Falcon Heights, MN – Instead of the regular Cuba car caravan on Sunday, August 27, twelve Cuban Solidarity activists bannered and held signs at the Minnesota State Fair to call for an end to the 60-year U.S. blockade of Cuba – made even more brutal by U.S.’s incomprehensible designation of Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism. Standing at the main gate of the “Great Minnesota get together,” the activists got a chance to talk to many people about Cuba and share information. They gave out stickers about ending the blockade as well as Cuba’s recently passed extremely progressive family code which ensures the rights of the LGBT community.

The event was organized by the Women Against Military Madness Solidarity Committee on the Americas and co-sponsored by the MN Cuba Committee.

#FalconHeightsMN #Cuba #blockadeOfCuba #Americas

St. Paul, MN – On July 31, the Women Against Military Madness’ Solidarity Committee of the Americas (SCOTA) and the MN Cuba Committee continued their monthly car caravans to show solidarity with Cuba and to demand Cuba be taken off the U.S. terrorist list.

The monthly Cuba caravans are important since they show public support for Cuba, especially since the U.S. is escalating attacks against that country. In Congress this year, Representative Maria Elvira Salazar of Florida introduced HR 314 bill (Senate companion bill S 538), known as the FORCE Act. If passed, it would prohibit removing Cuba from the list of state sponsors of terrorism until the president makes the determination that a transition government in Cuba is in power. Caravan organizers believe this bill is criminal since Cuba has never invaded or bombed any other country, unlike the United States has.

For two years now, Twin Cities activists have joined the call from Bridges of Love’s initiative, formed in 2021, to continue to have caravans in solidarity with Cuba to demand the U.S. end the blockade. This month, the 20-car caravan wanted to expand their message to Saint Paul.

Before the caravan began, Sarah Martin of SCOTA rallied the crowd, “We demand that the Biden administration remove Cuba from the state sponsor of terrorism list. It harshly exacerbates the cruel 60-year U.S. blockade that has already stolen an estimated $144 billion from the Cuban economy, especially at a time when they are experiencing their worst economic crisis in decades because of the pandemic and fuel shortages from the war in Ukraine. The injustice and hypocrisy of the U.S., the greatest purveyor of violence on earth, punishing Cuba, which sent medical personnel to 50 countries during the pandemic, is grotesquely unbelievable.”

As the car caravan lined up, covered in signs and flags, the lead car had a bright red sign reading, “Cuba and the world against the blockade.” They left the parking lot of the Midway Target store located in Saint Paul and drove east on University Avenue for two miles to the Minnesota State Capitol building. University Avenue is the main street for Saint Paul’s working-class residents. It is lined with predominantly Asian and Black-owned businesses and homes.

As the caravan passed a farmers’ market, the people on the streets saw cars with Cuban flags flying from the windows and covered with signs of “Cuba si, bloqueo no,” “Stand with socialist Cuba,” “U.S. out of Cuba,” and “End the blockade on Cuba.” The cars honked and people chanted out the windows, “Let Cuba live,” “Hey Biden, you must know the blockade has to go” and “Cuba si, bloqueo no!”

The protesters gathered to hold banners at the State Capitol in the middle of their trip. One banner was made of the Cuban flag with the message “End the blockade of Cuba,” others read “Minnesota ‘hearts’ Cuba” and “Cuba off the terrorist list.”

As the caravan made its way back to the Target store’s parking lot, it was mentioned that many other Cuban solidarity groups had done other events during the week in honor of the July 26, the 70th anniversary of a key event in the Cuban revolution, the attack on the Moncada military barracks by rebels lead by Fidel Castro.

#MinneapolisMN #Cuba #Americas

Santa Marta, Cabañas, El Salvador – On January 11, 2023, five environmental activists and community leaders from Santa Marta, Cabañas, El Salvador were arrested on bogus charges in a clear case of political persecution. They are still detained five months later and the movement to free them is growing around the world.

The men arrested – Antonio Pacheco, Saúl Rivas, Pedro Antonio Rivas, Alejandro Laínez and Miguel Gámez – are prominent leaders of the grassroots movement that won the world's first ban on metallic mining. The organization they’re part of, the Association for Social Economic Development (ADES), organized for years until succeeding in 2017 to get El Salvador to implement a country-wide ban on metallic mining due to the environmental damage it causes just to enrich multinational corporations.

There are strong signals that the current Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, who also controls the country’s legislative assembly and the courts, wants to overturn the ban on mining. The arrest of the Santa Marta 5 appears to be an attempt to weaken the organized opposition to overturning the mining ban.

The Santa Marta 5 are facing dangerous conditions in El Salvador's prisons, and there has been a growing movement in El Salvador and internationally demanding their immediate release.

On June 11, the five-month anniversary of their arrest and detention, ADES released a statement saying, “For five months the Salvadoran government has mercilessly detained these five humble and brave fighters for social justice; the same heroes who saved the country from the horrific outcomes of metal mining in rural communities that was directly threatening the water, environment, agriculture and the continuity of life. Their work was key to demonstrating the infeasibility of metal mining and in approving the law that prohibits it in El Salvador. They deserve to be rewarded, not punished...Our colleagues have not been here for five months. We are overwhelmed by sadness of their absence, but also our fighting spirit to demand their freedom grows every day.”

Salvadoran President Bukele declared a “state of exception” in March 2022, which allows the government to arrest and hold anyone without due process or trial, among other severe restrictions on civil liberties. This was ostensibly to combat street gangs that have plagued El Salvador for decades. In the past year, Bukele’s government has arrested more than 68,000 people under the state of exception and has created the largest prison in Latin America to hold all the people being arrested and detained.

While his crackdown on gangs is popular in the country, Bukele is also taking advantage of that popularity to widen the net and politically persecute his perceived political enemies. He has mainly targeted people and organizations on the left but has also lashed out against some on the right who haven’t gone along with his leadership.

Bukele particularly has carried out a vendetta against the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN), El Salvador’s main leftist political party, with both former FMLN presidents of the country, Mauricio Funes and Salvador Sanchez Ceren, in exile in Nicaragua to avoid political persecution, and many other FMLN leaders and members facing very serious trumped up legal charges.

In that vein, Bukele’s government has also gone after the Santa Marta 5, jailing them on ridiculous charges dating back to the country’s civil war in the 1980s. The five were members of the FMLN during El Salvador's civil war, who fought against El Salvador’s U.S.– backed right-wing dictatorship. After the war, many FMLN members, including the Santa Marta 5, continued organizing for social justice in El Salvador.

The Santa Marta 5 are targets of repression because of their leadership in the anti-mining struggle and other popular struggles that confront Bukele’s government.

Additionally, at least 16 union leaders have been arrested and held indefinitely under the state of exception, since many unions continue to organize and fight against Bukele’s anti-worker policies.

The Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador (CISPES), which has organized solidarity with the Salvadoran left and popular movement since the country's civil war, is asking people to email their U.S. Representative and Senator, calling on them to speak out against the unjust detention of the Santa Marta 5: https://cispes.salsalabs.org/SantaMartaCongressionalaction/index.html

#SantaMartaCabañas #SantaMarta #ElSalvador #PoliticalPrisoners #environmentalJustice #Americas

Havana, Cuba – In a rose and butter-yellow building held up by Greek columns, Cuba’s LGBTQ activists work every day to advance equality. This building, formerly someone’s mansion and now repurposed by the socialist government, houses the National Center for Sex Education (CENESEX).

