US, in which demonstrations are daily multiplying against the economic system and unemployment.

A recent example occurred in October, when the United States Agency for International Development prepared a festive activity to celebrate in advance the award of the 2011 Peace Nobel Prize to counter-revolutionaries of Cuban-origin Oswaldo Paya and Oscar Elias Biscet, which they took for granted was going to happen. It didn´t.

For this objective, a total of 250,000 dollars were approved for several activities developed by the US Interest Office in Havana, such as the printing of 100,000 T-shirts with the faces of Paya and Biscet on a background with the national flags of Cuba and the US and a phrase saying "The Time Has Come for

Cuba

."

The complementary gifts included balloons, small flags, watches, key rings, suits for the celebration, allegorical bracelets, and of course, payments to selected journalists to cover the event, which never really took place, since they never won the prize.

The budget also included suits to wear at the prize ceremony for the two fellows, who have for years dedicated themselves to promote plans of destabilization against Cuba, encouraged by functionaries of the Washington administration.

The real Nobel Prize winners were Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf (President of Liberia), Liberian Leywah Gbowee, responsible for non-governmental organization Women Peace and Security Network Africa and Yemeni activist Tawakkel Karmen.

The organized and financed actions from the US national territory against Cuba have been denounced for years by the Cuban authorities and silenced by the great communications media of the

.

However, on occasions

institutions have themselves admitted that they have financed projects for what they call the "fostering of democracy."

As part of this assistance, only for the 2011 fiscal year, the US administration approved 62 million dollars destined to political, social and communication media interference in

Cuba

. That represented 34 percent over the 2010 statistics.

Although the US has 14 million unemployed people, and 46 million people living below the poverty line and constant protests because of the failed economic system, the so-called "assistance to Havana" is constantly growing.

In what does that "assistance" consist? USAID money is dedicated to reinforce the work of the US Interest Section Office in Havana and the Cuban Affairs Office, in charge of managing the US policy towards

Cuba

from the US Department of State.

Almost half of the 62 million dollars annually is distributed between Radio Marti and Television Marti, which broadcast towards the Caribbean island in violation of the regulations established by the International Telecommunications Union.

For the year 2012, the US government proposed to use another 20 million dollars to widen projects to "foster freedom in

Cuba

", mainly through USAID.

Those funds are mainly managed by US companies and organizations, fundamentally based in Florida, and contribute to anti-Cuban groups with money and equipment that need only fulfil the requirement of being opposed to the Cuban government.

In the month of June, USAID published three tenders for plans linked with the freedom of expression and information, and for support to the Cuban civil society, in sums totalling 21 million dollars.

The agency said it would destine 6 million dollars to projects to facilitate free access of Cuban citizens to information, using traditional media and new technologies.

Another six million dollars would go to programs to foster freedom of expression and association in young people between 12 and 24 years of age.

The remaining 9 million dollars would be used to make members of local communities, neighbourhoods and other groups conscious of their rights and civic responsibilities, develop leadership abilities and prepare them to participate fully in democratic development.

But while the capital dedicated to actions against Cuba is increasing, according to 2010 data published by the US Census Office, in percentual terms, the poverty rate in the

is the highest since 1993, with 15.1 percent.

According to the statistical data of the National Poverty Center of the University of Michigan, it will take 6 or 7 years for the poverty rate to go back to the level it had in 2000, when a percentage of 11.7 was reported.

The statistic data revealed that the average home annual income decreased by 2.3 percent, reaching 49,445 dollars, and the number of US inhabitants without medical insurance is over 50 million.

2011-11-27T02:28:00.003-04:30

Cuba Seventh Colloquium to Free the Cuban Five: Monument and March

HOLGUIN, Cuba (acn) As part of the activities of the Seventh Colloquium to Free the Cuban Five a monument was unveiled on Friday November 18th honoring victims of state terrorism in the town of Boca de Sama, Holguin. Boca de Sama was attacked by mercenaries 40 years ago. The Colloquium was attended by more than 300 delegates from 47 countries.

The artist Luis Silva, member of the National Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (UNEAC) in Holguin, created the monument to condemn atrocities and barbarities brought about to the Cuban people by state terrorism. In Boca de Sama, and as a result of the events of 1940, Lidio Rivaflecha Galano and Ramon Siam Portelles, combatants, were killed in an attack perpetrated by a group of mercenaries and organized by the Miami-based Alpha 66 terrorist group. The attack also caused serious injuries to Carlos Escalante, Jesus Igarza, and to sisters Nancy and Angela Pavon.

The program included a women’s walk for Fernando Gonzalez, Gerardo Hernandez, Antonio Guerrero, Ramon Labañino, and Rene Gonzalez ––the Cuban Five––, and the screening of materials produced by different Committees of Solidarity with Cuba worldwide. The mentioned Cubans were unjustly imprisoned in the U.S since 1998 and sentenced to harsh terms while trying to prevent terrorist actions against

Cuba

by Miami-based right wing groups such as the Cuban American National Foundation (CANF), and Alpha 66.

Cuba: US Activist Mary-Alice Waters Describes Unfair Treatment of Workers in the US

HOLGUIN, Cuba (acn) During the Colloquium to Free the Cuban Five, Mary-Alice Waters, president of Pathfinder Press and member of the Socialist Workers Party (SWP), spoke of the unfair treatment workers received in the United States. Waters noted that american workers have become the main victims of the crisis. “The situation in the

United States

is growing worse, the living standards are crashing, the working conditions deteriorate and workers without papers are being deported by the thousands”, she said. “The number of foreclosures is impressive, millions of families are left to fend for themselves, the government doesn’t take any actions against the banks but it does against workers.”

People throughout the

United States

are protesting, and rejection towards the government increases because government is responsible for these calamities: “Millions of families are suffering the injustices against their kin in jails, just as the families of the five Cuban Heroes, sentenced in the

for fighting terrorism, due to the violations of their rights during their
trials and later in jails.”

Waters explained that The Militant, her party’s newspaper, now published in English and Spanish, is sold all over the United States and in other countries like the UK, New Zealand, Australia and Canada. “For us is mandatory to speak about the Cuban Five in our newspaper, due to the silence about them in the mass media, and we need to spread their truth though different means”

Solidarity with Cuban Five Grows in Spain

Holguin, Cuba (PL) There is a strong movement of solidarity with Cuba in Catalonia, Spain, and this movement is particularly concerned about the release of the five Cuban antiterrorist fighters unjustly imprisoned in the United States since 1998, stated Salvador Torres, president of Barcelona Friendship with Cuba House.

Torres is one of the 300 delegates participating in the 7th International Colloquium for the Release of the Cuban Five and against Terrorism closing Saturday November 19th. Torres spoke about the work of his organization in informing people about the truth on the Cuban Five.
In Spain the detention of the Cuban Five was presented as the arrest of Cuban spies: "We started gathering information, the real facts, and when we knew the injustice committed by the

U.S.

government against them, we decided to tell the truth all over our territory."

Since then, group members have traveled from town to town in Catalonia giving lectures and editing materials about the Five to increase solidarity with their cause. Their agenda emerged from the 19 Friendship Houses they have in Catalonia's main cities, promoting activities for the Five throughout the year. We have a Fair of Solidarity and while we prepare mojitos and explain how to travel to Cuba, we hand out posters and pictures of Antonio, Ramon, Gerardo, Fernando and Rene.

Their movement sent a DVD with information about the case of the Five to the 800 town halls of Catalonia and they also disclosed the truth through social networks and local media they have access to in fighting the silence of major TV channels, newspapers and radio stations.

They have organized caravans for the Five and an initiative called "Five recipes for the Five" where they describe the ingredients and explain how to cook a Cuban meal, like an ajiaco and tell the story of one of the Cuban Five.

For Torres the Colloquium helps them get new ideas and come up with new plans to involve more people in the international campaign for the Five: "I am convinced that political prisoners are released only when there is a strong presence of people in the streets, and if solidarity is the key to free the Five, then we will drum on the bars to make a symphony until we see them free."

Cindy Sheehan Seals Commitment with Mothers of Cuban Five

Holguin, Cuba (PL) Cindy Sheehan, US pacifist who lost her son in the US war against Irak, sealed a commitment for the release of The Cuban Five with the mothers of Antonio Guerrero and Fernando Gonzalez.

During a political-cultural event at the end of the march for the release of the Five, in which thousands of women participated, Sheehan gave the Cuban mothers the chaín that her son Casey had given her. "This chain says: To Mum, with Love. I want you to have this, my most precious possession. I would like you to keep it until your sons return home, and have it back later," said Sheehan to Mirtha Rodriguez (mother of Antonio) and Magali Llort (mother of Fernando).

Sheehan expressed loving the relatives of The Cuban Five with all her heart and reaffirmed the support of thousands of US people to the Cuban Revolution and to their struggle for the release of the Five, unfairly in prison in the US for informing the US of anti-Cuban actions planned by Miami-based terrorist groups.

Sheehan led the March on Saturday November 19th, together with relatives of The Five and victims of the mid-air explosion of a Cuban airliner in 1976 -which resulted in the death of all 73 people on board.

The US is the biggest terrorist organization in the world, said Cindy. Her son was soldier in the

military, and she believed he was a victim of the

war -which she no longer calls the war on terror but the war of terror against the world, she explained. In her opinion, the actions of the

government are by definition terrorist actions -when you bomb, occupy and torture populations for things like regime change or ideological reasons, is basically terrorism.

The anti-war and peace causes are in her view intimately connected to the Cuban Five and to everyone unjustly imprisoned, to those in the Guantanamo prison (operating in Cuba under the US) who we know are innocent. Regarding the case of the Cuban Five she said she heard for the first time about them in 2006 while in Venezuela attending the World Social Forum. Later she met relatives of the Five and learned more and began working with groups dedicated to tell

citizens the truth about the Cuban Five.

"I´m here to know more about the case and more about what I can do to help, because there is a movement in US that is dedicated and passionate with the cause, but it is very small. I am also here to network with people all over the world who demand the release of the Cuban Five and to learn how I can help without causing any harm with my actions."

One of her goals is to help build a movement in the

to pressure the government to release the Five. The main activities of the committees of solidarity with the Five in the US are concentrated in big cities like New York, Chicago and San Francisco, where she has seen a great job done, particularly in the harbour area.

Her recent activities included visiting five universities in Chicago, through the International Committee of Solidarity with the Five; there she shared information about the case with students interested. I talked about the hypocrisy of having the Cuban Five unjustly imprisoned, while a coward terrorist like (Luis) Posada Carriles is protected by the

government.

Independent journalist are important to fight media silence and negative propaganda in the

against

Cuba, she pointed

. Cindy has a weekly radio show where she interviews people related to the cause, like Gloria La Riva, coordinator of the National US Committee for the release of the Five, and a blog connected to her radio show.

British Priest: The Cuban Five will Be Free

Holguin, Cuba (PL) "I have no doubt that one day soon the Cuban Five will return home, they will be finally exonerated and free," said Geoffrey Bottoms, a British Catholic priest.

Bottoms was one of the 11 delegates to the VII International Colloquium for the Release of the Cuban Five and against Terrorism held in Holguin. He has been cooperating since 2002 to help release The Cuban Five. Nearly 10 years ago he read an article about the injustice committed against these anti-terrorist Cuban fighters imprisoned in

U.S.

, and he decided to write letters to them. "They wrote back to me and we exchanged quite a few letters. I asked them if they would like me to visit them and they all said yes, so they sent me forms."

As a result of that process, Bottoms visited Gerardo, Ramón and Fernando, but was not allowed to visit Rene or Antonio. He recalls that he met Gerardo first and saw him five times and that later he met and saw Ramón three times, and that in 2008 he finally met Fernando. The first time he tried to see Ramon the authorities of his prison did not allow him because of the U.S war against

Iraq

at the time and they considered the priest a threat to national security.

Bottoms is now in charge of spreading the cause of The Cuban Five within the Cuban Solidarity Campaign, an organization with five thousand members committed to this. They have different programs informing the British people about their case and harsh sentences but their main activity is an annual candle vigil outside the U.S. Embassy in London demanding their release. This year the vigil will be on December 1st and Magali Llort and Mirtha Rodriguez (mothers of Fernando and Antonio respectively) will participate in it.

Next year, he said, we are working on an art exhibition to be called "Beyond the Frame" that will include works by Cuban artists and works by Antonio and Gerardo. We hope to promote the cause of

Cuba

and The Cuban Five involving as many people as possible. We will convey our message through art. Breaking the silence imposed by major newspapers and TV channels in England is crucial and whenever there is a chance to post articles on The Guardian, The Observer and The Morning Star we do it, he said.They work with young people too through the National Union of Students.

The 30 local groups existing around England have public meetings, salsa nights, use local radio and TV to inform about the case and hold rallies in the streets to campaign nationwide. In London, specifically, the organization works very closely with members of Parliament sympathetic to Cuba and The Cuban Five; having legislators involved helps them reach top levels of government.

We benefit from coming together and sharing experiences and activities and strengthening our links, he said. The forum increases hope for family members of the Five who get to see and learn about the activists, the case and plan ways to advance the campaign and make it more effective. "I always believe that truth and justice will prevail. The Cuban Five represent the heroic history of

Cuba

, the principles and ideals upon which the Revolution was founded; that another world and the new man of which Che Guevara spoke are possible. They are an example to our struggle for a better world."

