Salt Lake City, UT – On Saturday, June 20, at an event organized by the Utah Anti War Committee, dozens of community members gathered at an overpass to demand hands off Cuba.

This protest was called after recent escalations in the decades-long effort by the U.S. to destabilize the nation of Cuba through economic strangulation and covert means. The Trump administration recently indicted beloved Cuban leader Raul Castro and has made threats of more direct military confrontation. Other organizations quickly signed on to the protest, including the National Network on Cuba, Armed Queers SLC, The 71% Coalition, and the Freedom Road Socialist Organization.

Protesters held a large banner sporting the Cuban flag, reading “Hands off Cuba!” and received overwhelmingly positive reactions to their message from the vehicles passing by.

“The overall general trend in regard to U.S. imperial power is one of decline,” said Adam Koritz of the FRSO of the aggression on Cuba and the ongoing U.S. war on Iran. “However, we know a wounded beast is dangerous and prone to lashing out in its death throes.”

Mustafa Khader of the 71% Coalition condemned attempts to restore a U.S. backed dictatorship in Cuba saying, “You don’t care about the Cubans; you care about your pockets!”

Protesters chanted, “No boots on the ground, no bombs in the air! U.S. out of everywhere!”

An activist with Armed Queers stated, “By being an unknowing accessory to an empire, we are forcefully kept from becoming fully human. This will continue to happen until we stand up, destroy the shackles of capitalism, and prove that we can build a system that does not rely on the subjugation of people based on race, gender, sexuality, or nation, the destruction of the environment, or the impoverishment of workers.”

Nova Morra of the Utah Anti-War Committee then called the crowd to join their July 4 protest at a local Raytheon Applied Signal Technology facility in West Valley City as part of their campaign to shut down the facility and protest Raytheon’s involvement in war crimes carried out by the U.S.

#SaltLakeCityUT #UT #AntiWarMovement #International #UAWC #AWC #Cuba