From May 7 to 14, an LGBTQ delegation from the U.S. got to meet with CENESEX organizers, health workers and other public servants.

CENESEX helped organize hundreds of neighborhood meetings to debate and amend the new Families Code, covered in our last delegation report. The law went through 25 drafts to account for commentary from the people. But well before the Code, CENESEX led the country through advance after advance on LGBTQ issues.

“The basis of a socialist democracy”

In 1972, the Federation of Cuban Women founded the National Sex Education Working Group, CENESEX’s predecessor. This was a response to the growing demand for sex education as women gained reproductive autonomy.

The working group helped provide hormones and eventually surgery to a trans man for the first time in Cuba’s history. It had to fight strong pushback from conservatives for doing so. But it only gained strength and support.

By 1989, the working group became CENESEX, its own government organization under the Ministry of Health. Over the next few years, CENESEX fought hard for transgender people. By 2007, it won approval from the legislature to ensure free gender-affirming surgery as part of the national health system.

“We are building the basis of a socialist democracy. Socialism cannot be declared by law or decree, it is built by consensus,” CENESEX director Mariela Castro told the delegation.

The surgeon who performed Cuba’s first gender-affirming surgery would later transition herself, with CENESEX’s support.

Today, CENESEX is creating work teams to promote gender medicine access in every province. The organization also teaches trans inclusivity to government agencies, including tourism officials and the police. The delegation asked Gustavo Valdés Pi of CENESEX where a trans person could go if they experienced police harassment. He pointed to a corner of his building’s wrap-around indoor balcony.

“To the second floor, that’s our free legal office” he said. Cuba has far fewer police officers than the U.S., and they suffer severe penalties for misconduct. They are also frequently unarmed.

“You cannot just export our health system”

The delegation met with representatives of three LGBTQ community networks. “Men Sexually Relating with Men” (HSH) is officially its own agency of non-professional healthcare workers under the Ministry of Health. It’s mainly active in preventing HIV transmission. The “Network of Lesbian and Bisexual Women,” directly under CENESEX, combats bullying and runs national workshops promoting lesbian and bisexual visibility.

“TransCuba,” the largest network, was founded to address three main problems of police harassment, surgery access, and legal ID recognition. It also distributes condoms and helps to prevent HIV transmission. While the organization mostly recruits trans women, members like Verde Gil Jímenez of Santa Clara are leading programs for trans men.

To learn about the world-class healthcare system at the base of Cuba’s HIV prevention, the delegation also visited a polyclinic. The country ensures that doctors are accessible in every neighborhood. CENESEX integrates its educational programs throughout the health system, and polyclinics participate in the annual “working days against homophobia and transphobia.”

“You cannot just export our health system because it depends on the political will of the government,” said Dr. Ruben García Lopez de Villavicenci of the Plaza de la Revolución Polyclinic.

“The U.S. has tried to recruit from CENESEX”

When asked about their biggest obstacle to promoting LGBTQ rights, Cuban activists were clear: the United States.

Valdés Pi discussed how, since the defeat of the Soviet Union, Christian fundamentalists trickled into the island. They came with American money and preached bigotry.

The softer imperialist approach tries to co-opt community organizers. “The U.S. has tried to recruit from CENESEX and use them against us,” Castro told the delegation. She noted that recruits get paid speaking tours across the U.S. but do nothing for the LGBTQ community in Cuba.

The United States’ criminal blockade prevents hormones, surgical supplies, condoms, syringes and other basic medical necessities from entering the island. The delegation brought 10,000 condoms and a suitcase full of medical equipment to combat this. After a visit to a biotechnology center, the group learned how the blockade impacts the U.S. as well. Because of it, U.S. residents can’t access Cuba’s breakthrough treatments for cancer, diabetes, COVID-19 and other diseases.

“Down with the blockade, up with the love!”

While LGBTQ Cubans can’t count on their northern neighbor, they can count on their party. “The Communist Party supports progress for LGBTQ people. The Party promoted the first gender affirming surgery, discrimination protections in the 2019 constitution, and supports CENESEX. I am a member,” Mariela Castro told a delegate. Because working people run the government and get representation through the Communist Party, Cuban leaders are constantly thinking about how to put people’s needs first.

On May 13, the delegation ended its visit by marching in the annual “Conga Against Homophobia and Transphobia.” There were no police or corporate ads in sight. Up and down 23rd Street, LGBTQ Cubans sang, danced, kissed, held hands, showed off their glittered outfits, and waved both rainbow and Cuban flags. Signs reading “LGBTQ against the U.S. blockade” by the U.S. organization “Women in Struggle – Mujeres en Lucha” were visible from sidewalk to sidewalk. A flag reading “Cuba Yes! Blockade No!” by Real Name Campaign NOLA blew in the wind by the front of the march.

Participants chanted “Down with the blockade, up with the love!” and “What do we celebrate? Love is the law!” They held nothing back to show their pride, in their true selves and in the power of the working class.

#HavanaCuba #Havana #Cuba #LGBTQ #Americas

Minneapolis, MN – On May 7, a couple dozen activists gathered at the busy intersection of Minneapolis’ Chicago and Lake Streets for a rally as part of the international “Week for Alex Saab” called by the Committee to Free Alex Saab. Speakers from different movements gave messages of solidarity with Venezuela’s kidnapped diplomat and connected Alex Saab’s struggle to a broader history of U.S. imperialism and repression. Many cars honked in support of the “Hands off Venezuela” signs and passersby stayed to listen to the speeches.

Sarah Martin of the Women Against Military Madness Solidarity Committee of the Americas spoke first, stating, “We’re here today because we understand the fight to free Alex Saab, end sanctions on Venezuela, the blockade of Cuba and U.S. imperialism in Latin America are connected to and important to our struggles for a better life in the U.S.” Martin detailed her trips to Venezuela over the years, painting an optimistic portrait of the Bolivarian revolution’s accomplishments with regard to expanding food sovereignty, poverty alleviation, free and low-cost housing and medical care.

Next, Mike Madden of the Twin Cities Assange Defense Committee and Veterans for Peace Chapter 27 made connections with the fight to free imprisoned journalist Julian Assange, and also spoke to the hypocrisy of the White House’s 2021 declaration that “diplomacy is back” under the Biden administration, stating, “The United States is now undermining the fundamental underpinnings that make international diplomacy possible. With the kidnapping of Venezuelan diplomat Alex Saab, the United States is showing the world once again that it is above the law and that the protocols established by the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations do not apply to our exceptional nation.”

Bruce Nestor, member and former president of the National Lawyers Guild, spoke about the case of the Cuban Five, who were political prisoners held by the U.S. from 1998 until 2014 when the final men were released after years of sometimes small, sometimes large grassroots solidarity actions and a long legal fight.

Nestor also spoke about the U.S. weaponization of human rights in pursuit of its imperialist agenda, saying that the U.S. government claims, “’We're adopting sanctions and allowing Venezuelans to die en masse because we're concerned about human rights in Venezuela.’ It has nothing to do with human rights. It has everything to do with maintaining the U.S. economic control, through the International Monetary Fund, through the control of the dollar, which is the objective of the United States.”