Casa del Habano Partagas: Their Meetings are gaining Worldwide Prestige

HAVANA , Cuba (acn) Businessmen, suppliers and guests from all over the World, participate in the 21st Meeting of Clients and Friends of the Casa del Habano Partagas, and event that is increasingly gaining prestige. Attended by nearly 350 people from Italy, Spain, Brazil, Canada, the United States, Mexico, Switzerland, Panama, France, and

Greece,

who are attracted by the international reputation of Cuban cigars, the event includes visits to Club Havana, the Equestrian Center at the Lenin Park, and the Alcona Farm.

Imanol Elguezabal, from Spain, is taking part in this meeting every year as a way to recall the moments he has shared with famous producer Alejandro Robaina, in whose plantations in Pinar del Rio he learned about tobacco harvesting. Alejandro Robaina, the son of well-known producer Carlos Robaina, see the event gaining quality year after year and becoming a permanent tribute to his father, a regular participant since the beginnings in 1998. A similar event will take place in Italy in February next year; businessmen, suppliers, and guests from all over the world, including

Cuba, will attend

.

Francesco Minetti, president of Cigar Clubs in Italy, said that this will be the biggest event in the continent with Cuban representatives from Partagas, artists, chefs, and cultural promoters exhibiting Partagas cigars and highlighting Cuba as tourist destination of choice.

Vince Piva, a Canadian journalist participating in these meetings for the fourth time, feels very much at home in

Cuba

and with its people and described the environment familiar and peaceful.

Oscar Gonzales, president of Caracol

S.A.

, notes that one of the factors contributing to the prestige of these meetings is the extraordinary effort made by the staff and its president Abel Exposito. This 21st Meeting of Clients and Friends of the Casa del Habano Partagas is dedicated to the 492nd anniversary of the foundation of Havana, the 166th anniversary of the Partagas Cigars Royal Factory, and the 18th anniversary of the Casa del Habano Partagas.

Int’l Meeting on Agroecology Begins in Cuba

HAVANA, Cuba (acn) Representatives from Latin American and Caribbean countries are attending the Third International Meeting on Agroecology and Sustainable Agriculture that began on Monday in Havana to discuss the best ways to obtain agricultural products and to protect the environment.

Experts from Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru, Guatemala, El Salvador, Dominican Republic, Panama and

Uruguay

, are exchanging their experiences with local producers.

Deborah La O Calaña, an official from the National Association of Small Farmers (ANAP), told reporters that participants in the meeting will visit farms and cooperatives in the provinces of de Pinar del Rio, Artemisa, La Habana, Mayabeque, Matanzas, Cienfuegos, Villa Clara and Sancti Spíritus. The program includes a key lecture on food sovereignty and security by Adolfo Rodriguez Nodal, head of the National Group of urban and sub-urban agriculture in

Cuba

.

Some of the topics discussed by participants include sustainable management in

Cuba

; financial, economic and technological experiences in productive systems; and the protection of natural resources.

UN General Assembly condemn the US's Blockade of Cuba

2011-10-26T23:47:00.004-04:30

For the 20th year in a row, the UN General Assembly has voted to condemn the United States’ 50-year-old economic embargo on Cuba. How did the votes turn out this year?

YES (against embargo) – 186
NO (in favor of embargo) – 2
ABSTAIN – 3

Last year there were 187 votes in favor of ending U.S. sanctions on Cuba, two against (Israel and the U.S.) and three abstentions (Palau, Marshall Islands, and Micronesia). Again, we are reminded of the fact that the rest of the world is against us for our policy towards Cuba.

Statements from 2011 UN General Assembly Vote on Cuban Embargo

Australia

“Since 1996, the Government of Australia has consistently supported General Assembly resolutions calling for an end to the trade embargo against Cuba. Australia has no trade or economic legislation or measures which restricts or discourages trade or investment to or from Cuba.”

Brazil

“The Brazilian Government has consistently opposed the economic, commercial and financial embargo imposed against Cuba. Accordingly, Brazil has also continued to foster and pursue a growing economic relationship with Cuba.”

“The maintenance of the economic, commercial and financial embargo against Cuba is inconsistent with the dynamic regional policy that has recently been marked by the return of Cuba to dialogue and cooperation forums of the Americas.”

China

“This [embargo] is not only a serious violation of the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations and of relevant United Nations resolutions, but also a source of immense economic and financial losses for Cuba. It is an impediment to efforts by the Cuban people to eradicate poverty, to promote their economic and social development and to attain the Millennium Development Goals, it impairs the Cuban people’s right to survival and development, and it adversely affects normal economic, commercial and financial relations between Cuba and other countries.”

“China hopes that the United States, in accordance with the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations and relevant United Nations resolutions, will put an end as soon as possible to its blockade against Cuba and it also hopes that relations between the two countries will continue to improve, thus promoting stability and development in the entire Latin American and Caribbean region.”

Colombia

“The Government of Colombia will continue the political support it has always given Cuba, and reaffirms that in conformity with its obligations under the Charter of the United Nations and international law.”

Costa Rica

“The Government of Costa Rica wishes to reiterate that it has not enacted or applied laws intended to enforce the economic embargo against Cuba, and that it is complying with United Nations General Assembly resolution 65/6.”

El Salvador

"Reiterating its support for the Latin American and Caribbean consensus and the solidarity of the majority of United Nations Member States in their endorsement of General Assembly resolution 65/6, the Republic of El Salvador calls for the elimination of these measures against the Republic of Cuba and reports, in accordance with the above-mentioned resolution, that it has never promulgated or applied laws or measures the extraterritorial effects of which would affect the sovereignty of the Republic of Cuba and its citizens."

European Union

“…the European Union and its member States have been clearly expressing their opposition to the extraterritorial extension of the United States embargo, such as that contained in the Cuban Democracy Act of 1992 and the Helms-Burton Act of 1996.”

Holy See

“The Holy See has never drawn up or applied economic, commercial or financial laws or measures against Cuba.”

Honduras

“Honduras, in fulfilment of its obligations under the Charter of the United Nations and international law, has refrained from promulgating laws and regulatory provisions that might affect its trade relations with Cuba.”

Japan

“Japan shares the concern, arising from the Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity Act of 1996 (known as the Helms-Burton Act) and the Cuban Democracy Act of 1992, that, if application of such legislation causes undue hardship in relation to the economic activities of the enterprises or nationals of a third party, the legislation is likely to run counter to international law regarding the extraterritorial application of domestic laws.”

Mexico

“Mexico emphasizes that [the embargo] has serious humanitarian consequences that are contrary to international law and, moreover, signify the abandonment of diplomacy and dialogue as the appropriate ways of settling disputes between States.”

“The Government of Mexico has also consistently opposed Cuba’s economic and political-diplomatic isolation. It has therefore firmly supported Cuba’s inclusion in all regional integration machinery in order to promote economic and commercial exchange, cooperation and development.”

Russian Federation

“The blockade against Cuba, which has endured for almost half a century, has manifestly demonstrated its inability to influence the Cuban people in their sovereign choice of a model of development. The sole consequences of the sanctions that have been imposed are the worsening living conditions of the Cuban people, the erection of artificial barriers to the growth of the country’s economy and encroachments upon the rights and interests of third countries.”

“We are convinced that [lifting the embargo],unlike the discriminatory practice of economic “strangulation”, will help ensure the success of the progressive social and economic reforms currently being implemented by the Cuban authorities.”

World Food Programme

“The United States embargo continues to severely limit trade and has a direct impact on the capacity and efficiency of Cuba’s logistics infrastructure, […] food processing and agricultural production. The efficiency of the food-based social safety nets of the Cuban Government’s, which are instrumental to household food security, is thereby negatively affected. This year, the effect is even more crippling because of the combined factors of rising food prices and persistent drought in Cuba.”

World Health Organization

“In the health sector, the consequences of the embargo have a negative multiplier effect on the cost of basic everyday health products, on the difficulties in acquiring health products, on the availability of basic services and, therefore, on the overall living conditions of the population.”

“The embargo also stunts public health development in Cuba by preventing the country’s access to loans and donations from international financial institutions, such as the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank, as well as by limiting its access to philanthropic contributions and donations from civil society in the United States.”

“The embargo affects the individual health care of all people, regardless of age or gender, through its impact on Cuba’s unified health system institutions, research facilities, epidemiological surveillance institutions and disease control agencies.”

Unchartered Cuba: A "Sister-Country" in “Globalized Times”

2011-10-25T00:04:00.013-04:30

(Dr. Balseiro with members of NSCuba and presenting at Dalhousie)

Dr. Jorge T. Balseiro Estevez visited Halifax as part of a 14 city Canada wide tour including also Montreal, Quebec City, Ottawa, Gatineau, Toronto, Kingston, Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, Nanaimo, Victoria, Winnipeg and Windsor.

During his presentation at Dalhousie University in Halifax on October 19^th, Dr. Balseiro talked about some stepping stones on the history of the Cuban Missions. He said they started with the Cuban experience in helping Chileans affected by the earthquake of 1960, and also benefitted from what they learned while helping Argelians in the aftermath of the 1963 earthquake, and from what they learned during the many helping missions to Africa and Central America during the 1970s and 1980s. Today, medical solidarity and cooperation is Cuba´s way of providing health care and it is very much rooted in who they are as a nation. Cubans have projects with 48 countries and more than a fifth (22%) of Cuban doctors work outside of Cuba and in projects of medical solidarity and cooperation like the one implemented in Haiti.

Dr. Balseiro, a psychiatrist by training, explained that at the time of the arrival of Cubans in Haiti in 1998, right after hurricane Georges caused 230 deaths, the destruction of 80% of the crops and left 167 000 people homeless, Cubans had nothing in place and had to start from scratch. They were so busy with the project that they survived their first month on canned sardines and tuna. They could not trust the food supply which was probably contaminated, but also they had no time to cook for themselves.

At one point, he remembered, Canadian and American military offered the Cuban Mission protection thinking that they needed it. We Cubans did not accept it, he said, because we felt protected by the people of Haiti who made us feel safe and at home. What many people outside of Haiti and Cuba do not know is that Cuban doctors have been so crucial to Haiti that Haiti’s President René Preval had referred to them as “second only to God.” Cuban doctors know this, feel value; they know Haitians welcome their efforts and appreciate the work they do now for more than 10 years.

On the aftermath of the earthquake that caused so much destruction in Haiti in 2010, Cubans already had much experience in Haiti and have developed strong links with the Haitian people. Dr. Balseiro was part of the emergency response and remembers how people were in shock after the earthquake. Helpers had to be creative, he said, find ways to deal with a traumatized population even with very limited resources. Shock, he explained, is a normal response to traumatic events and providing supports for children, adolescents and adults to help them overcome the trauma experienced became a big part of the work Cubans did. The worse, he remembers, was the cholera epidemic that followed; they had to face it with limited supplies of oxygen bottles which forced them to rationing oxygen among patients if they were to ensure everybody a chance at survival. He shared proudly that they managed so well these challenges that they did not lose a single patient.

Despite the valuable work that for more than a decade Cubans are doing in Haiti many people ignores their presence there. It is not common knowledge. Most people ignore the work Cubans have done or their dedication. The work of Cubans helping Haiti continues to be a very well kept secret, and one that most of us are unlikely to learn as long as we read the international press. The same press that often highlights the role Americans, Canadians and MSF (Doctors Without Borders) have played in Haiti, fails to mention the Cuban presence there. And yet, Cuban effectiveness is difficult to hide when you go through the data which proves their work unmatched by anyone else and their help not only more extensive in time and effort but also more efficient in resource management.

“In general, international news reports ignored Cuba’s efforts. By March 24, CNN for example, had 601 reports on their news website regarding the earthquake in Haiti — of which only 18 (briefly) referenced Cuban assistance. Similarly, between them the New York Times and the Washington Post had 750 posts regarding the earthquake and relief efforts, though not a single one discusses in any detail any Cuban support.” [1]

Nevertheless, Cuba continues working in Haiti as it has been doing since 1998, implementing a very effective approach in dealing with the public health issue Haiti faces. Cuba provides not only hundreds of doctors to attend to Haiti’s medical needs, and it has committed to do so for as long as Haiti needs it, but it also provides medical training through ELAM (Latin America School of Medicine) which ensures that in the future Haiti will have its own medical personnel. In fact, the first group of medical students started their training in May 1999, and these days graduates and students from ELAM are part of the effort and work together with other medical personnel in Haiti. [2]

The table below [3] points to the effectiveness of the Cuban effort. Cubans have managed with almost half the personnel to treat more than 4 times the number of patients and to perform almost twice the number of surgeries that MSF (Doctors Without Borders) had –not mentioning the greater amount of resources available to MSF.

Comparative Medical Contributions in Haiti by March 23, 2010.

	MSF	Canada	USA	Cuba
No. of Staff	3,408	45	550	1,504
No. of Patients Treated	54,000	21,000	871	227,143
No. of Surgeries	3,700	0	843	6,499

Important statistics about the specifics of the Cuban medical mission in Haiti include number of visits to the doctor, doctors visits to patients, attended births, surgeries, vaccinations, and lives saved, as in the table below.[4] These numbers are an eye opener as it puts in perspective the size of the service provided by Cuban medical personnel and helps see more clearly how Haitians benefit.

Selected Statistics on Cuban Medical Cooperation, Dec. 1998-May 2007 [5]

Visits to the doctor	10,682,124
Doctor visits to patients	4,150,631
Attended births	86,633
Major and minor surgeries	160,283
Vaccinations	899,829
Lives saved (emergency)	210,852

Data [5] on health indicators for improvements in public health also highlight the success Cubans have Haiti; there are marked improvements in infant, child and maternal mortality as well as on life expectancy since Cuban arrived in 1998.

