MN Cuba car caravan presses for an end to the blockade on Cuba
Minneapolis, MN – Twin Cities Cuba solidarity activists organized a car caravan, September 25, to “End the U.S. Blockade of Cuba.” It is part of a campaign initiated by the Puentas de Amor (Bridges of Love) out of Miami. For over a year they have called on supporters of Cuba from around the world to hold car caravans on the fourth Sunday of the month.
This month, once again the Minnesota caravan drove along a busy street in a predominantly Latino neighborhood. Cars were decorated with Cuban flags and displayed signs that read, “Cuba si bloqueo no,” “U.S. hands off Cuba” and “Let Cuba live!” Along the route, pedestrians and motorists gave resounding support with pumped fists and horn honks. A trucker drove alongside the caravan loudly shouting “Cuba si!”
At a rally held before the caravan, Sarah Martin of the Women Against Military Madness Solidarity Committee of the Americas (SCOTA) said, “At this very moment the Cuban people are having a historic vote on the Family Code. After several years of discussion which Cubans had in their unions, schools, workplaces and neighborhoods, Cubans are voting, and if ratified, it will be the law.”
Martin read from a solidarity letter from ICAP, the Cuba Friendship Committee, “Today, we will vote for justice, love and human dignity, for a law that implies fundamental rights that go beyond age, race, gender, sexual orientation, creed and ideologies. We will recognize the great diversity of families in Cuba with a Code that entails affection and happiness as its essence, with rights, without exclusions.” [At the time of print, the referendum won resoundingly.] Martin said, “Think how this compares with what is happening in this country as abortion rights are being eradicated, and same sex marriage and gender rights under attack.”
Gregg Klave represented the MN Cuba Committee and said, “Despite the U.S. blockade and characterizations of Cuba as a failed state, Cuba has actually made great social progress – in education, in literacy rates, health care for all, in technology and science, which even the U.S. can’t begin to compare.”
There will be no car caravan next month. Instead SCOTA and MN Cuba Committee will organize a bannering on Saturday, October 29 to coordinate with a National Day of Action calling on the U.S. to vote at the United Nation to end the blockade on Cuba. Look for more details on the Solidarity Committee on the Americas – SCOTA’s Facebook page.