Kelly Thomas of Twin Cities Coalition for Justice 4 Jamar expressed support for Alex Saab’s freedom and told the crowd that repression and abusing political prisoners is a matter of routine for the U.S. government. Thomas stated, “Internationally, the state uses its military power to suppress people. And domestically, the state uses militarized police forces, including the National Guard, to suppress its own citizens.” Thomas spoke about community control of the Minneapolis Police, as a way to fight back. TCC4J continues to gather signatures to move that struggle forward locally.

Sorcha Lona, an organizer from the University of Minnesota chapter of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), connected Saab’s detention in the Miami detention center to the current political repression aimed at the students of Florida State University known as the Tampa 5.

Finally, the MN Anti-War Committee’s Andrew Josefchak stated, “The U.S. would like to be able to imprison any diplomat, any government official, any head of state, just because it wants to. So, while the U.S. claims to be spreading democracy around the world with sanctions and starvation and bombs and bullets, in reality, it has declared itself the sole dictator of which governments count and which ones don't, no matter what the people of those countries themselves have to say about it.” Josefchak ended his speech with spirited chants of “Hands off Venezuela!” and “Free Alex Saab!”

The rally was initiated by the Anti-War Committee and endorsed by Veterans for Peace Chapter 27, Twin Cities Assange Defense Committee, Women Against Military Madness, Twin Cities Coalition for Justice 4 Jamar, and the UMN chapter of SDS.

The protest was organized as a part of the Committee to Free Alex Saab’s international week of action. Events took place across the country including Washington D.C., New York City, Dayton OH, Dallas TX, Milwaukee WI, Grand Rapids WI, Miami FL, and Vancouver BC Canada, among others.

#MinneapolisMN #Venezuela #AlexSaab #Americas

Milwaukee, WI – More than 20 people filled a room at the Urban Ecology Center in the Silver City neighborhood on April 29 to hear a report from Freedom Road Socialist Organization member Omar Flores on his recent trip to Venezuela. Flores was one part of a FRSO delegation that was invited to participate in a special conference that coincided with the tenth anniversary of the death of Comandante Hugo Chavez, the former Venezuelan president and one of the primary figures behind the ongoing Bolivarian Revolution.

Flores spoke broadly about his time in Caracas, the capital city of Venezuela. The differences between day to day life in Venezuela versus what his experiences have been living in Milwaukee are what stood out to him the most through his trip.

“I think something that was really substantial was getting to meet people from the FMLN, people that were held as political prisoners, people from radical organizations that have been painted as enemies by the United States, is that U.S. imperialism is what brought us all together in that space,” said Flores. “Imperialism is so wide-reaching, but getting to see it in a very tangible way, getting to meet people who’d be directly impacted by it, was impactful.”

“The first thing we saw when we arrived in the country was a person sitting behind a desk, and they’re wearing military garb, and we saw that they had a bunch of insignia that were in support of socialism and communism,” Flores continued. “We can be in that role, for those of us in Freedom Road, this is the future that we’re fighting for, for people that look like us, people we can identify with, being the ones that are running the show.”

“Walking through the city as an American was actually kind of unsettling. We saw thousands of murals that were in support of socialism, in support of communism, and [in support of] internationalism in general. What I didn’t see so much of was advertisements, just empowering revolutionary art,” Flores said. “We walked up to buildings to check them out and there were always people standing outside them telling us to come in. We were confused by this. We don’t have to pay for this, like, you’re not gonna yell at us for trespassing or tell us we can’t use the bathroom or any of that other weird stuff that we get in America? These beautiful places are all just public spaces and anybody can have access to them and they’re not really discriminatory about who could come in or out. That was something really notable, that everything seems to be a public space.”

More than the culture shock, Flores talked about the ways in which the Bolivarian Revolution has transformed society at all levels for people, whether it’s the community, the military, or the government itself.

“When the conference began, we got to hear a handful of speakers, and they were some of the most impactful. One of them, a woman – I can’t remember her name – told this story about how she lived in the slums and still does. The story here in the U.S. is, like, ‘Oh, I lived in the bad neighborhood, or the ghetto, and then I made it out,’ but in Venezuela it’s very different,” Flores said. “For them, it’s more like ‘Well, I lived in the slums and then I made the slums better with my community because we were given that opportunity by the government.’ This was a common story that we heard from a lot of the government officials because they’re all basically recruited from the barrios that they’re from.”

Flores went on: “Another speaker was dressed in military attire and kinda looked like what you might expect a right-winger to look like here in the U.S. so I was kinda unsettled. But then I heard him talk and what he was saying was that the military isn’t like in the U.S. They’re not a rich people’s army, they’re never gonna fight for the corporations; they’re working people in military clothing, and they’ll always operate with that in mind.”

“Delcy Rodriguez, the vice president of Venezuela, spoke about the need for something called a pluripolar world. What that means is we don’t just need different poles in the world challenging U.S. hegemony, but we need socialist poles, progressive poles, to move the world along,” Flores continued. “She said that while multipolarity is a good thing, we also need to be fighting for socialism. Multipolarity alone is not gonna take down imperialism, only socialism can. Hearing the vice president of a country saying that was really exceptional.”

Later in his presentation, Flores highlighted how many buildings that had previously belonged to the rich, like big high rises and corporate banking offices, had been appropriated and repurposed for the people for things like housing and the like.

Another focus of the trip and Flores's report was the case of imprisoned Venezuelan diplomat Alex Saab. Saab was kidnapped during a diplomatic trip to Iran when his team stopped for fuel in Cabo Verde nearly three years ago. He has been languishing illegally in federal custody in Miami ever since. Saab is being denied critical medical attention. A court hearing in Miami earlier this year denied him his freedom on the grounds that the U.S. government doesn't recognize him as a diplomat because they don't recognize the Venezuelan government that issued him his credentials in the first place, a bogus argument that they're using to cover for the violation of established international law.

After the question-and-answer section, emcee Alan Chavoya promoted the ongoing spring fundraising campaign launched by FRSO several weeks before. Between all of the attendees, the FRSO Wisconsin managed to raise $800.

The evening ended with a special message from Chavoya, which was first delivered in English and then once more in Spanish:

“We’re gathered here today on April 29, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with members of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization and others who are interested in expressing anti-imperialist solidarity with the people and government of Venezuela, led by the United Socialist Party of Venezuela. Specifically, we are demanding that President Joe Biden end the unjust sanctions against Venezuela. We’re also demanding an end to the unlawful detention of Venezuelan diplomat Alex Saab. And we demand all of this now! Free Alex Saab!”

#MilwaukeeWI #Venezuela #BolivarianRepublicOfVenezuela #Americas

Grand Rapids, MI – The Committee to Free Alex Saab is calling all anti-war and international solidarity activists, community and immigrant rights organizers, labor unionists and students to join in an international week of action to Free Alex Saab.

Alex Saab is a Venezuelan diplomat who has been illegally kidnapped and imprisoned by the U.S. government for his work securing food, fuel, medicine and other basic necessities in defiance of the U.S. sanctions on Venezuela. Saab has now been detained for more than 1000 days, unable to see doctors or family members, and his health is rapidly declining. The denial of Saab’s diplomatic status is a direct attack on the sovereignty of Venezuela and a test-case for future acts of aggression against sovereign states; if the U.S. succeeds in prosecuting Saab, it will have a legal precedent to take similar actions against the representatives of any state it decrees to be “illegitimate.”