Improvements in Public Health in Haiti, 1999-2007

Health Indicator	1999	2007
Infant Mortality, per 1,000 live births	80	33
Child Mortality Under 5 per 1,000	135	59.4
Maternal Mortality per 100,000 live births	523	285
Life Expectancy (years)	54	61

Furthermore, Cuba, together with ALBA (Alianza Bolivariana para los pueblos de Nuestra America), has presented a project to the World Health Organization focusing on the reconstruction of health care in Haiti. This project counts with the support of Brazil while it is run by Cubans; it includes hospitals, polyclinics, medical schools and a comprehensive approach to health and yet, it has not been reported by the media.

Thus, although Cubans have worked hard and well in Haiti, their approach has been successful, Haitians value the work they do and Haitian authorities have recognized their success publicly and internationally, we rarely learn about it from the Media. Why is it that the press ignores the relevant role Cuba plays in Haiti? Why do we rarely heard for example that the President of Haiti and its Prime Minister publicly acknowledge Cuban help as “second” to none. Why is it that there is no mention, nor recognition for the support and solidarity Cuba and members of the ALBA coalition have provided to Haiti? Why is it that most people know nothing, or next to nothing, about how Cubans have helped since 1998, and continue to help, in the reconstruction of health care in Haiti?

I am not about to post the answers to these questions, but I believe it is crucial to ask them –as they need to be considered and explored. Is there any reason why we should not know about the Cuban role in Haiti? Is there anything problematic about us knowing how Cuba helps?

I have my theory and believe that Cuba, although a small country, has selected its own path: it has chosen to establish relationships with others based on solidarity and support rather than on self-interest and revenue. Now, a small country like Cuba, facing so many challenges to its survival, and not allowing these challenges to define. or limit how it defines, its identity and instead chooses to struggle and find creative ways to overcome whatever limitations, it is a noteworthy country. Cuba works at "making it" without losing sight of the vision it has built for itself, without forgetting “the country it aspires to become.” Now, a country like that can no longer be considered "small;" it can certainly become an example to others.

I believe, that a country with big dreams can be perceived as dangerous particularly at times like these we live, times were “globalizing is everything." Worse, a country proud enough to be different, unique even, and in the process of becoming more, rather than less, in tune with its own uniqueness, can be problematic for those who rule, or aspire to rule, the world. Global tyrants of today and the future have plans for turning us all into “more of the same;” they would not want, or allow, us to aspire to be “different.” Maybe, because of this Cuba has to be omitted, ignored, left unknown to many of us. Maybe this is why Cuba has to be presented as “bad” or the "enemy" whenever possible. We are not allowed to have big dreams, to dream big projects for a unifying humanity working for the well being of all its members. We are only allowed their “nightmares of a global nature," their visions of a world working only for a few and leaving the majority of us behind.

Nora Fernández

[1] Cuban Medical Aid to Haiti: One of the World’s Best Kept Secrets, EJ Kirk & JM Kirk, http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?aid=18614&context=va

[2] Cuban Medical Aid to Haiti: One of the World’s Best Kept Secrets, EJ Kirk & JM Kirk, http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?aid=18614&context=va,.

[3] Cuban Medical Aid to Haiti: One of the World’s Best Kept Secrets, EJ Kirk & JM Kirk, http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?aid=18614&context=va.

[4] Anna Kovac, “Cuba Trains Hundred of Haitian Doctors to Make a Difference,” August 6, 2007. Located on the MEDICC website athttp:www.medicc.org/cubahealthreports/chr-article.php?&a=1035. (February 2, 2010). In: Cuban Medical Aid to Haiti: One of the World’s Best Kept Secrets, EJ Kirk & JM Kirk, http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?aid=18614&context=va. .

[5] Cuban Medical Aid to Haiti: One of the World’s Best Kept Secrets, EJ Kirk & JM Kirk, http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?aid=18614&context=va -See entry for “Haiti” on the Pan American Health Organization website, found at http://www.paho.org/english/dd/ais/cp_332.htm, accessed February 2 2010.

2011-10-25T00:03:00.001-04:30

HavanaFax is back!

2011-10-24T22:05:00.003-04:30

Avi Garcia, Jorge Chicoy, Silvio Pupo, Dismer Hachzavarria and Augusto Enriquez are here from Havana. They will performing for a month, teaching and promoting the Los Primos Project. And, on Saturday, October 29 they will be performing together with Augusto Enriquez at King Theatre at Annapolis Royal.

Sunday Jazz – Oct 23

Chicoy and Avi, Silvio and David Burton will be at Stayners from 5 to 9.

Wednesday – Oct 26

The Guitar event of the year (even better than Jeff Beck)
Jorge Chicoy – guitar
Geordie Haley – guitar
Scott Macmillan – guitar
Al Sutherland – guitar
David Burton – drums
Jamie Gatti – bass

Yes that’s right 4 world class guitar players on stage at the same time.

Thursday – Oct 27

HavanaFax Clinic and Concert at St FX in Antigonish

Friday – Oct 28

Los Primos Project to receive the Musica Viva Award from the Nova Scotia Music Educators Association at their annual conference with is in Antigonish this year. The honour is in recognition of the contribution to music education that 14 years of Los Primos has given to music students in Nova Scotia.
HavanaFax at Piper’s Pub from 9 to 12.

Saturday – Oct 29

Latin Groove with Augusto Enriquez at Kings Theatre in Annapolis Royal
Los Primos Project Presents
ECMA winning band from Havana and Halifax
HavanaFax featuring Cuban Superstar Augusto Enriquez

Everyone one in Cuba knows Augusto Enriquez. He is a fixture on the Cuban music scene. He has recorded dozens of CD’s including a tribute to Benny Moré. You can see his Italian produced video at this you tube link...

Augusto spends a lot of time touring in Europe, particularly Italy where he even performed with Pavarotti…

Cuba helping Haiti

2011-10-17T15:10:00.003-04:30

HUMANITY'S MISSION:
CUBA'S MEDICAL INTERNATIONALISM IN HAITI

Public lecture on Cuba's Medical Assistance to Haiti
by Dr. Jorge Tomas Balseiro Estevez,
Member of Cuba's Medical Mission to Haiti

7pm, Wednesday, October 19
Room 303
Dalhousie Student Union Building
Dalhousie University
6136 University Avenue, Halifax

A free event sponsored by the Canadian Network On Cuba (CNC), Nova Scotia Cuba Association (NSCUBA), Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW), and the Nova Scotia Public Interest Research Group (NSPIRG).

______________________________________________

Cuban Doctor on Canada Wide Tour to Speak on
Cuba's Humanitarian Medical Mission

From October 13 to November 6, 2011 Dr. Jorge Tomas Balseiro Estevez, a member of Cuba's medical internationalist mission to Haiti, will speak in more than a dozen cities from Halifax to Victoria.

Dr. Balseiro exemplifies Cuba's extensive and unprecedented solidarity with the peoples of the world, illustrating what can be achieved when self-serving interests do not direct the aid provided.

Dr. Balseiro has extensive experience in Cuba's many medical internationalist missions across the globe. From 1988-89, he worked as Director of the Cuban civilian Hospital in the Republic of Angola. In 2004-2006 he worked as a clinical psychiatrist in the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation of the Republic of Guyana.

In 2008 as a member of the Henry Reeve Brigade in Haiti, he was director of the Hospital de Campana de Leogane. In the immediate aftermath of the earthquake that struck Haiti in January 2010, Dr. Balseiro worked extensively with Cuban technical and medical personnel giving emergency aid. They were soon joined by the arrival of a group of more than 50 Latin American doctors, trained at the Latin American School of Medicine in Cuba. Dr. Balseiro also participated in rescue missions of hurricanes Ike and Paloma in his own country in 2008.

Dr. Balseiro was Provincial Director of Public Health of the Province of Camaguey, Cuba from 2000 to 2003. Currently, he is the Director of the University Psychiatric Hospital of Camaguey. Dr. Balseiro has authored numerous articles on mental health issues that have appeared in a variety Cuban and international magazines. He trained internationally in Hungary, Mexico, Guyana and in Cuba in different topics of mental health and mental health and disasters.

Dr. Balseiro is 55 years old and speaks Spanish and English.

The tour is organized by the Canadian Network on Cuba (CNC). CNC spokesperson Isaac Saney says Dr. Balseiro's work and service illustrate Cuba's collective commitment to building and strengthening genuine ties of friendship and solidarity among the world's peoples, of which Cuba's medical mission in Haiti is distinctive

"Cuba's medical internationalist mission in Haiti is a profound challenge to those who argue that relations among the world's nations and peoples are - and can only be - determined by self-interest, the pursuit of power and wealth," Saney points out. "Cuba provides the example that it is possible to build relations based on genuine solidarity and social justice: demonstrating the positive alternatives which permit people to realize their deepest aspirations, and that another better world is possible," he said.

For information contact: isaney@hotmail.com; cell: 902-449-4967

Backgrounder: Cuba In Haiti

At the time of the January 12, 2010 earthquake in Haiti, 402 Cuban internationalists, 302 of them medical personnel, had already been helping the Haitian people. "The Cubans did not wait for the earth tremor to offer their help. They were already working along with us long before," former Haitian President René Préval said.

Cuba's cooperation with Haiti began in 1998, after Hurricane George hit Haiti. It has amplified since the January 2010 earthquake that killed more than 220,000 people, wounded more than 300,000 and displaced more than 500,000.

Since the earthquake, Cuban cooperation has grown to 1,304 persons, with 679 Cubans, and 625 graduates and students from 26 other countries, trained and educated free of cost at Cuba's Latin American School of Medicine. Cuban doctors immediately responded to the cholera epidemic following the earthquake, saving thousands of Haitians. The cholera lethality rate in Haiti is 2.07 per cent, whereas for the sick people assisted by the Cuban Medical Brigade is 0.48 per cent. The Haitian President declared that the people of Haiti view the Cuban physicians as extremely important, "second only to God."

The Cuban medical mission has treated more than 300,000 patients, performing more than 8,000 surgeries. Cuban assistance encompasses more than just the provision of immediate medical attention. It is now also focused on strengthening and rebuilding the Haitian healthcare system. Toward those ends, the Cuban medical and paramedical internationalists work in 56 hospitals and healthcare centres, and have installed and equipped 30 rooms, in which more than 85,000 patients have been treated.
Immediately following the earthquake in Haiti, the Canadian Network on Cuba initiated a fundraising campaign - Cuba for Haiti - to donate to Cuba's efforts in medical support to Haiti. To date the campaign chaired by Professor Keith Ellis has raised and sent to Cuba, over $295,000.00.

The head of the Cuban Cooperation Brigade in Haiti, Lorenzo Somarraba, stated that there are currently 1,300 Cuban health workers in that nation including 312 doctors, out of which 247 graduated from the Latin American School of Medicine (ELAM) who come from 20 different countries.

2011-09-28T23:40:00.006-04:30

Raul Castro Meets with Joseph Kabila

HAVANA, Cuba, Sept 26 (acn) On Monday afternoon, Cuban President Raul Castro received Joseph Kabila Kabange, President of the Democratic Republic of Congo, who is on an official visit to Cuba.

During the meeting, the two heads of state referred to the state of bilateral relations and reiterated their willingness to strengthen them in various fields. Likewise, they spoke about topics on the international agenda.

Also present in the talks were Esteban Lazo, Vice-president of the Council of State, and interim Foreign Minister Marcelino Medina.

The President of the Democratic Republic of Congo said that he appreciated the support provided by Cuba during the second half of the last century to African national liberation movements. The president laid a wreath on the bust of his father Laurent-Désiré Kabila –also President of Congo (1997 to 2001)–, at the African Heroes Park. He also paid tribute to the Congolese leader Patricio Lumumba and to all those who shed their blood during the African liberation wars and to Cuban national hero Jose Marti.

The president of the Cuba-Africa Association, Victor Dreke highlighted the friendship and brotherhood uniting the peoples of Congo and Cuba and mentioned the participation of Argentinean-born guerrilla fighter Ernesto Che Guevara in the national liberation war of the African country.

North Korean Official Expresses Support of Cuban Five

Havana, Cuba, Sept 27 (acn) The president of the Committee for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries of North Korea, Kim Jong Suk, explained today from Pyongyang that her country supports the release of the five Cuban antiterrorist fighters, known as the Cuban Five, imprisoned in the U.S.

The official identified with the cause of the Cuban Five, who have been in prison since 1998, while signing a collaboration agreement with the Cuban Friendship Institute, ICAP. In 2001, the Cuban Five were sentenced to terms from 15 years in prison to two life terms plus 15 years, for monitoring terrorist groups acting against Cuba under Washington’s consent.

As part of ICAP's work program, Serrano met with the vice president of the Presidium of the People’s Supreme Assembly, Yang Hyong Sop, who noted that the visit of the Cuban delegation coincides with preparations for the celebration of the centenary –in April 2010- of Kim Il Sung, historical leader of this country.

US Blockade Against Cuba Rejected at UN General Assembly

HAVANA, Cuba, Sept 26 (ACN) Representatives from several countries criticized on Monday the nearly 50-year-old economic, commercial and financial blockade maintained by the United States against Cuba at the 66th session of the United Nations General Assembly.

The Vice President of Uruguay, Danilo Astori, questioned the Cuban blockade and in his address to the Assembly he said that his government considers that all the conditions required for the UN to recognize Palestine as its 194th full member have been met.

Lesotho’s Prime Minister Pakalitha Bethuel Mosisili, advocated the lifting of the US blockade against Cuba, arguing that a solution to the long-standing dispute between the US and Cuba should be found.

For 19 consecutive years the UN’s main decision-making body, has witnessed how an overwhelming majority of its member states rejects Washington’s blockade against Cuba.

Cuban Foreign Minister Meets with His Syrian Counterpart in New York

HAVANA, Cuba, Sept 27 (acn) The Cuban Foreign Minister, Bruno Rodriguez, recently held a meeting with his Syrian counterpart, Walid Moallen, in New York. Both officials coincided in their interest of strengthening bilateral bonds.

Rodriguez told Walid Moallen all agreements signed between both countries during the historical visit of President Bashar al-Assad to Cuba last year have been fulfilled, the Official News Agency of Syrian and the national newspapers in Arab language Tishreen, Al Baas and Al-Thawra reported.

A press release on the Cuban Foreign Ministry’s website www.cubaminrex.cu says Rodriguez took advantage of the meeting to reaffirm Cuba’s full support of Syriaagainst any type of foreign intervention on its internal affairs.

Workers United Demands Release of The Five

HAVANA, Cuba, Sept 14 (acn) Cristina Vazquez, leader of the Workers United’s Western States Regional Joint Board in California, expressed the need for more action in favor of the release of the five Cuban antiterrorists incarcerated in the US to be promoted.

The union leader explained, in statements to Prensa Latina that her organization, SEIU, formed in March 2009 after 150,000 workers in the U.S. and Canada decided to leave UNITE HERE to create a union that put workers first, will be the voice of the Cuban people. Workers United represents workers in the laundry, food service, hospitality, gaming, apparel, textile, manufacturing and distribution industries. The union leader, born in Ecuador and living since 1971 in the US, has devoted her life to the defense of immigrants and workers and the reunification of families.

It’s we, the friends of Cuba, she said, who have the duty and the commitment to spread that the Cuban Five never tried to harm the US national security and their only objective was to protect their country from the plans of Florida-based criminal groups. According to the union member, a momentous meeting was held in Los Angeles on August 13, which was attended by members of that city’s progressive community.

The actions carried out in US territory in favor of The Five include the sending of postcards to US President Barack Obama demanding their release.

Regional Solidarity-with-Cuba Forum

HAVANA, Cuba, Sept 26 (acn) The 6th Regional Meeting of Solidarity with Cuba to take place in Mexico in October is expected to be attended by approximately 1,000 delegates from 18 nations, announced its coordinator Roberto Hamilton.

Hamilton, from the Cuban Friendship Institute (ICAP), assured via Internet that the forum will be a big political and cultural event. The opening of the meeting is scheduled for October 6 in
honor of the victims of the sabotage of a Cubana de Aviacion commercial flight off the Barbados coasts in 1976, killing all 73 people aboard.

The second day of the encounter coincides with the end of Rene Gonzalez’s (one of the Cuban Five) term after 13 years in prison. On that day, the solidarity with Cuba movement will claim that Rene Gonzalez be allowed to return home in opposition to the additional sentence imposed on him of remaining in US territory under supervision for other three years.

Hamilton added that October 8 sessions will be dedicated to Ernesto Che Guevara and on the following day, the documents of the meeting will be announced. The event will wrap up with a march and a concert.

New Cuban School for Autistic Children

GUANTANAMO, Cuba, Sept 26 sep (AIN) A center dedicated to autistic children in Guantanamo. Roberto Soler, provincial deputy director for special education, said that this school will be the fourth of its kind on the island (Havana, Santiago de Cuba and Cienfuegos).

The center will have the technical equipment and the staff of professors, speech therapists, psycho-pedagogues and physical and emotional rehabilitation specialists required and will welcome the nine autistic children of the Guantanamo province, six of which currently receive attention in Havana. The director, Idania Padilla, underlined that the priority of the professionals involved is to increase the emotional and volitive well-being of the children affected.

Operation Peter Pan: A Monstrous Story Never Forgotten

A moving documentary by Estela Bravo, “Operation Peter Pan,” was aired on Cuban television showing the sinister actions carried out against Cuba. Produced in 2010 by Ernesto Brazo, Argentinian, was launched during the 32nd edition of the International Festival of New Latin American Cinema and received a Star of Havana Award at the Havana Film Festival in New York.

Operation Peter Pan…full of photographs and unedited scenes, reflects the tragic event that took place during the early years of the Revolution, 1960 to 1962, when more than 14 000 Cuban children were send to the United States by their parents after rumors that the Cuban government "would take away the rights of the parents over their children."

Images of many of the small children are shown in the documentary with music composed by Lucia Huergo, edition and the photography were vital elements in the sensible moments of the facts.

The separation from their parents marked the lives of these children, interviewed as adults by Estela Bravo, telling us about their bitterness, nostalgias and love for their cultural roots.

The massive departure of Cuban children was organized by the US State Department to destabilize the Cuban government. The testimonies of several of these children, today adults, are based on the experiences they lived.

The first group of Peter Pan children visited Cuba in 2009 and filmmaker Estela Bravo, was able to obtain their emotional statements: “We have come to close a chapter of our lives, reconciliation and find peace for ourselves, with our history and our country”.

In the introduction of the book "Operation Peter Pan, a case of psychological war against Cuba" edited in 2000 by Editorial Politica Publishing House, the president of the Cuban Parliament Ricardo Alarcon said: “Operation Peter Pan was one of the monstrous chapters in the endless campaign of lies, slanders and misdeed against Cuba. One of the most immoral and inhuman in history."

Chavez: Cuba-Venezuela Achievements for Diabetes

Caracas, Sep 27 (Prensa Latina) More than 31,000 Venezuelans have benefited from a health program that, supported by Cuba, has allowed since 2008 to prevent and assist patients with diabetic foot, President Hugo Chavez stated on Tuesday.

During a telephone conversation with the state TV channel Venezolana de Television, Chavez stated that about 14,000 amputations were prevented thanks to the application of Cuban medicine Heberprot-P, generally applied in people suffering from diabetes mellitus.

All this is for free, and as a result of that, some 15,500 patients have been assisted this year, the president said on the occasion of a book about the subject.

Chavez illustrated the achievements of the program implemented in 15 states with testimonies including in the text.

According to the medical literature, about 60 percent of those patients suffer from amputations, a figure reduced to less than one percent thanks to Heberprot-P and the work of Venezuelan and Cuban physicians. Now few people are taken to the operating room, said the project's national coordinator, Dr. Loida Gaffaro de Valera, we are saving families and society from trauma.

Heberprot-P was developed by the Cuban Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology Center and it is based on recombinant human growth factor and it is injected.

Cuba at the 66th session of the UN General Assembly

2011-09-28T22:10:00.002-04:30

Speech delivered by H.E. Mr. Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Cuba, at the 66th session of the United Nations General Assembly, New York, September 26, 2011.

Mr. President:

Allow me to congratulate you on your election.

We welcome the government of South Sudan for becoming the 193rd member of the United Nations.

I join the appeal by all African leaders to give an urgent response to the famine in the Horn of Africa

Mr. President:

While we are deliberating here in this hall, "another preventive" war is taking place in Libya using as a pretext "the protection of civilians". The United Statesand NATO, supposedly to avoid a massacre, launched a military attack against a sovereign State without there being any threat to international peace and security, and unleashed a "change of regime" operation.

NATO imposed on the Security Council a dubious resolution authorizing "member States... acting nationally or through regional organizations or arrangements... to take all necessary measures to protect civilians and civilian populated areas under the threat of attack."

Afterwards, NATO violated this same resolution in order to supply weapons, fund one of the parties to the conflict and deploy operatives and diplomatic personnel on the ground.

Now everybody has a better understanding of the concept of "responsibility to protect" and what it can be used for. In this war, waged with the most advanced and lethal military technologies, the means of communication have been used as combat weapons by the financial and media emporiums which are profiteering from the war and the reconstruction operations as if they were anti-crisis instruments.

As early as February 21, Commander in Chief Fidel Castro Ruz had warned that NATO was irremissibly preparing a war against Libya. Since then, Cuba engaged indefatigably not in the defense of a government, but of a principle: the assassination of thousands of innocent people with the dubious objective of protecting other civilians is something unacceptable. History has eloquently shown that peace can not be imposed either by war or by force. It is only up to the Libyan people to decide upon its destiny, without any foreign intervention, in the exercise of its right to self-determination and independence, its sovereignty over its natural resources and its territorial integrity.

The military intervention in Libya and the growing threat against Syria have been the opportunistic and defensive responses given by the United States and Europe to the collapse of their system of domination and plunder in Northern Africa and the Middle East, the emergence of genuinely popular movements in Tunisia, Egypt and other countries, in order to secure huge reserves of oil and water and confiscate financial assets in times of global economic and social crisis.

It is the task of this General Assembly to exercise its powers to prevent a military aggression against Syria. The public opinion should receive objective information and speak up against war. Mr. President: According to the Foreign Affairs magazine, the White House has rushed to describe what happened in that Northern African country as a model. It is said that the new US strategy is more efficient and less costly... that the Bush administration strategy considered occupation as an option ... that the Obama administration strategy is that of national liberation...that the military intervention strategy in Libya could also be applied in other cases." With full cynicism, reference is made to a military aggression without casualties or the use of infantry troops, the costs of which would be mainly borne by Europe. The destabilization of a country through subversion, covert operations and economic sanctions is described as the "development of a national movement".

This new "change of regime" operations model shows that the current US and NATO military doctrines are ever more aggressive than the previous ones, and that the so called "Euro-Atlantic periphery" comprises the entire planet. No one should doubt that Latin America and the Caribbean are included in that conception. The re-deployment of the Fourth Fleet, the installation of military bases and the sending of troops and military means to intervene anywhere in the region; the coup d'etat against Venezuela in 2002, followed by an oil coup; the sedition in Santa Cruz, Bolivia; the military coup in Honduras and the attempted coup in Ecuador fit perfectly well in the "new strategy".

Can the US and NATO give guarantees today that the use of force and this concept of "regime change" are not applicable in the case of the Latin American and Caribbean countries that do not yield to their interests? Can the European Union say something about it? What would the United Nations do in the event of such circumstances?

Mr. President:

The weakness of the global economy, particularly the economies of the United States and of the European Union, continues to show that the crisis that began in the year 2008 has not been yet overcome. In developed countries, the terrible burden of its consequences is borne by the workers, the unemployed, the immigrants and the poor, who are brutally repressed whenever they peacefully defend their rights.

We, the countries of the South, which are incessantly despoiled, are suffering the distortions of a world order that excludes our legitimate interests. We are suffering the terrible impact of protectionism and the steady increase in the prices of foodstuffs and hydrocarbons. The peoples of many developing countries are victims of worn out neoliberal economic models and their sequels of plunder and exclusion. The social and political consequences are being felt in all continents.

Mr. President:

In the face of a global economic crisis and the exhaustion of the natural resources of the planet, what would be the response of the extreme right wing forces that are in power or may reach power as a result of the punishment and hopelessness of voters?

In the face of a growing and universal threat of a war, a new distribution of the world and climate change, i,could we, the countries of the South, act together as an indispensable condition to save ourselves?

In the face of so many and serious threats, the Latin America and Caribbean region, the one that Bolivar and Marti fought for, is integrating and determined to finish what they left unfinished. It would be impossible either to divide us or to turn us against each other. ALBA is a small but morally powerful group of peoples and the new Community of Latin American and Caribbean States is already a fact.

The entire force of the Andes will very soon be expressed in a Summit that will be an epoch making event in Caracas, the epicenter of the independence of the Americas, where a Bolivarian people has conquered power and the stature of a continental leader, President Hugo Chavez Frias, is growing bigger.

More than ever before we have to defend the United Nations, but the biggest challenge would be to turn it into an organization that serves the legitimate interests of all States, instead of catering for the arbitrariness and abuses of a handful of rich and powerful countries. We must see to it that International Law as well as the Purposes and Principles of the UN Charter prevail in the face of the brute force that attempts to wipe them out. It is necessary to reestablish the leading role of this Assembly and relaunch the Security Council.

Mr. President:

The General Assembly has the inescapable moral, political and legal obligation to ensure the recognition of an independent Palestinian State, with the boundaries established before 1967 and with East Jerusalem as its capital, as a full member of the United Nations Organization.

If there's recognition of the inalienable right of the Palestinian people to independence, sovereignty and self-determination; if there is recognition of the need to reestablish the exercise of the human rights of Palestinians; if the blockade of Gaza, the economic coercion and segregation symbolized by the infamous wall are recognized as crimes; if the subjugation of a nation to conditions jeopardizing its existence is described as genocide; if all member States are supposed to adopt all legal measures within their reach to protect Palestinian civilians, then the General Assembly should take action now.

Cuba, a country with a small Jewish community, condemns the historical injustice of anti-Semitism, the crime against humanity which was the Holocaust, and recognizes the right of the State of Israel to exist. Our people only harbour fraternal feelings towards the Israeli people, who are also a victim of this conflict.

Cuba likewise proclaims that the United States has the moral, political and legal obligation to stop vetoing the Security Council resolutions destined to protect the Palestinian civilians.

The European Union should oppose this veto and abstain from supporting the empire's brutal pressure on the members of this Assembly and the Council itself. It should also be true and fair for Europe to denounce that those crimes would not be happening if not because of the military supplies, the financial support and the impunity ensured by the US to the Israeli government.

Mr. President:

On September 11, 2011, we Cubans shared the pain of the American people who were victims of those atrocious terrorist actions and offered our selfless solidarity, encouragement and cooperation. As usual, Cuba made some crystal clear statements against terrorism and against war.

Ten years after, the world is even more insecure because instead of turning international consensus against terrorism into a system of international cooperation to cope with it, the United States has invaded and occupied Iraq and Afghanistan, taking a toll on the lives of thousands of persons and causing pain to tens of millions.