Minneapolis Anti-War Committee member Andrew Josefchak stated, “Alex Saab is a diplomat. The U.S. is saying that he isn’t a real diplomat because they don’t recognize the Venezuelan government as legitimate, as if the U.S, is the one who decides whether or not people get to elect their own leaders. He’s now been arrested and detained for more than 1000 days for providing his people with food and medicine. That’s not a crime, that’s heroism. Alex Saab needs to be allowed to see his family, to see a doctor, and more than anything to be set free immediately.”

The Committee to Free Alex Saab has called for activists to speak about freedom for Alex Saab at International Workers Day rallies and marches, hand out fliers and information, hold “Free Alex Saab!” signs, and lift banners of Alex Saab on campuses, busy street corners, or overpasses and hold educational events.

Tom Burke, organizational secretary of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization, stated “There is a growing movement to free Alex Saab. We know of eight cities doing some sort of action. There will be speeches to free Alex Saab at International Workers’ Day rallies, some will show a movie about Venezuela’s brave diplomat, others will do outreach on campus to educate students. We want others around the world to join us in telling President Biden to let Saab go!”

Campaign members are available to provide material and speakers for teach-ins, interviews, panel-calls and rallies. Video documentaries and leafleting materials are also available to local movements on request. Reach out to FightBackforAlexSaab@gmail.com for information or materials.

End the U.S. Blockade of Venezuela!

Free Alex Saab!

Sanctions are an Act of War!

#GrandRapidsMI #Venezuela #AlexSaab #Americas

Minneapolis, MN – On March 26 Cuba solidarity activists responded to the national call for monthly car caravans to end the U.S. blockade of Cuba and to take Cuba off the U.S. State Sponsors of Terrorism list (SSOT). The 18-car caravan flew Cuba flags and displayed pro-Cuba signs while they drove down Lake Street through a Latino neighborhood. It was welcomed with car honks and fist pumps.

In the last days of Trump in office, he added Cuba back on the SSOT. During Biden’s campaign to become president, he indicated he would take them off the list as well as revoke the 247 additional sanctions Trump had imposed, now he is breaking yet another campaign promise.

One of the organizers of the Minneapolis caravan, Marcy Shapiro, member of Women Against Military Madness Solidarity Committee on the Americas, read from a statement from organizers of the Miami caravan, “On March 23, U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, testifying before the U.S. Congress, assured Miami Congresswoman Maria Elvira Salazar that the State Department has no plans to review Cuba’s status on the sponsors of state terrorism list. This is further motivation why our caravan is so important. We are the voice of thousands of people, Cuban and non-Cuban alike, who want to see an end to the blockade.”

She went on to read, “Almost 36,000 people, for example, packed the Loan Depot stadium on March 19 to watch Cuba play the USA in the semi-finals of the World Baseball Classic. Perhaps half the crowd, primarily Miami Cubans, were there to root for the Cuban team. These fans demonstrated how there is a Cuban family on both sides of the Florida straits that thrills to the idea of increased athletic, cultural, and economic exchanges between the two nations.”

As the caravan drove through the streets of Minneapolis, WAMM member Carol Walker spoke on Zoom to the other cars about her recent return trip from Cuba. She was in a delegation sponsored by the Vets for Peace (VFP) where she and others saw the VFP’s sailboat, Golden Rule, as it visited Cuba on its coast-to-coast tour. Walker pointed out, “Isn’t it hypocritical that Biden calls Cuba a terrorist state when what they do is send boatloads of doctors to countries in need of medical help, while the U.S. bombs countries across the world? Who is the terrorist?”

Activists vowed to continue to fight to remove Cuba from the harsh grip of sanctions made worse by the exclusion of Cuba from the global financial system because of the destructive financial restrictions of the SSOT list.

In April 2023, will mark the second-year anniversary of the Minneapolis Cuba caravan in the Twin Cities. For more details, follow Solidarity Committee on the Americas on Facebook, and SCOTA_MN on Twitter and Instagram.

#MinneapolisMN #Cuba #blockadeOfCuba #WomenAgainstMilitaryMadnessWAMM #Americas

Caracas, Venezuela – It has now been more than 1000 days since Venezuelan diplomat Alex Saab was first kidnapped by the U.S. government on the island of Cabo Verde, off the west coast of Africa. Since then, he’s been subjected to physical, psychological and chemical torture and moved to a federal detention center in Miami, Florida.

Two members of Minnesota's Anti-War Committee met with Saab’s wife, Camilla Fabri Saab, on Tuesday, March 7, alongside a delegation from the Alliance for Global Justice and progressive lawyers with the Free Alex Saab Movement. Camilla, Fabri Saab, mother to their two young daughters, provided updates on his case, emphasizing that his health has taken a severe turn for the worse.

Saab is missing several teeth due to beatings and has been denied access to all medical treatment beyond aspirin. Camilla’s account of the weaponization of psychiatric treatment in the Miami Detention Center was particularly shocking. First U.S. officials tortured Saab, then they diagnosed him with PTSD resulting from the torture that they themselves inflicted. Using that diagnosis as a pretext, Saab was forced to take pills which made him feel exhausted, dizzy and nauseous to such a degree that he was sometimes unable to even speak on the phone. Prison staff refused to tell him what was in these pills, and it was only after Alex Saab's lawyers intervened that this chemical torture ended.

Saab is a diabetic cancer survivor, making the Miami FDC’s decision to deny him medical attention especially cruel and life-threatening. Four weeks ago, he began to vomit blood. Despite this, he is still being denied the right to see a doctor. Saab’s rapidly deteriorating health means that the urgency of his fight for freedom intensifies day by day.

Everything indicates that this medical mistreatment is intentional U.S. policy, an extension of efforts to immiserate the Venezuelan people as a whole. The dark irony of Saab being deprived of healthcare is that he is being targeted for his efforts to bring exactly that – healthcare – to the people of Venezuela. Under a U.S.-led blockade that prevented Venezuela from importing basic goods like food, medicine, fuel and agricultural supplies, many Venezuelans suffered tremendously. Saab traveled the world as a diplomat for the Venezuelan government in order to secure the basic, critical supplies needed to save Venezuelans from starvation and death by preventable illnesses.

Camilla also provided the Anti-War Committee with an internal U.S. government email from Elliot Abrams, a neoconservative and former U.S. Special Representative for Venezuela. She described this email as a “smoking gun.” District Judge Robert Scola’s ruling against Alex Saab in December of last year relied on the assertion that he is not a diplomat and thus doesn’t have any diplomatic immunity. In the email Camilla presented, however, Abrams admits that Saab was in possession of a diplomatic passport and suggests that the U.S. will have to find a way to discredit the passport, such as claiming that it is a fake, in order to successfully prosecute him. The case against Alex Saab has been clearly politically motivated and illegal from the beginning, but this new evidence is concrete proof.