Deception, torture, extrajudicial executions or assassinations, the disappearance of persons, arbitrary detentions and the CIA secret renditions and prisons in Europe and other regions were impossible to hide.

The US Government offends the memory of the victims of September 11 when it maintains the prolonged and inhumane imprisonment of the Five Cuban antiterrorists, who were unjustly sentenced to serve extreme sanctions at spurious trials for seeking information about the terrorist activities of the groups that have operated with absolute impunity from the US territory against Cuba, thus causing the death of or physical disabilities to 5 577 fellow Cuban citizens.

Once again, with all due respect, I urge President Obama to make use of his prerogatives to set them free as an act of justice or as a humanitarian gesture which will be highly appreciated by their children, wives, mothers, fathers and all of our people.

Mr. President:

The Cuban government reiterates its willingness and interest to move towards the normalization of relations with the United States. Today I reiterate the proposal of beginning a dialogue aimed at solving bilateral problems, including humanitarian issues, as well as the offer of negotiating several cooperation agreements to combat drug-trafficking, terrorism, human smuggling, prevent natural disasters and protect the environment, even in the event of oil spills as the one occurred at the British Petroleum platform in the Gulf of Mexico.

However, we know that the electoral race has already begun in this country while the economic situation is getting worse. The economic, commercial and financial blockade against Cuba has been tightened and the damages it has caused have totaled 975 billion dollars according to the present gold price. The attempts to subvert the constitutional order that Cubans have freely elected have intensified.

There are increasing pressures on the part of the extreme right and the Cuban American mafia to revert the minimal steps taken by the US government that, to some extent, favor the links between the Cuban emigres and their home country and the exchanges between both peoples. In Cuba, President Raul Castro has reiterated that we will continue to change, in a sovereign way, everything that needs to be changed so that our economy is more efficient and our socialism is better, in order to conquer "all the justice" and be able to fully preserve our independence.

As Marti said, "before ceasing in our endeavor to have a free and prosperous homeland, the South Seas will merge with the Northern Seas and a serpent will hatch out of an eagle's egg."
Thank you, very much.

Artists Collective

2011-09-23T09:54:00.016-04:30

Y-art Sale
Rain or Shine!

Sept 24^th & 25^th from 10:00 am to 3:00pm

At: 18 Foxwood Crescent, Mineville

Terry Fox in Cuba

2011-09-23T09:50:00.001-04:30

NACLA REPORT

2011-08-18T07:58:00.000-04:30

Current Issue

Cuba: Salvaging a Revolution?

In this issue, we consider the new economic reforms announced by the Cuban leadership that aim to resuscitate a floundering economy that, as noted in the Introduction to the issue, “is incapable of producing the minimum supply of goods, services, and tax revenue needed to provide for the basic needs of the population.” What are the implications that Cuba’s new economy will have for social policy? How has the legacy of the Special Period in Cuba not only changed many Cubans’ attitudes toward their lives but also opened up new cultural spaces for expression and participation? What is the latest assessment of racial equality and gay tolerance on the island? Have U.S.-Cuban relations under the Obama administration been a case of missed opportunities for improvement? This issue of the NACLA Report on the Americas attempts to answer these important questions and more.

Taking Note

Beneath the Underdog: Drugs and Incarceration in the Americas

Suzanna Reiss

The United States imprisons more of its own citizens than any other country in the world, and in 2009 half of U.S. federal prisoners were serving time for nonviolent drug offenses. Unfortunately, the United States has exported this destructive model to Latin America through the drug war. Several recent reports and the hunger strikers at the Pelican Bay State Prison in California are now calling for a revision of these failed policies.

Updates

Buenaventura, Colombia: Where Free Trade Meets Mass Graves

Kelly Nicholls and Gimena Sánchez-Garzoli

In April, President Obama and Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos reinitiated discussions on establishing a free trade agreement. The agreement had been on hold in the U.S. Congress because of grave concerns about Colombia’s labor and human rights record, but it is now scheduled to be implemented by the end of the year. The Colombian port city of Buenaventura will likely be one of the most directly affected places, at a very high cost to the local community.

Report

Introduction: Salvaging a Revolution?

Eric Hershberg

In April, the Sixth Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba approved the most profound reforms that the island had seen since the 1960s. They are meant to revive the flagging economy. But are they sufficient? Will they succeed in reducing the hemorrhaging of state resources and increasing productivity, while enhancing social welfare? What will become of the thousands of laid-off public-sector workers? The jury is still out, and the answers to these questions will depend on the implementation of the reforms themselves.

Changes in the Economic Model and Social Policies in Cuba

Mayra Espina Prieto

Reforms proposed at the Sixth Communist Party Congress represent a new, third phase of social policy in post-revolutionary Cuba. This new stage has the potential to strengthen social equity in Cuba, improve the socio-economic situation of disparate social groups, and overcome the old limitations of social policy. Yet it could also increase inequality, and at least in the short term, its predicted impacts will be contradictory and ambivalent.

Changes From Below: New Dynamics, Spaces, and Attitudes in Cuban Society

Katrin Hansing

The continuing economic crisis in Cuba has not only changed many Cubans’ attitudes toward their lives but has also opened up new cultural spaces for expression.

The Promise Besieged: Participation and Autonomy in Cuba

Armando Chaguaceda

In the face of inadequate Cuban state policies of citizen participation, autonomous groups are emerging from society, in hopes of greater citizen empowerment.

New Autonomous Formations in Cuba

Armando Chaguaceda

In recent years, pro-revolutionary but generally anti-bureaucratic groups have emerged in Cuba. One of the more prominent is the Protagonistic Critical Observatory Network, an alliance of collectives representing a broad spectrum of left-wing political positions—together with artistic endeavors, environmentalism, spirituality, and opposition to gender and racial discrimination.

Kind Attention: An Overture Rebuffed in Havana

The Protagonistic Critical Observatory Network

On April 29, the Protagonistic Critical Observatory Network (Red Protagónica Observatorio Crítico), an autonomous group of Cuban activists and intellectuals, received the following invitation via e-mail from the U.S. Interests Section in Havana.

Cuba’s Pharmaceutical Advantage

Marguerite Rose Jiménez

After significant investment and a slow entry into international markets, Fidel Castro’s “billion dollar gamble” on the home-grown Cuban pharmaceutical industry now seems poised to pay off.

Race and Income Inequality in Contemporary Cuba

Alejandro de la Fuente

Despite fragmentary data, several studies have shown that racial inequality has worsened in Cuba since the 1990s. Anti-discrimination policies, at a minimum, seem necessary if the Cuban revolution is to salvage its anti-racist legacy.

The Rise of Gay Tolerance in Cuba: The Case of the UN Vote

Noelle Stout

In November 2010, a UN vote ignited a public controversy on the island, as Cubans accused government leaders of failing to protect the rights of gay people. The controversy also illuminated the changing role of post-Soviet civic society in creating government policies toward sexual minorities.

Making-Up Is Hard to Do: Obama’s ‘New Approach’ to Cuba

William M. LeoGrande

It once appeared as if President Obama were proceeding toward a new Cuba policy. He ended restrictions on Cuban American remittances and family travel to Cuba, as promised. Havana was receptive, but there were dark clouds on the horizon.

Summary of News from Cuba

2011-06-22T16:40:00.000-04:30

Cuban General Comptroller’s Office: The role of Managers and Staff in ensuring Internal Control

HAVANA, Cuba, June 20 (acn) Cuban General Comptroller Gladys Bejerano Portela told the weekly newspaper Trabajadores that management boards and staff are responsible for ensuring internal control in any Cuban enterprise.

Bejerano Portela, who is also vice president of the Council of State, recognized that most people holding administrative posts are hard-working and took the leadership of Cuban enterprises in difficult times but they may lack training and skills and can be influenced by dominant practices -such as a focus on production “no matter the means and costs.” Numbers are important, she said, but quality and good results are also vital.

The Comptroller’s General Office has detected cases in which people have failed to fulfill their duties, but there are also enterprises boasting high production levels even if there are irregularities due to the lack of control. Education and training about these issues is crucial and relevant not only to the administrative boards but to staff, said Bejerano Portela. The General Comptroller’s Office plays an important role in updating the Cuban economic model; its mission is preserving the country’s resources by ensuring efficient economic and administrative management and preventing corruption and illegalities.

Washington: Over $20 Million earmarked for the new subversion project against Cuba

HAVANA, Cuba, June 20 (acn) The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has released details of a new $21-million subversion project against Cuba targeting adolescents and youths between the ages of 12 and 24 years, aiming at interfering with social media in the Caribbean nation.

Tracey Eaton in her article investigating how Washington spends millions of US taxpayers’ dollars in “illegal and covert actions against Cuba” published in http://cubamoneyproject.org. describes the program’s objective as “to increase opportunities for youth-to-youth interaction in Cuba, allowing the country’s young citizens to experience freedom of association and freedom of expression in social spaces organized outside state authority.”

Of the $21 million, $6 are earmarked for “programs aimed at increasing free expression among youth ages 12 to 24”, another $6 are to be used "expanding Internet use and increase access to information;” and $9 are to be spent “supporting neighborhood groups, cooperatives, sports clubs, church groups and other civil society organizations.” Eaton recalls that on April 1, Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., held up distribution of $20 million in deemed “democracy funds” for Cuba over questions about how the money was to be spent. The Miami Herald later reported on June 10 that the extreme right-wing anti-Cuba organization Freedom House was returning $1.7 million in funds because USAID asked too many questions about where the money was going.

Phil Peters, a Cuba expert at the Lexington Institute -a research organization in Arlington, Virginia, told Eaton that it is unusual for organizations to return money to the federal government. It is “certainly understandable” that Freedom House is “extremely concerned” about protecting those people connected to its Cuba program, he said, “but if you step back from it, the group’s decision to return the money really reinforces that it carries out political operations in Cuba."

UN Recognizes Cuba’s Efforts and Results against Racism

HAVANA, Cuba (acn). Representatives of the UN recognized the efforts and advances of Cuba in the struggle against racist discrimination on Thursday (June 16).

Rolando Garcia, representative of the UN Population Fund, told Granma newspaper that Cuba is the leading country in Latin America regarding equal opportunities for all citizens. “These advances match the inclusive and participatory policies promoted and implemented by the Cuban State,” he added. “We can affirm in the case of Cuba that it solved the main problems of discrimination and managed to integrate everyone into society,” said Garcia. He was participating in the seminar “Cuba and Afro-Descendant Peoples in the Americas” at Havana’s Juan Marinello Cultural Research Institute.

Juan Jose Ortiz, representative in Cuba of the UN Children’s Fund, said that thousands of Afro-descendant children in the region suffer extreme poverty and its consequences. “However, thanks to the political will of the Cuban government, none of them lives in Cuba.” Ortiz also highlighted that Cuba and Norway are the countries with the lowest infant mortality rate in the world, and particularly extolled the results attained by Cuba in this regard considering that it does not have the same development and riches Norway has. Barbara Pesce, the resident coordinator of the United Nations System in Cuba, also pointed out that Cuba is an example in the struggle against racial discrimination.

Scorpion Breeding for Medical Purposes in Cuban Province

Ciego de Avila, Cuba, June 20 (Prensa Latina). The breeding of scorpions in captivity is moving forward as part of a national program to increase the production of medicine for treating cancer. Specialists of the Pharmaceutical Biological Laboratory (LABIOFAM) in Ciego de Avila extract venom from the Rhopalurus junceus scorpion, between 900 and 1,000 mL of the toxin are obtained monthly and sent to LABIOFAM in Havana for processing.

Each specimen can provide about 5 drops explained Madelin Hilacha, a quality control technician at the centre. The scorpions, captured from rocky, damp areas, especially in the cays north of Ciego de Avila, she explained, are classified and kept in containers with necessary water and food for about two years and then returned to their natural habitat.

The anticancer effect of their venom, discovered 20 years ago in Guantanamo, prompted more detailed research. The toxoid obtained from the scorpion venom has benefited thousands of Cuban and foreign patients (from Europe and Latin America) in the treatment of lung, breast, uterus, colon, prostate and pancreas cancer. The toxoid has also been shown to have analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects.

Restoration: U.S. expert lauds Cuban Professionalism

Havana, June 19 (Prensa Latina) U.S. restoration expert Walter Newman, director of paper conservation at the Northeast Document Conservation Center in Andover, Massachusetts, lauded the professionalism of the Cuban experts with whom he has collaborated since 1996 to restore and preserve national heritage.

"It has been a privilege to work here during all these years and I hope this cultural exchange will continue," Newman told Prensa Latina. "Cubans are very well prepared, they are very hardworking and dedicated" said Newman, one of 95 participants at the 13th International Colloquium on Ernest Hemingway at the Ambos Mundos Hotel in Havana. He feels lucky every time he is able to travel to Cuba, and regrets that the U.S. blockade of over 50 years against Cuba hinders bilateral exchange. "I feel privileged to be here."

Newman has coordinated the restoration of Hemingway's legacy at the Finca Vigia museum for several years. Cleaning and repairing papers damaged by the passing of time has been a difficult task that he has undertaken with great dedication. Newman has worked on manuscripts, letters, notebooks, books with corrections and personal documents that belonged to the author of The Old Man and the Sea. He also works daily on other patrimonial works of the US and the world, including engravings by Dutch painter Rembrandt and Spanish painter Pablo Picasso, and documents on the history of U.S. baseball kept in the Hall of Fame in New Cork.