Since the visit, Camilla and the Free Alex Saab Movement have continued the fight, holding the U.S. government squarely responsible for Saab’s life. Their current demands are:

For the International Committee of the Red Cross to send a representative to the Miami Detention Center; for the UN High Commissioner of Human Rights to denounce Saab’s imprisonment as an illegal detention and a violation of human rights; for UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres to denounce the illegal detention of a diplomat by the U.S. as a violation of international law; and, immediate freedom for Alex Saab.

Activists in the U.S. know we cannot rely on the legal system to do its job and free Alex Saab. The U.S. government willingly violated international law. It will take a concerted, popular struggle for Saab to see his family again. The Free Alex Saab Movement is calling for activists to take to the streets for a National Week of Action from May 1-7 to build the movement and show U.S. leaders that we will not stand by while Saab, and Venezuelan people as a whole, are criminally attacked.

Free Alex Saab!

#CaracasVenezuela #Caracas #Venezuela #AlexSaab #BolivarianRepublicOfVenezuela #Americas

Caracas, Venezuela – On March 4 a member of the Minnesota Anti-War Committee visited the Feria Conuquera Agroecológico (Agroecological Small Farmer's Market) in Caracas’ Caobos Park and interviewed activist and biologist Giselle Perdomo. Perdomo, who organizes the farmer’s market, detailed how U.S. sanctions have impacted both the struggle for food sovereignty and her own family.

The market is run by Chavistas but is not itself a government program. It works to bring farmers from in and around Caracas to sell in the city. Under the weight of U.S. sanctions, food is very difficult to import into the country, but in the last couple of years the country has seen vast improvements in food sovereignty: Venezuela now produces 94% of its own food after importing 80% for the last 100 years. The farmer’s market is a small part of that effort.

Perdomo’s group also defends Venezuela’s revolutionary 2015 Seed Law that outlawed the use of transgenic or GMO seeds. Without the laws, Venezuelan farmers would be pressured to adopt seeds supplied by transnational GMO corporations in order to sell their crops on the international market. Under that system farmers must buy specially designed seeds, fertilizer and herbicide from the agricultural monopolies year after year, becoming fully dependent. Although the law was passed after his death, Hugo Chávez led the fight against transgenic foods. In one instance he ended a soybean contract with GMO giant Monsanto in 2005, advocating that the land be used instead for indigenous crops and calling transgenics a threat to the nation’s food sovereignty.

Promoting indigenous foods remains key today, although there are hurdles in getting the people to accept them over the international market foods they are accustomed to. Perdomo explained, “So, for example, I plant something that's called purple yam. And even Venezuelans don't know what it is, right? So I offer it here in the market, and many people just ask, you know, what's that? Because it looks like the color of beets. So people just look at it, it's weird. And they go on. So we need to try and change people's attitudes towards things that are local.” To this end the fair bakes the yams into bread to get people used to the taste and works on educating about local foods, how to make organic pesticides, and farming techniques.

Perdomo lost her six-year-old son in part because of the horrors of a medical system under attack by the U.S. Many doctors fled the country, live-saving medicines and equipment were impossible to import, and at times the electricity was spotty in hospitals. “My son, he had difficulties with his muscles. They were all very hard, so he couldn't breathe very well. He couldn't cough. So if he got a cold that was a life threatening thing for him. And taking him to a public hospital was just heartbreaking, because you saw kids queuing up to breathe, to get to the one piece of equipment that’s working. You know, the lighting sometimes didn't work. And then it was just chaos. It was chaos. You should be able to, you know, have a hospital that doesn't give you nightmares.”

It’s different now. Medicines like those that Perdomo’s son needed are more easily available, but it’s cold comfort to her and others who have lost loved ones to the U.S.’s cruel unilateral coercive measures.

The Caobos Park is full of farmers with stands selling fresh produce – plantains, vegetables, honey and much more. One man sells homemade rice wine, and a woman makes infused tea bags. Next to the market a government health program has tents set up to fight obesity. They give people free check-ups and vaccinations, and there is a dance party, soccer and games to promote wellness. Thanks to their enormous strength of will and a people-oriented government, Venezuelans have been able to claw back a sense of normalcy, but still suffer under the economic pressure. Organizations like the Anti-War Committee still call for an end to the U.S. sanctions regime.

But the very nature of the U.S. hybrid war campaign makes it harder to organize around than a traditional invasion. Nevertheless, Perdomo says the anti-imperialist movement must persist: “It has impacts on human health, just like wars with bombs do. And it has impacts on emotional health, just like wars with bombs do. The most insidious thing is that people don't consider it to be war. Therefore there's not a whole lot of newspapers talking about the war on Venezuela because if there aren't explosions, then there isn’t outrage. And there should be outrage because we are suffering, we have suffered. But the flip side of that is we have made resistance a lifestyle and we have made happiness in the face of struggle a lifestyle.”

#CaracasVenezuela #Caracas #Venezuela #BolivarianRepublicOfVenezuela #Americas

New Orleans, LA – On March 11, protesters took to the streets to demand the release of Venezuelan diplomat and political prisoner Alex Saab. The march began at Armstrong Park, where activist Simon Miscenich of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization spoke on the details of Alex Saab’s kidnapping and impending trial.

The U.S. ordered Saab’s illegal imprisonment in Cabo Verde in June 2020. He was on his way to Iran, where he would negotiate access to food, medicine and other vital goods, which U.S. trade sanctions bar Venezuelans from accessing. Saab was extradited to the U.S. in October 2021, and he still awaits trial in Miami, Florida to face false charges of “money laundering” – a charge the U.S. frequently asserts against political foes. March 9, 2023 marked 1000 days since Saab’s unjust imprisonment.

After hearing details of Saab’s case, activists took to the street and marched several blocks. They held a lane of traffic and chanted alongside cars, “One, two three, four! We won’t pay for sanction war!” and “Free, free Alex Saab!”

Finally, the group gathered in front of a monument of Simon Bolivar on Canal Street, which was gifted to New Orleans by Venezuela in 1957. Antonia Mar, another member of FRSO, connected the kidnapping of Alex Saab and the strangling sanctions on Venezuela to a long history of U.S. imperialism in Latin America. The U.S. has historically attempted to bend the continent to its own will for economic gain, but Mar stated, “The Venezuelan government refuses to be subservient to U.S. hegemony, refuses to be victimized by the U.S.’s attempts to gain control over the country.”

The march concluded with several chants calling to “Free Alex Saab!” and “End the killer sanctions now!”

#NewOrleansLA #Venezuela #AlexSaab #BolivarianRepublicOfVenezuela #Americas

Minneapolis, MN – February 26, the Solidarity Committee on the Americas (SCOTA) and MN Cuba Committee (MNCC) rounded out the month on the theme of “Show Love for Cuba,” with their monthly Cuba caravan. The crowd gathered at the South High School parking lot to rally together, demanding the U.S. Government take Cuba off the U.S. State Sponsor of Terrorism list (SSOT).

The rally opened with Jerris Heckler, member of SCOTA, explaining that during this month, “We had a lot of activities which highlighted the need to remove Cuba from the SSOT. We hosted a Coffee Hour featuring Cuban diplomats, they talked about all the harm the SSOT has on their country. We sent postcards and had call-in days to send messages to the Minnesota senators and President Biden. We went to Senator Klobuchar’s office to deliver valentines and a letter urging her to tell President Biden to take Cuba off the list. Now, we are here today, to carry our message through the neighborhoods.”