· Germans Protest US Blockade against Cuba

Berlin, June 19 (Prensa Latina) Hundreds of activists with the Cuba solidarity movement in Germany demonstrated outside the Brandenburg Gate to protest the US economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed on Cuba for over 50 years. The rally, under the slogan "50 Readings against 50 Years of Blockade," was organized by the Berlin-Cuba Friendship Association.

"We chose a centrally-located site in Berlin, the Pariser Platz (Paris Square), frequented by many people who go for a walk there, to tell people about Washington’s policy against Cuba," an activist told Prensa Latina. The Pariser Platz is located just between the Brandenburg Gate and the U.S. Embassy. The Berlin-Cuba Friendship Association carried out a similar action in 2001 on the 40th anniversary of the U.S. blockade against Cuba. This time, 50 well-known individuals and friends of Cuba read articles, essays and poems to express their rejection of the U.S. blockade.

· Brazilians Reaffirm Solidarity with Cuba

Rio de Janeiro, June 19 (PL) Participants in the 6th Cuba Solidarity Conference approved an action plan to step up solidarity with the Cuban Revolution. The struggle to end the U.S. economic, commercial, financial blockade imposed on Cuba for over half a century and the immediate release of the Cuban Five -anti-terrorist Cuban fighters unjustly held in U.S. prisons, were the focus of proposals made during the event.

More than 100 Rio residents representing political parties, social, labor and peoples’ movements and the Association of Cuban Residents in Brazil, attended the two-day event held at the teachers’ union headquarters in Rio de Janeiro. Zuleide Faria de Melo, president of the Jose Marti Cultural Association and one of the organizers, extolled the example and dignity of the Cuban people in maintaining their Revolution undefeated, just 90 miles away from the United States.

Participants agreed to encourage the use of alternative media to help spread Cuban media reports and raise awareness about the cause of Gerardo Hernandez, Antonio Guerrero, Fernando Gonzalez, Ramon Labanino and Rene Gonzalez, internationally known as The Cuban Five. They also agreed to join an on-line global campaign on the 5th of every month, and to encourage people to take out a subscription to the Portuguese-language version of Granma International weekly to better understand Cuban and world reality.

There will be a monthly program of events in public centers, schools and universities to counteract the media campaign against the Cuban Revolution and the Cuban and letters sent to the Cuban heroes and, messages to U.S. president Barack Obama, the U.S. government and Congress. The Action Plan will be presented by the JMCA of Rio de Janeiro to the National Cuba Solidarity Conference in Sao Paulo on June 23-26, 2011.

July Event: Cuba Hosts Disaster Risk Assessment Conference

Havana, Jun 19 (Prensa Latina). The 3rd International Colloquium on Assessments of Hazard, Vulnerability and Risks for Disasters Reduction will take place in Cuba July 6-8. The Colloquium is part of the 8th International Convention on Environment and Development, opening on July 4 at the Havana Convention Center, includes conferences on protected areas, climatic change, ecosystems, biodiversity, education and environment and two colloquiums on environmental rights and environmental order. An exhibition fair will also be held for institutions and organizations to present technology, projects and experiences.

International specialists, academics, managers and people involved with natural, technological and sanitary hazards will exchange experiences on disasters reduction. The event will especially focus on the effects of climatic change, tropical storms and other extreme events, regression of the shoreline, drought, forest fires and other threats to small island states and coastal ecosystems. It includes lectures, panels, roundtables and poster sessions. Cuban specialists will present their experiences regarding the erosion of Cuban beaches, mangroves as protection against natural disasters, and the use of multiple-danger maps for disaster risk studies, among others.

Marathon of Hope in Cuba

· Cuba Mourns Betty Fox

Havana, June 18 (Prensa Latina). Betty Fox, the mother of Terry Fox, died Friday June 17 in a health center of Chilliwack, BC, Canada. Betty has been an icon in the fight against cancer. In 2010, Betty, her husband Rolland, and her daughter Judith Fox-Alder (president of the Terry Fox Foundation) were present at the Terry Fox Run in Cuba, an immensely popular annual event. The run, organized by the Cuban Sports Institute (INDER), has been held every year since 1998.

Terry Fox, a national hero in Canada, was a bone cancer survivor whose leg was amputated when he was 18 years old. In 1980, he began running a "Marathon of Hope” to raise awareness and money for cancer research. Terry died at the age of 22 and his mother remained active in the fight against cancer and including Terry Fox Runs all over the world.

Jimmy Carter: Lift Trade Embargo Against Cuba

2011-04-05T12:07:00.001-04:30

By Peter Kornbluh
The Nation

“I hope we can contribute to better relations between the two countries,” Jimmy Carter said describing his mission in visiting Havana this week. At a remarkable press conference as he left to return to the United States today he issued a powerful, resounding, call for major changes in US policy toward Cuba.

Briefing reporters at the Palacio de Convenciones in Havana, Carter touched on virtually every key aspect of US-Cuban relations: the embargo, the case of imprisoned AID contractor Alan Gross, the Cuban Five, Cuba’s inclusion on the terrorism list and the need for greater freedoms—not only for Cubans but for American citizens who are restricted from traveling to the island.

“I think one serious mistake that my country continues to make is the trade embargo,” Carter stated bluntly. The economic restrictions on commerce were “damaging to the well-being of every citizen in Cuba,” and “impeded rather than assisted” reforms that he hoped would be made on the island under Raul Castro’s leadership. “We should immediately lift the embargo,” Carter said, as well as all restrictions on travel to Cuba.

When the Carter trip was announced last week, many analysts believed he intended to bring imprisoned AID contractor Alan Gross back to the United States. Arrested in December 2009, Gross was prosecuted and convicted earlier this month for illegally distributing satellite communications gear to religious groups inside Cuba—part of a US government “democracy-promotion” program intended to undermine the Cuban regime. According to State Department officials, his arrest, conviction and sentence of fifteen years in prison has become a major stumbling block in improving US relations with Cuba.

But Carter made it clear that the Cuban government had warned him in advance not to expect Gross to be freed at this time. After visiting Gross at an undisclosed location this morning, Carter addressed the need for him to be released “because he is innocent of any serious threat to the Cuban people.” Gross’s conviction should be overturned by Cuba’s Supreme Court on appeal, Carter forcefully opined, or Raúl Castro should pardon him, or soon release him to his family on humanitarian grounds.

In perhaps his boldest—and riskiest—statement as a former US president, Carter also called for the release of the so-called Cuban Five, a handful of Cuban counterterrorism agents arrested by the FBI and convicted of spying against violent exile groups and other US targets in 1998. Carter noted that the five agents had been in US prisons for more than a dozen years and characterized their further incarceration as “unwarranted.”

In response to a question posed by The Nation about why Cuba remains on the State Department's list of nations that support terrorism, Carter was unequivocal: Cuba’s inclusion on the list was “completely unfounded” and based on “untrue allegations” that Cuba was harboring international terrorists from the FARC in Colombia and separatist Basque group ETA from Spain.

Indeed, to build a case to take Cuba off the list, Carter met in Havana with diplomats from both Spain and Colombia who said they welcomed Cuba’s policy of accepting the FARC and ETA members, as it facilitated communications between those groups and those governments. In a significant revelation, Carter told the press that US and Cuban intelligence were currently “cooperating” in counterterrorism efforts against Al Qaeda. “I think we should take Cuba off the terrorism list,” Carter stated bluntly.

Accompanied by his wife, Rosalyn, American University professor and former Carter White House aide Robert Pastor, Dr. Jennifer McCoy, director of the Carter Center’s America’s program, and Dr. John Hardman, president of the Center, Carter’s three-day trip was skillfully organized to give him maximum credibility as well as substantive political cover in pressing for changes in relations on both sides. Repeatedly during the press conference he called for respect for human rights and full freedoms for the Cuban people. This morning he met the internationally popular Cuban dissident blogger Yoani Sánchez as well as the recognized human rights activist Elizardo Sánchez Santa Cruz. Monday he visited Cuba’s only Jewish community center in Havana. During his three days in Cuba, he also conferred with diplomats from other nations who have full relations with Havana. In a remarkable gesture to the importance the Cuban government attaches to the case of the Cuban Five, Carter visited two mothers and three wives of the detained Cuban agents.

This morning Carter met with Fidel Castro, whom he characterized as “an old friend.”

But his most important meeting was Tuesday night with Cuban President Raúl Castro. The six-hour summit started with chit-chat in a salon of the Palacio de Convenciones, and then moved to a relaxed dinner at Café del Orient—one of Cuba’s pre-eminent restaurants. After dinner, Castro was seen walking Carter and his wife back to their hotel in Old Havana. In a significant gesture, President Castro bid Carter goodbye at the airport, and told the press that he was sending a message to Obama with him that Cuba desired normal relations with Washington—as equals and without conditions.

In 2002 when Carter became the first and only former US president to visit Havana, he briefed President George Bush when he returned. (Bush tightened restrictions on travel as he began his 2004 re-election bid, and essentially called for the Cuban people to rise up and overthrow Castro.) Today Carter made it clear that he would be briefing President Obama on this trip as well and would suggest to him a variety of steps the president could take to improve ties. He noted that there would be “confidential matters” he would discuss with Obama, inferring that there were back-channel aspects to his meetings with Cuban President Raúl Castro.

Shortly after his inauguration in 1977, Carter issued a secret presidential decision memorandum on changing Cuba policy. “I have determined that we should attempt to normalize our relations with Cuba,” it stated. “When I was president I did the best I could to improve diplomatic relations,” he recalled, although his administration never achieved the full rapprochement with Cuba he envisioned. More than three decades later, Jimmy Carter remains clearly committed to that elusive goal.

New Housing Construction in Isla de la Juventud

2011-02-20T09:42:00.004-04:30

Postcard from a recent visit by NS Cuba member and CUPW retiree Ruth Larson:

My first visit to the Isla de la Juventud was in 1996 and I have gone there many times since. It is Cuba’s largest island and is 2200 square kilometres. The capital is Nueva Gerona where marble hills can be easily spotted. This island has no sugar cane but is known for citrus fruits and marble. The locals sigh when they hear of Isla de la Juventud, “Ahh, La Isla es muy bonita”.

“La Isla” is the least populated region of Cuba. Gerona has a population of about 14,000 and La Fe about 9000, and people are scattered amongst the small farms and towns. Scuba diving along the ‘Pirate Coast’, Indian cave paintings at Punta del Este, Presidio Modelo built under Batista, capable of holding 6000 prisoners and where Fidel was once imprisoned; the black beach and unspoiled coral keys are some of the highlights of this island.

Getting there is for the adventurous! Cubana flies an Anatov aircraft from Havana to Nueva Gerona a few times a day; it is a 30 minute flight. As well, there is a hydrofoil that takes about two hours and leaves from a port near Havana.

Casa Particulares are a good option and food is good; as well, there are a few small hotels nearby.

Horse and cart and bicycle taxis are still important modes of transportation.

Hurricanes have caused devastation to homes and crops over the years. On my last visit two years ago, I saw the devastation caused by the most recent hurricane with roofs destroyed, crops uprooted, the local post office destroyed and the roof of the stadium completely gone. We watched a baseball game, shaded by umbrellas from the hot 30 degree sun! The latest visit in 2011 allowed me to see the determination of the Cubans on La Isla with the construction of new homes in Sierra Caballo, near Gerona, built with aid from Venezeula (these are typical models built by the state in Venezuela). In Gerona there were other homes being constructed.

People on the Isla are easy going and friendly. I have friends whom I met on my first visit in 1996. I have been to the Isla about 25 times over the years, including once on May Day; La Isla is nearly always on my list of “things to do in Cuba”.

Enjoy the photos!

Ruth Larson

New Housing Construction: Venezuelan Aid

Canadian-Cuban artists exchange art and culture

2010-12-05T13:26:00.000-04:30

Three Cubans recently spent six weeks in Nova Scotia teaching and learning about Nova Scotia art and culture. Although the two Cuban artists spoke little English, through a translator Heriberto Acanda Ramos said, "Culture has no language."

Mr. Acanda was accompanied by fellow artist Raúl Jesús Garcia Hernández and cultural centre manager Mayda Hernández Morejón. The group brought 20 pieces of art from their home in Pinar del Rio. The pieces were on display at the Lunenburg Art Gallery and at Pier 21 in Halifax.

The Nova Scotia and the Pinar del Rio cultural exchange began in 2003 when Lunenburg County artist Ruth Wilton hosted a Cuban supervisor through the Canada World Youth Project. After developing a friendship, Ms Wilton and her husband visited Cuba in 2004. During their stay, they met with Ms Hernández Morejón and the idea for the art and culture exchange resulted.

Read more at South Shore Now

Farmers Tour of Cuba!

2010-10-29T10:45:00.000-04:30

Canada-Cuba Farmer to Farmer Project

Winter 2011 Farmer Exchange

BOOKING DEADLINE NOVEMBER 15th

Three days of sun and luxury on Cuba's beautiful Varadero Beach / Eight days of travel through Cuba's countryside visiting large cooperative farms / Three days in Old Havana

Winter 2010-2011 Brochure (PDF)

Farmers: this tour is deductable as a business expense!

2010-09-28T11:49:00.006-04:30

The Pinar del Río / Nova Scotia Cultural Exchange

in partnership with

Pier 21 Canada’s Immigration Museum

invites you to attend the opening of

“Cuban Connections”

A celebration of Cuban Culture and Art in 2 Parts.

October 6, to Nov 14, 2010.