With signs and Cuban flags on the cars, the caravan departed from the parking lot to drive on Lake Street, a main street in Minneapolis which is a busy commercial street in a Latino and immigrant community. People on the street and other cars driving by saw the cars with Cuban flags blowing in the wind and signs of “Hands off Cuba” and “Cuba off the terrorist list!” The drivers in the caravan noted more people in support of the caravan by raising fists in the air, other cars honking in support and having cars stop at intersections to let the caravan continue without interruption.

While en route, the caravan hosted a special “radio” show by Zoom, where everyone who signed on heard commentary and chants led by “DJ Kim” while driving through the streets. The show was very interactive, and the drivers joined in chanting in their cars while honking, “Let Cuba live” and “Hands off Cuba!” DJ Kim engaged the drivers by asking them why they still participate in the caravans. Most speakers stressed the importance of being visible in the public and drawing attention to Cuba.

The highlight of the show was an interview with a Cuban American who moved to the United States as a teenager. He was very happy and overwhelmed to see Americans showing up for Cuba. He continued, when he came here, as a young person, he wasn’t as interested in Cuba but as he got older, he realized how the U.S. government treated Cuba. He believes a change in the way we talk about Cuba can contribute a long way to help change people's views. This will enable them to have a better understanding of Cuba and its people.

Before the caravan ended, they drove past a community block party. The caravan wanted to show support and solidarity for the Little Earth community and allies in their fight against the mayor and city hall of Minneapolis in stopping the demolition of the Roof Depot site. Currently, the city wants to turn the site into a consolidated public works facility which will bring in lots of diesel trucks.

This site is in the middle of a low-income neighborhood and the building sits on arsenic-laden soil. If the demolition happens, it will release arsenic into an already polluted community. Those living in East Phillips and environmental activists, led by Native Americans and other oppressed nationalities, want to stop the demolition. Instead, they have plans to turn the site into an urban farm and community hub, including a neighborhood garden that would ultimately benefit all the residents and the city.

Additional developments

On February 27, President Biden has reissued the designation of Cuba as being a state supporter of terrorism. In 2015, Obama removed Cuba from the U.S. State Sponsor of Terrorism list and started to warm relations between the U.S. and Cuba. However, in the days before President Trump was to leave office, he put them back on the list, citing only that Cuba provided a haven for Colombian insurgents, who were in Cuba due to the island’s role in facilitating the historic peace accords.

During Biden’s presidential campaign, he promised to remove restrictions imposed by the Trump administration and wanted to improve U.S.-Cuban relations. By reissuing the “State Department Country Report on Terrorism 2021,” he is still following suit from the Trump’s administration by continuing the illegal U.S. economic war on Cuba. However, the people will continue to pressure the Biden administration to take Cuba off the list.

#MinneapolisMN #Cuba #Americas

Caracas, Venezuela – Friday, March 3 was the first day of an international anti-imperialist conference in Venezuela held to commemorate the legacy and continuing struggle of the late Venezuelan President and leader of the Bolivarian Revolution Hugo Chavez. A delegation of Chicano and Latino members of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO), led by long time Chicano activist Carlos Montes, were invited to attend by the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV).

Chavez is not dead

The theme of the conference was carrying on the legacy of Hugo Chavez. The mood in the room was lively, with every seat in the large auditorium filled and two rows of standing room only in the back. In between speeches, local delegates from Venezuela led the room in popular Chavista chants. One common chant was “Chavez no murio, se multiplio,” meaning “Chavez is not dead, he multiplies.”

Local delegates representing different sections of Venezuelan society – such as the youth, fishermen, cafeteria workers and more – were in attendance at the conference as well as international delegates. One member of the PSUV told the FRSO delegation, “In every province, in every community, in every street in Venezuela – the PSUV is there organizing the people.”

Popular democracy

Though the U.S. media portrays Venezuela as a dictatorship, the reality is much different. Hector Rodriguez of the PSUV stated, “In the U.S. they have democracy, but it’s only democracy for capital. In Venezuela we have a true, representative, popular democracy.” He invited international delegates to talk with the Venezuelan people about their participatory government and to question the narrative put forth by the U.S. media.

Anacaona Marin, an indigenous leader of the commune movement and councils, spoke about building revolutionary communes and local people taking their own action to solve problems. She said that for the government to meet the people's needs, the people have to “hacer gobierno” or “make government” themselves, by studying, learning and debating.

Multicolor revolution

One aspect that the PSUV emphasized was the diversity of the Bolivarian Revolution and the participation of indigenous and Afro-Venezuelans in the people’s movement. “I was inspired to see the leadership of women in the conference and the government,” said FRSO member Enya Silva, “the people cheering and chanting the loudest were always women.”

This was also evident in the international delegations, as the conference placed special emphasis on elevating Caribbean, African, and other Latin American countries.

Free Alex Saab

A highlight of the first day was a panel discussing the U.S.’s unjust detention of Venezuelan diplomat Alex Saab, who has been held for over 1000 days by the U.S. government for negotiating food and medical aid for Venezuela. Camila Fabri Saab, his wife, spoke about his case. “What the U.S. media doesn’t talk about is how his detention affects our family,” said Fabri Saab. “His oldest child misses him dearly and his youngest child is growing up without him.”

Carlos Montes spoke from the floor of the wide support and work of FRSO in the campaign to demand freedom for Alex Saab. Camila Fabri Saab smiled and expressed gratitude, telling the FRSO delegation that the work we do is important not just for Saab’s family, but to fight U.S. sanctions against Venezuela.

Fighting imperialism

The day ended with a speech from Venezuela’s Vice President Delcy Rodriguez. She spoke on the importance of uniting with other nations to combat U.S. imperialism. “The world will be multipolar, but do we multiply capitalist poles? Poles that will put us in the same position as they have in the past? The world needs diverse poles, a pluripolar world.” Rodriguez used the example of China to show how a country can surpass the economy of the U.S. without resorting to the exploitative methods of imperialism.

#CaracasVenezuela #Caracas #AntiwarMovement #Venezuela #HugoChavez #antiimperialism #Americas

Caracas, Venezuela – The Freedom Road Socialist Organization delegation to Venezuela visited downtown Caracas, March 2, and spoke with working-class Venezuelan people. Delegation members include Chicano activist Carlos Montes, student organizer Enya Silva and anti-police crimes activist Omar Flores.

The group visited the home of Simon Bolivar (the Liberator), Bolivar Plaza, and several historic sites. Carlos Montes said, “I enjoyed the popular theater performance in the outside plaza with the public of all ages watching, and the displays of Simon Bolivar.”

FRSO delegate Omar Flores stated, “The city is exceptionally clean, I did not see any homeless people, which is in stark contrast to what I’ve seen in large U.S. cities. Living in the most segregated city in the U.S., Milwaukee, it is also stunning how integrated Caracas is.”

The delegation is participating in an anti-imperialist conference hosted by the PSUV, United Socialist Party of Venezuela, to honor and promote the work and legacy of Hugo Chavez, who passed away ten years ago on March 5.