Ralph and Rose Chiodo Harbourside Gallery

Details available on the website of
the Nova Scotia-Cuba
Artists' Collective

www.cubaNSart.com

Reverend Lucius Walker, Found of Pastors for Peace, Passes Away

2010-09-08T05:30:00.000-04:30

The Rev. Lucius Walker, one of the leading figures in the fight for normalized relations with Cuba, is dead.

Walker, 80, of Demarest, N.J., led the Pastors for Peace caravans to Cuba. He was a longtime civil rights activist and founding director of the Interreligious Foundation for Community Organization, or IFCO. An IFCO announcement said:

It is with immeasurable sadness that we write to let you know of the passing of our beloved, heroic, prophetic leader the Rev. Lucius Walker Jr. this morning. We will write with more information as soon as arrangements are made. Please keep his family and his IFCO family in your prayers.

Cuban Medical Teams in Haiti: Update

2010-08-04T17:59:00.000-04:30

Six Months after the Earthquake: Time to Build Public Health Care in Haiti

July 29, 2010--In the six months since the deadly earthquake struck Haiti, MEDICC and its partners have launched multiple initiatives to support long-term health care provided by hundreds of doctors on the frontlines in clinics and hospitals across the country. These are young graduates from Haiti and the region trained at Havana’s Latin American Medical School, joining over 350 Cuban doctors and other health professionals to dramatically increase access to health care for all Haitians by building a system of public health services.

Full Story at MEDICC.org

A key reference on Cuban doctors abroad programmes

2010-07-29T17:57:00.001-04:30

Cuba is rarely assessed objectively by external critics, typically being viewed through leftover Cold War filters or dismissed as an anachronism for its continuing effort to make socialism work. This book provides an excellent survey and analysis of Cuba's deeds in the international arena of health care, disaster relief and South-South cooperation. Kirk and Erisman effectively answer those critics who see Cuba's international medical programme as having foundations in the economic crisis of the 1990s (i.e., selling medical services to keep the money flowing) and instead provide a comprehensive historical accounting of Cuba's assistance to the developing world.

The case is effectively made that Cuba's global health initiatives arise from a commitment to solidarity rather than any profit motive. Of particular interest is the revelation that in situations where Cuban military or technical support has been requested (Algeria, Angola, Congo, etc.), the Cubans ensured that medical and educational staff were significant components of any agreement. One looks forward to a followup study on Cuba's activities in Haiti, as this book was published before the January, 2010 earthquake. Cuban assistance to Haiti pre-dates the disaster by a decade, and is a prime example of the enduring benefits Cuban assistance provides: Cuba's medical teams were on the ground when the quake struck, were and continue to be the largest single medical team working on the island. This is development in practice, rather than empty words.

Important note: The authors of this book are generously donating all profits to the MEDICC programme that supports the Cuban medical effort in Haiti.

Spoken Word Performance by El Jones: MONCADA

2010-07-27T06:12:00.002-04:30

MONCADA

By El Jones, Halifax, Canada, July 23, 2010

I am the weapon fired in the Barracks at Moncada

I am the first blow struck for liberty in the resistance

I am the raised fist and the heroism of the martyr

I am not a rifle, shotgun or pistol. My ammunition is

The ideal of equality sown in the minds of the parking lot attendants

Delivery boys, chauffeurs and street vendors

The 25 rebels raised without fathers

The legacy of oppression felt in every ghetto

From Rio de Janeiro to Harlem

I am the bullet in the chamber loaded in Santiago

In the speeches of Eduardo Chibas

And broadcast in the barrios on the people?s free radio

I am Viva La Cuba Libre in embryo

Spoken in Spanish and Creole and

Stoked in poverty and broken homes

Until it was shown in growing whispers among the youth

On the streets and in universities

I am the truth and the grassroots marching in the boots

From day labourers to Che Guevara

I am the ancestral memory of the sugar cane fields

The machete passed from the hands of Toussaints warriors in Haiti

To the Cuban sugar workers labouring in the heat

I am snatching victory out of the jaws defeat

I am the speeches written from the prison cell

And the spit in the eye of the torturer

I am Fidel?s courtroom testimony

When I descend I strike a blow for solidarity

I am the revolution waged since 1492

Begun in the resistance of indigenous Taino and Arawak

And sustained in their descendents

Labouring in tobacco plantations

I am embargo and self-sustaining

I am guerilla tactics learned on the 26th of July

I am the absolution of history

I am the ongoing battle for independence from

The American attacks from 1906 to Guantanamo occupation

My echo has been felt from Palestine to Iraq

In every national struggle for liberation

I am the refusal to bow to imperialism

I am the destruction of class division

I am the 300 million of the people?s money Batista carried into exile

I raise fists against corruption I march miles

For the people?s rights I am the general strikes

I am the shot fired across the color line

For the mulattos and Afro-Cubanos

The shades not light enough to work in hotel cabanas

I am the legacy of slavery and African birthright

Whose beat runs through the salsa and mambo

I am the spirit of Baba Shango

I put the heat in the cold war

I am street festivals and the resistance of the poor

I am the redistribution of land and local ownership

I am nationalization of industry, collective agriculture and public education

I am the constitution that says the people own the nation

I am the belief that rice and peas served to all people

Tastes sweeter than steak served to the elite

The shots I fire are completed in Cuban doctors

Saving earthquake victim and free health care

Extended across the Caribbean

I am brown and black people?s freedom

I am the troops sent to Angola to fight South African apartheid

I am asylum offered to Asata Shakur and political exiles

The blows I strike have been felt from Bolivia to Venezuala

I am the coca farmers and the baseball players

And the peasants fighting oil corporations in the Amazon basin

I am the battle for land repatriation and slave reparations

The Caribbean workers in the free trade zones sewing sweatshop labels

I am the union organizers on Dominican sugar Bateys

The squatters rights and transnationalization of indigenous populations

The indigenous confederations fighting from Brazil to Peru

I am the Cuban revolution

And I will survive beyond Castro

Because I am the shot fired in the name of equality by heroes and martyrs

I am Moncado, I am Havana,

I am the ideal that thrives in the minds of the people

I am liberation.

MONCADA DAY COMMEMORATION - VICTORIA PARK, HALIFAX

2010-07-16T09:31:00.000-04:30

Friday, July 23rd from 3:00 pm - 5:00 pm

Victoria Park (Spring Garden and South Park), Halifax

July 26, 2010 will mark the 57th anniversary of the act that is annually celebrated all over Cubaas the beginning of the movement and struggle that paved the way for the Cuban Revolution. On that day 57 years ago, Cuba's rebels rose up against the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista. Although that first battle was lost, the Revolution ultimately prevailed.

On July 23, we gather to remember and honour those that were lost on that day, and to celebrate Cuba's independence. There will be performances from noted Nova Scotian jazz artist Jeff Goodspeed (director of famous youth music group Los Primos), El Jones (acclaimed spoken word artist), and more!

This is a free event organized by the Nova Scotia Cuba Association.

Cuba's 2010 Municipal Elections: article by Arnold August

2010-05-24T07:16:00.000-04:30

Read this in-depth report of the recent municipal elections in Cuba. The author offers a detailed look into the structure of local Cuban democracy -- excellent reading for those that do not know a great deal about the structure of participation in Cuba.
The Elected Delegate and the Dissident in Cuba's Municipal Elections

CNC Honours Cuba's Dreamcatcher Role in Haiti

2010-05-15T07:12:00.003-04:30

On May 5, 2010 a moving ceremony was held in Havana, Cuba to mark the continuing success of the Canadian Network on Cuba (CNC)'s Cuba For Haiti Campaign. The campaign, launched in January 2010 in response to the earthquake disaster has thus far raised nearly $100,000 to support the Cuban Henry Reeves Medical Brigade in Haiti. Participating in the event, held at the headquarters of the Instituto Cubano de Amistad con los Pueblos (Cuban Institute for Friendship with the Peoples - ICAP), were Raciel Proenxa Rodríguez, Director of Economic Cooperation, Ministry of Foreign Commerce and Investment, Isaac Saney, Co-Chair and National Spokesperson of the CNC, officials of ICAP, members of the Canada-Cuba solidarity movement and Haitian youth studying in Cuba.

Proenxa thanked the CNC for its contribution and explained where the money is being spent. At the time of the earthquake in Haiti, 402 Cuban internationalists, 302 of them medical personnel, had already been helping Haitians, Proenxa pointed out. Since the earthquake, he explained, Cuban cooperation has grown to 1,304 persons, with 679 Cubans, and 625 graduates and students from 26 other countries, trained and educated free of cost at Cuba's Latin American School of Medicine. He further noted that as of May 4, 2010, 330,306 patients have been treated, with 8,428 surgeries performed. Proenxa emphasized that Cuban assistance encompasses more than just the provision of immediate medical attention. It is now also focused on strengthening and rebuilding the Haitian healthcare system. Toward those ends, the Cuban medical and paramedical internationalists work in 56 hospitals and healthcare centres, and have installed and equipped 30 rooms, in which 85, 401 patients have been treated.

On behalf of the CNC, Saney stressed that the Cuban internationalist mission not only assists the Haitian people at a time of great need, but underscores the magnitude of the island's generosity and national altruism. In this regard, the success of the Cuba for Haiti Campaign lies not only in the money that has been raised but also in the possibility it offers to participate in a truly humane solidarity project, Saney said. Saney recalled that in 1998 at a meeting between then Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien and Cuban President Fidel Castro, the leader of the Cuban Revolution proposed a joint Cuba-Canada cooperative project to rebuild the Haitian healthcare system. Cuba could provide the personnel and Canada could contribute the material resources required, Castro pointed out. Even though Chrétien ignored the proposal, the CNC decided to take it up, Saney said. The fundraising for Haiti via the Cuban internationalist mission has been very warmly received by Canadians, he said. Despite being ignored by the Canadian monopoly media, the campaign demonstrates the confidence that the Canadian people have in Cuba, he added. He pointed out that some of the contributions have been given by people simply on the grounds that if the money they want to give to Haiti goes through Cuba, they feel confident it will safely reach its destination and not be squandered in corruption or misused. This shows the respect and admiration of Canadians for the Cuban people and their efforts to build and defend a society centred on independence, justice and human dignity, Saney said.

Saney concluded by presenting Proenxa with a dreamcatcher made by the Mi'kmag people of Nova Scotia. Dedicated to the Henry Reeves Medical Brigade, Saney noted that just as the dreamcatcher allows only good dreams to pass through while destroying nightmares, so too the Cuban medical and educational internationalist missions stop the nightmares of disease and illiteracy from reaching the people, while demonstrating the alternatives which permit people to realize their deepest aspirations, and that another better world is possible.

Cuba rated best place to be a mother

2010-05-06T14:57:00.001-04:30

Cuba provides the best conditions for motherhood among developing countries, according to Save the Children's State of the World's Mothers 2010 report.

The report, made public Monday, examines 160 countries - 43 developed and 117 developing ones - and analyzes the best and worst places to be a mother based on 10 factors such as the educational status, health, economic circumstances of the mothers, as well as the basic well-being of children.

Read the story at Times of India

Download the report from Save the Children (PDF 3.8 megs)

Nova Scotians Participate in Cuban Celtic Festival

2010-04-20T21:41:00.001-04:30

"Bagpipes & Tambourines on Havana’s Cobblestones"

Havana Times Article

Truro resident cycles Cuba

2010-03-27T14:21:00.001-04:30

Around Cuba on two wheels

Bob Williams loves an adventure. Having recently returned from a 800 km bike ride around Cuba, he hopes to chase the warm weather north this spring with a ride up the eastern coast of the U.S.

Published on March 26th, 2010
David Archibald

Truro resident cycles Caribbean island

Cuba 2010 Run for Canada’s Terry Fox

2010-03-24T19:10:00.000-04:30

HAVANA TIMES, March 22 — With the visit of the family of Canada’s late Terry Fox, theMaratón de la Esperanza (The Hope Marathon) took place in Havana on March 20. Every year hundreds of Cubans gather in front of the Kid Chocolate Gym and facing the Capitolo Building to shorten the distance separating cancer from people who are healthy.

More from the Havana Times

50 Years of Friendship & Solidarity: ICAP at Just Us! in Halifax

2010-03-10T08:03:00.001-04:30

50-YEARS OF FRIENDSHIP & SOLIDARITY: THE CUBAN REVOLUTION IN THE WORLD

The Nova Scotia Cuba Association Cuba will be hosting a presentation on "50-Years of Friendship & Solidarity: The Cuban Revolution in the World" by special guest from Cuba, Esperanza Luzbert, Director of the North American Section of the Instituto Cubano de Amistad con Los Pueblos (Cuban Institute for Friendship With the Peoples). A particular focus will be on the annual 2010 Ernesto Che Guevara Volunteer Work brigade. All are welcome!

7pm, Tuesday, March 16 at Just Us! Cafe, 5896 Spring Garden Road, Halifax

For more information on the "Che Brigades" click here:http://www.canadiannetworkoncuba.ca/brigade/

Cuba Sends Doctors to Chile

2010-03-03T15:25:00.000-04:30

Members of the Henry Reeve Cuban medical brigade for emergency situations left for Chile this Tuesday to help in areas struck by the earthquake and tsunami that have affected large territories of this South American nation.

The brigade is made up of 27 health specialists who were sent off early this morning from Terminal 5 of Havana’s Jose Marti International Airport by Cuban Health Minister Jose Ramon Balaguer Cabrera.

The group includes a total of 11 doctors specialized in different medical fields, six nurses and the same number of technicians who carried tents, sets of instruments, equipment, medicines and even their own food, all transported in two Cuban aircrafts.

Source: CubaNews

2010-02-25T13:22:00.000-04:30

Cuban Program Initiated in Haiti to Address Psychosocial Trauma

PORT AU PRINCE, February 20.— More than 4,000 Haitian children and their families so far have joined in a Cuban program aimed at helping Haitians recover from post-earthquake psychosocial trauma.

Cuban psychologist Alexis Lorenzo, an expert from Havana’s Latin American Center for Disaster Medicine, explained that the program being implemented by the Cuban medical mission in Haiti will serve as the methodological base for a national psychosocial support program for children and young people to be implemented by the Ministry of Education.

The initiative also incorporates Haitian experiences from previous disasters and that of long serving International organizations in Haiti, reported the Prensa Latina news agency.

One of the goals of the Cuban project, which held its 41st activity on Friday, is to help Haitian children deal with the horrifying memories of the January 12 earthquake, and from the bleak aftermath of the disaster and the daily hardships of life in the makeshift camps set up in parks and plazas. The classroom for most is only a memory and their current depressing panorama is a real detriment to overcoming the tragedy.

Cuban psychologists, along with teachers from the Haitian National School of Arts who have joined the program, continue to work hard to help children recover from the earthquake-inflicted psychosocial trauma, carrying out activities that include games, singing and drawing.

(Juventud Rebelde)

2010-02-25T13:17:00.000-04:30

Reinforcements: International Team of Cuban-Trained Doctors Arrives in Haiti

An international team of some 50 doctors trained at Havana's Latin American Medical School (ELAM) has arrived in Port-au-Prince to join Cuba's medical relief contingent in post-quake Haiti. Coming from a dozen countries, they are the first wave of ELAM graduates expected to number over 200 from 24 countries in the next week.

They will join the 1,147-strong Cuban-led International Henry Reeve Emergency Medical Contingent, already comprised of 736 Cubans plus 402 ELAM graduates from Haiti, 7 from the USA and 2 from Nicaragua—together the largest medical relief effort in Haiti.

Read more from MEDICC.org

Annual Los Primos "Dance for All Ages" at the Olympic Hall!!

2010-02-06T09:22:00.006-04:30

MARK YOUR CALENDARS for the LOS PRIMOS

“DANCE FOR ALL AGES”

Saturday, February 20th @ 7:30 PM

OLYMPIC COMMUNITY HALL
2304 Hunter St., Halifax

Featuring 4 GREAT Latin Bands

- including guests from the new "Satellite Bands Program"
and Los Primos Partners : "The Halifax Salseros" Dance Co.

Win a “Trip for 4 to Cuba”!
Draw takes place at the dance!

Tickets available at the door, or at Stayner's Wharf Pub & Grill:
5075 George Street (next to the Halifax Ferry terminal)

Cuban-trained US doctors arrive in Haiti

2010-02-04T19:58:00.003-04:30

NEW: CNN Video report on Cuba's increased presence in Haiti

Cuban-Haitian Medical Teams in Haiti
February 2, 2010—Cuban and Cuban-trained Haitian doctors—already the largest contingent of medical relief workers in Haiti since the January 12th earthquake—are being joined by graduates of Cuba’s Latin American Medical School (ELAM) from a score of countries. Among the first to arrive this week will be several US physicians who studied at ELAM.
Of the 938 health care providers in the teams on the ground thus far, 280 are young Haitian doctors, and at least 60 more are Haitian medical students enrolled at the school. Over the next few weeks, they will receive reinforcements of their peers in a number of Latin American, African and Caribbean countries.
(Read more at MEDICC.org)

Cuban-style Medicine
Rev. Lucius Walker tells us about the US-born, Cuban-trained doctors headed to Haiti and why their unique training has prepared them for this mission.

Listen to the Tavis Smiley Show

www.cubasolidarity.net/pastors.html

CNC CUBA-HAITI APPEAL!

2010-01-24T09:23:00.000-04:30

In response to the horrendous suffering of the Haitian people resulting from the earthquake and its many aftershocks, many Canadians have been wondering what is the most effective way to provide aid. The Canadian-Cuban Friendship Association of Toronto has proposed the Cuba for Haiti fundraising campaign which is also endorsed by the Canadian Network on Cuba as a national effort.
Read More Here ...

Where were the Cubans?

2010-01-19T18:24:00.002-04:30

When the earth shook in Haiti: Where were the Cubans?

PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI. — Not even in the midst of this stressful situation have the Cubans lost their spark, and when I ask how it is possible that the 200-plus Cubans whom, at 4:53 p.m. today, January 12, were living here in this city managed to survive the deadly earthquake, some people tell me that it was divine intervention; others, with a half-smile, say it is aché (grace in the Afro-Cuban religion); others refer to good luck and how when "it’s your destiny, nothing changes that;" but most of them still can’t believe it….

(full story from Granma International)

Irish Times on Cuban Doctors in Haiti

2010-01-19T14:20:00.000-04:30

'I never thought I would see such things'

"“Brigada Medica Cubana”, says the flag hanging from the building. While western aid agencies continue to be stymied by logistics and security hurdles, a handful of Cuban and Mexican nuns and doctors heroically care for victims of the earthquake, working on a folding table in the open air, beneath dusty eucalyptus trees, with little or no equipment."

"The Cuban open-air clinic is in Belair, one of the worst neighbourhoods of Port-au-Prince, where police have played cat and mouse with looters for the past week. We hear shooting once or twice, and police cars speed by with sirens."

"Dr Gaston Bob Edem, a Haitian who trained in Cuba, stops to speak for a moment. He has been treating the injured since the night of the earthquake. “I’ve seen such horrific things, I couldn’t begin to list them. Mangled people . . . I never thought I would see such things. We are used to seeing dead animals in the streets, but not people, it is inhuman . . .”

The doctor is glad that the Americans, Europeans and other foreigners are in Haiti, “but they’re taking too long. They should do like us.”

(full story at the Irish Times)

Support Cuban Doctors in Haiti

2010-01-19T12:35:00.001-04:30

Emergency Earthquake Appeal: Support Cuban-Trained Haitian Doctors

Give your donation staying power... with MEDICC and Global Links

January 17, 2010--The effects of the disastrous earthquake in Haiti will be long term. That's why MEDICC and Global Links (Pittsburgh, PA) are sending material aid to the Cuban-trained Haitian doctors on the front lines in Haiti's public hospitals and clinics. Now 400-strong, they were already on the ground when disaster struck, serving in 120 communities throughout the country, including the hard-hit capital of Port-au-Prince.

Graduates of the Latin American Medical School in Cuba, these doctors come from some of Haiti's poorest regions, and will stay long after the initial disaster response is over. Like the 370 Cuban medical personnel who work with them, they are committed for the long-term to improving health and health care in Haiti.

And so are Global Links and MEDICC: together, we are organizing a recovery and long-term medical assistance program relying on decades of experience in regional material aid cooperation, and with Cuba and Haiti in particular. We will be working with representatives of the Haitian graduates of the Latin American Medical School to identify needs for medicines, medical supplies and equipment. And we will get these supplies directly to them.

While US law does not allow Cuban doctors in Haiti to receive these essential medical materials--the US embargo taking its toll post-disaster--the MEDICC and Global Links team will help ensure distribution to the young Haitian physicians working in public hospitals and clinics alongside the Cuban team, seeing hundreds of patients daily.

(More info and online donation link: www.MEDICC.org)

VIdeo of Cuban Doctors in Haiti

2010-01-19T11:10:00.002-04:30

Some videos I missed on Cuba's assistance in Haiti

CNN Video: Cuba Offers Quake Help

CNN Video: Cuban Airspace Used For Quake Relief

CNN Video: A Working Hospital in Port-au-Prince

With the Cuban doctors in Haiti...

2010-01-19T01:11:00.001-04:30

The worst tragedy is not being able to do more
Leticia Martínez Hernández
Photos: Juvenal Balán

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti. — The little boy, with a drip attached to his hand — although at that stage it wasn’t helping him very much — couldn’t stop trembling. The fluid that perhaps in other circumstances would give him some strength was not passing through his collapsed veins. Lying on a piece of cardboard, his life was ebbing away while, at his feet, a Cuban doctor lamented not being able to do more.

(Full story at Granma International)

Cuba / Haiti roundup

2010-01-18T12:52:00.005-04:30

CNN video: Cuban Medical Personnel Providing "quality medical care". One of the few places in Port-au-Prince where Haitians can go for care and have a "reasonable expectation of surviving".

* * *

Cuba now has 220 doctors and health staff working in the disaster relief in Port au Prince, Haiti along with ten tons of medicines flown in to meet the most pressing needs. Numerous young Haitian doctors who studied medicine on scholarships in Santiago de Cuba have joined in the effort, including 37 who arrived from Cuba on Saturday. Cuba News Agency reports on Sunday that planes carrying specialists in emergencies also bring shipments of medical supplies. On Saturday the equipment for three operating rooms arrived from Cuba to support the efforts of the medical brigade already working at several points in the Haitian capital. Cuba has an ongoing program of treatment throughout Haiti under an agreement with the host government. Besides the doctors concentrated in Port au Prince for the earthquake relief effort, another 227 provide services throughout the impoverished Caribbean country. (HavanaTimes.org)

Dr. Carlos Alberto Garcia, coordinator of the Cuban medical brigade in Haiti, said that the Cuban doctors, nurses and other health personnel work non-stop, day and night, after the critical situation left by the earthquake. He added that operating rooms are open 18 hours per day and that health care is also provided in the nearby departments of Aquin, Okay and others.

The Cuban experts are working in the University Hospital in Delmas 33 and also at the Rennaissance and Ofatma hospitals. The situation in the Haitian capital is critical and hundreds of unburied dead bodies remain on the sidewalks and streets, which – according to Dr. Garcia – could complicate the epidemiological situation.

(SolVisión Guantánamo)

* * *

Cuban Medical Teams in Haiti

2010-01-13T20:41:00.003-04:30

Cuba is sending additional medical personnel to Haiti following the devastating 7.0 earthquake that rocked the island at 4:52pm on 12 January 2010. The new teams complement over 400 existing Cuban professionals (344 of those medical) who have been assisting Haitians for several years.

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriquez says the information currently available indicates only light injuries among some of the Cuban personnel, with the remainder providing emergency medical services in the two Cuban field hospitals in Port-au-Prince. By early Wednesday evening, some 700 wounded had been attended by Cuban doctors and nurses.

Rodriguez says Cuba is prioritizing medical assistance to Haiti, with more personnel and medicine shipments to follow in the coming days.

Latest Edition of North of Havana Available Now!

2010-01-13T20:32:00.003-04:30

The Canadian Network on Cuba's Winter 2009 newsletter "North of Havana" is now available here:
http://www.canadiannetworkoncuba.ca/Documents/newsletterwinter09.pdf

Highlights include:

The Cuba-Nova Scotia Art Exchange
UN condemns US blockage on Cuba
Report from the 2009 Che Guevara Brigade
Cuba: 50 Years of Achievements
Using Your Mastercard in Cuba

Celebrating 50 Years of the Cuban Revolution in Halifax

2010-01-13T20:18:00.005-04:30

On October 2-3, 2009, Saint Mary's University hosted a symposium - Transformation: Latin America On the Move! sponsored by NS Cuba Association, PSAC, CUPW, Just Us Coffee Roasters, and the National Council of Latin American and Caribbean Women in Canada. For highlights of the symposium, please click here:

http://www.transformationlatinamerica.blogspot.com/

Teresita Vicente, Cuban Ambassador to Canada and Halifax MP Megan Leslie

2009 NSCUBA Calendar Now Available!

2008-10-27T18:51:00.007-04:30

The 2009 "Cuba... es Linda" Calendar is now available for the bargain price of $15!

This year's calendar is an improvement over the last one. The entire calendar is printed on cover weight paper, which means there will be no wrinkled pages and it looks more attractive overall.

The calendars are bound with a coil rather than stapled and folded. They now hang flat against the wall, without buckling and bumping and will not be affected by humidity. Thanks to the editing efforts of our calendar committee, there are few, if any errors. Those found in the first run have been corrected.

All calendars are packaged in a sealed plastic sleeve for a more professional presentation if they are given as a gift, and to avoid been "thumbed through" when on display.'

50% OF THE PROCEEDS FROM CALENDAR SALES WILL GO DIRECTLY TO HURRICANE RELIEF IN CUBA

Don't miss the opportunity to purchase these beautiful calendars for yourself or as gifts for friends!

Purchase inquiries: info@nscuba.org

Like a Nuclear Bomb!

2008-10-21T14:33:00.002-04:30

Fidel Castro described the destruction left by Category Four Hurricane Gustav as similar to the aftermath of a nuclear bombing. While the damage is extensive, and will take years to put right, the island’s renowned Civil Defense system evacuated hundreds of thousands of people from Gustav’s path, ensuring that whatever impact the hurricane might have, it would not cost human lives.

In co-operation with Cuba friendship groups across the nation, NSCUBA is calling on the Canadian government to act swiftly in the provision of emergency aid to Cuba and Haiti, also hard-hit by the storm.

Your financial contributions to our Hurricane Relief Fund (managed by the Canadian Network on Cuba (CNC)) are urgently needed to help Cuba obtain housing materials, rebuild the electrical grid and the communications infrastructure.

Please send cheques payable to Mackenzie-Papineau Memorial Fund and mail to:

Sharon Skup (treasurer)

56 Riverwood Terrace

Bolton, ON

L7E 1S4

And write Cuba Hurricane Fund on the memo line of the cheque. Charitable tax receipts will be issued.

The Mackenzie-Papineau Memorial Fund is a charitable organization and working with the CNC and members. [Revenue Canada registration # 88876 9197]