The group viewed many murals dedicated to Chavez and the Bolivarian Revolution throughout the city, as well as murals calling for an end to the blockade on Cuba; celebrating the victory over fascism at Stalingrad; and calling for the liberation of Palestine. Organizers for the conference are working to promote unity in Latin America and against U.S. imperialism. The demand to stop U.S. sanctions on Venezuela and freedom for diplomat Alex Saab will also be raised.

#CaracasVenezuela #Caracas #Venezuela #Americas #PeoplesStruggles #FreedomRoadSocialistOrganization #Socialism #BolivarianRepublicOfVenezuela

Caracas. Venezuela – On March 1, a Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) delegation landed in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas. Members of FRSO report being shown great hospitality from the Venezuelan people. These members of FRSO were invited to attend an anti-imperialist conference being hosted in Caracas.

FRSO member Enya Silva stated, “I’m excited to learn about how the Venezuelan people continue to grow their economy despite U.S. sanctions, which are specifically used to undermine the Bolivarian government.” The conference will also cover the subject of Alex Saab’s unjust detention in the United States. Enya Silva had been present in the courtroom when Alex Saab was on trial in the U.S. and will be reporting on her experience.

While the United States has reported Caracas as being a desolate wasteland, members of FRSO have reported that the city is thriving. FRSO member Omar Flores stated, “There is an abundance of food, public transit and commuters heading out to their jobs.”

#CaracasVenezuela #Caracas #Venezuela #BolivarianRepublicOfVenezuela #Americas

Minneapolis, MN – On February 14, 20 people rallied at the office of Senator Klobuchar in the pouring rain. The action was a part of the ongoing campaign for the month of February, demanding that President Biden to take Cuba off the State Sponsor of Terrorism (SSOT) list. The rally’s objective was to send a Valentine’s message to Klobuchar from the WAMM Solidarity Committee of the Americas (SCOTA) and other Cuba solidarity activists.

The crowd held signs and a banner while they chanted “Hands off Cuba” and “Cuba si! Bloqueo no.” As a special visual sign, people held large Valentines that showed the message “Take Cuba off the U.S. Terrorist list. Minnesota loves Cuba.” As rush hour traffic passed by, the cars responded with honks and raised fists.

The rally started with a speech from Sarah Martin, a member of SCOTA, explaining that Senator Klobuchar had traveled to Cuba and in the past has supported lifting some of the sanctions. She is also known to have the ear of President Biden. Martin continued, “Along with being on the SSOT list, the Cuban people are still under the U.S. blockade which has cost the Cuban economy $130 billion over the last six decades, being on the SSOT has subjected them to another series of severe sanctions, restrictions and transactions that limit the nation’s ability to purchase medicines and medical supplies for its people and to reboot it economy after the COVID pandemic.”

Another speaker, Rebecca Pera of SCOTA, explained, “Cuba was placed on the list under Reagan for offering asylum to U.S. citizens fleeing unjust and racist persecution, including Black liberation activists Assata Shakur and Victor Manuel Hernana and Guillerrmo Morales of the Puerto Rican independence movement. This designation is completely unfounded and any examination of the past, makes abundantly clear it’s not Cuba that’s the terrorist, but the U.S.”

After the speeches, a few members delivered a letter and Valentines to Klobuchar’s office which called on her to show a little love to Cuba, and press Biden to take Cuba off the list. He can do it with a stroke of the pen. The letter pointed out, “Over 68 municipalities (including Minneapolis and St. Paul) have shown their support for Cuba by passing resolutions to end the embargo and take Cuba off the SSOT. Over 44 million people can’t be wrong represented by these municipalities.”

#MinneapolisMN #Cuba #Americas

The letter reads, in part:

“President Trump reinstated Cuba to the state sponsor of terrorism list days before leaving office, without cause...By being on this list, Cuba is subjected to a series of sanctions and international financial restrictions that limit the nation’s ability to carry out critical financial transactions, including those needed to advance its efforts to combat the COVID pandemic and reboot its economy.

“Cuba can be removed from this list by executive order of President Biden, who promised during his electoral campaign to review the Sponsor of Terrorism designation. Rather than maintaining failed policies of the past it is time to pursue a way forward in our relations with Cuba that furthers our national interests, reflects our values and improves the lives of citizens of both countries.

“Now, therefore the City Council of Minneapolis, recalling its unanimous resolution of 2021, urges President Biden and Congress, each federal representative in its jurisdiction, to call on the federal government to remove Cuba from the United States list of state sponsors of terrorism.”

Speaking about the letter, Minneapolis Ward 10 City Council member Aisha Chughtai said, “I'm proud to have signed this letter calling on the Biden administration to change course and stop punishing Cuba. The Cuban people have the right to choose a socialist economic and political system without being subjected to a brutal blockade and other punishing policies. It's time for the Biden administration to end six decades of hostile bipartisan policy toward Cuba.”

#MinneapolisMN #Cuba #sanctions #Americas

Minneapolis, MN – On January 29, 35 cars caravanned through south Minneapolis in an effort to draw attention to the treatment of Cuba by the United States. The Solidarity Committee on the Americas and the MN Cuba Committee held their monthly Cuba caravan to demand an end to the U.S. blockade against Cuba and also the removal of Cuba from the U.S. State Sponsors of Terrorism list.

Even though Minnesota's harsh winter was at its peak with gusty winds making it feel like 20 below zero, activists dressed in many layers, taped signs to their cars, rallied for Cuba then took the caravan through residential streets.

Before the caravan began, people held banners and signs and chanted, “When Cuba is under attack, what do we do? Stand up fight back!” The banners read, “Cuba off the U.S. terrorist list,” and “Take your knee off Cuba! End the blockade now!”

Sarah Martin of the Solidarity Committee on the Americas (SCOTA) explained, “In 2015, Obama removed Cuba from the U.S. state sponsor of terrorism list. Trump put them back on citing only that Cuba provided a haven for Colombian insurgents, who were in Cuba due to the island’s role in facilitating the historic peace accords. Since when is providing a place for peace negotiations terrorism? By being back on the list, Cuba is again subjected to a series of severe sanctions and international financial restrictions and transactions that limit the nation’s ability to purchase medicines and medical supplies for its population and reboot its economy after the COVID pandemic. We demand Biden take action now and remove them from this list.”

Before introducing the main speaker, Martin described SCOTA’s delegation trip in November 2022. Mary Kosuth, a Minneapolis graduate student, was a part of it. Kosuth pointed out that before going to Cuba, she is at the age where one starts to see bad things on repeat and feeling defeated. “For years, I was an overwhelmed, underinsured, undervalued, and demoralized mother of two. I had no future but to grind away at a thankless job, too exhausted when I got home to do things I was passionate about. I was too exhausted to be involved in my community. I couldn’t even fight for my own dignity at work, how could I fight for the dignity of others on evenings and weekends? I was demoralized.” But after the trip, she told the crowd, “I fell in love with Cuba!”

Kosuth continued, “I saw real health care. I saw doctors living in the neighborhoods they served. They weren’t golfing. They weren’t holed up in gated communities shopping at Whole Foods. They lived among their patients. All children get the same education. I saw food grown organically and distributed locally. We visited an urban farm where food was grown with few pesticides and no inorganic fertilizers. I saw people working together, helping one another, rearing children and caring for their elderly, struggling together, in community, in solidarity. All of these incredible, inspiring, beautiful things are taking place right now, despite, a 61-year U.S. embargo.”

Kosuth ended by saying, “So, what is the U.S. government afraid of? Why does it feel so threatened by Cuba? Maybe they are afraid that citizens like me will see a way of life where people are treated with dignity and respect. Cuba personified, is a generous, affable, and genuine person. A person who looks you in the eyes when you speak and when you shake hands goodbye, Cuba pulls you in for a hug and calls you family. The United States personified, holds you like a tractor beam, in a suspicious glare, calculating your worth, your value, always thinking of what it has to gain. Of those two personalities, who would you rather be around?”

Before the caravan got going, there was a discussion to change the route to include the governor’s mansion, to be in solidarity with the “Justice For Tyre Nichols and all stolen lives” protest. Joe Callahan, a member of the MN Cuba Committee, explained, “In Cuba, many police officers are not armed with guns.” Callahan gave an example of Cuba’s police force, “In 1994 there was rioting on the docks in Havana, in which two policemen were killed, by people trying to seize a ferry boat to go to the U.S. In response, supporters of the revolution, including Fidel, headed down there, and Fidel gave orders that no weapons were to be used.”

The crowd agreed to change the route, noting the importance of being there with others. As the caravan drove almost six miles through the residential streets from Minneapolis to the governor's mansion in Saint Paul, people on the streets and other cars driving by saw the decorated cars with messages of “Hands off Cuba!” “Take Cuba off the U.S. Terrorlist.” The people in the caravan honked while other cars honked in support and people waved to them.

The caravan ended at the governor’s mansion, joining the rally of over 200 people demanding justice for Tyre Nichols and an end to police murders.

#MinneapolisMN #Cuba #SolidarityCommitteeOnTheAmericasSCOTA #Americas

Tucson, AZ – On December 7, a month of people’s protests was kicked off when democratically-elected President Pedro Castillo, a former union educator and strike leader, was arrested by Peruvian armed forces in a coup by the oligarchy-dominated Congress. Peruvians, from indigenous groups to trade unions, immediately responded with waves of protests, marches and roadblocks. Following the orders of the coup plotters, the military and police cracked down violently on the protests, including firing on protesters from helicopters with bullets and teargas. A loosely agreed-upon truce before the holidays stopped the brutal repression, with the death toll having reached over two dozen with hundreds wounded.

With no resolution, many social movements gathered in the city of Arequipa in southern Perú to hold a people’s congress to establish demands and plans to reignite the protests in a national strike that started on January 4. Once again, the armed forces brutalized the people as they attacked protesters who took over an airport. In Juliaca, a city in the region of Puno, police forces killed 17 and injured dozens. The governor of Puno declared three days of mourning to honor the martyrs. There are reports from doctors who are concerned that the police are using exploding rounds as the victims’ bodies do not have typical entrance and exit wounds. There are small explosive damages inside the bodies that signify a brutal mindset by the police.

While the narrative of the right-wing press and government claim protesters are committing acts of vandalism, according to trade unionist Cristiano Mayta, “it is in fact the police who are causing damage to stores and buildings in an attempt to blame it on the people.”

The four demands of the social movements are that Dina Boluarte step down as president; shut down the Congress; create a popular assembly to rewrite the constitution, and the immediate release of illegally arrested President Pedro Castillo.

#TucsonAZ #Americas #Peru

Oil industry recovery

PDVSA oil started flowing to the U.S. and EU again after March, when the Biden administration negotiated with the government of President Nicolas Maduro. The U.S. and EU are desperate to obtain oil from Venezuela due to the ongoing debacle of the U.S. war against Russia in Ukraine.

With the aid of chemical additives, new technology and machine parts from Iran, Venezuela has restored its oil industry and refineries are working at levels not seen since U.S. sanctions first went into effect under President Obama. There are still gas lines in parts of Venezuela, but the industry is fully recovered, and production is way up. A gallon of gas in Caracas is about 36 cents.

Grow your own food

Likewise, following the agricultural policies begun under President Hugo Chavez, Venezuela is food self-sufficient and will begin exporting food in 2023. “We produce 94% of food in 2022 after importing 80% of everything [in previous decades],” said Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in a New Year interview with Spanish journalist Ignacio Ramonet. The agricultural revolution of the past 20 years involved land redistribution, recruiting Colombian farmers, and production geared towards feeding the 30 million Venezuelans. Anyone who claims people in Venezuela are starving is lying.

Today, the CLAP food production and delivery program, begun in 2016, covers as much as 85% of Venezuela’s households. Boxes of staple foods with rice, beans, fruit and vegetables, even proteins are delivered every two weeks for low cost. The CLAP program (for Comité Local de Abastecimiento y Producción, or Local Committees for Supply and Production) was established after U.S. sanctions were imposed and big warehouse owners began hoarding to create shortages of goods and drive-up prices. Their plans were foiled.

While Venezuelan workers and farmers have carried out production, much of the setup to activate production is due to the ability of Venezuela’s special envoy Alex Saab to negotiate and make trade deals, especially of food for oil. It has been over 900 days since the U.S. seized diplomat Saab in Cape Verde to charge him with conspiracy. The kidnapped diplomat is being held by the U.S. as a prisoner in Miami, Florida. A recent court ruling by a Miami judge ignored overwhelming evidence and rejected Saab’s diplomatic status. The logic of the judge is that if the U.S. government doesn’t recognize President Maduro, then the court should not either.

A productive economy

While oil remains important to the Venezuelan economy, much of the growth is in newer industries, with assistance from the national government. There are joint ventures between Venezuela’s government, Venezuelan firms, and foreign companies that produce or assemble laptops, motorcycles, delivery trucks and electric buses. Diversification and industrialization of Venezuela’s economy is the priority, to “free ourselves from the old oil-dependent rentier capitalist model” as President Maduro says.

Bolivarian determination overcomes U.S. sanctions

It is clear the U.S. sanctions regime of Obama, Trump and now Biden is failing in its objectives. In fact, it has had the reverse effect – Venezuela’s economy has rebounded and strengthened through diversification. It continues to be an economy geared toward serving the people instead of profits. This past year President Maduro announced that 4.4 million new apartments and homes were built. These replace the horrible shanty towns, with huts that many people lived in under corrugated plastic roofs, with garden hoses for water, and extension cords for electricity. The new apartments are free or low cost with ownership by those who live in them.

Friends helping friends

The Bolivarian Revolution is succeeding under the leadership of President Maduro and the United Socialist Party of Venezuela, but it also has good friends. Cuba and Iran are solid friends, but China, Russia and Vietnam all have joint ventures or infrastructure projects in Venezuela. Turkey and India do business and trade with Venezuela, despite U.S. sanctions. How could they not when both the E.U. and U.S. are taking oil shipments?

In the current multipolar world where the U.S. empire is in decline, Latin American integration is full speed ahead. The U.S. is unable to isolate Venezuela. The New Year inauguration of President Lula in Brazil marks a big change for Colombia, Venezuela and the region. The Bolivarian Revolution, along with the Venezuelan economy, is likely to strengthen in the coming year. With the ten-year commemoration of Comandante Hugo Chavez coming on March 5, the PSUV and its millions of supporters will recommit to their Bolivarian principles and struggle towards a socialist future.

#ChicagoIL #Venezuela #PeoplesStruggles #Americas