Cuba Friendship Group of Greater Ithaca

 

 Dan Burgevin on WHCU Newswatch 7-03-08: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

I received a call from Dan Burgevin about 11 am this morning (Thursday). He reported that 12 vehicles were stopped by Customs and Border Patrol and that computers —clearly designated for medical and humanitarian purposes— were seized. These computers are intended for schools, hosptials and clinics in Cuba. Dan called in to WHCU AM 870 for a news interview. The segment, about 5-minutes, was broadcast on the evening Newswatch program. If you missed it, I was able to record it and have uploaded a low bandwidth MP3.

Dan is urging us to call our representatives and pressure our government to release the seized aid. The action alert below lists specific targets. Please call.

National Committee To Free The Cuban Five Bulletin —An alert from the A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition

Pastors for Peace Caravan stopped at U.S.-Mexico border.
Computers destined for Cuba seized by Border Patrol
Take Action Now!

Pastors for Peace Caravans have been taking supplies and solidarity to Cuba since 1992. This year’s Caravan is dedicated to the freedom of the Cuban Five. We urge supporters to read the alert below and take action immediately!

We have just received word that the Pastors for Peace Caravan, which challenges the U.S. blockade of Cuba on an annual basis, has been stopped at the U.S.-Mexico border. As always, the Pastors for Peace buses are carrying medicines and other materials to show their solidarity with the people of Cuba.

Rev. Thomas Smith, President of the Board of Directors for the Interreligious Foundation for Community Organization/Pastors for Peace, told ANSWER, “We’ve had 31 computers seized by the Customs and Border Patrol at the U.S.-Mexico border. These computers were destined for classrooms, clinic and hospitals in Cuba. These are 31 classrooms, clinics and hospitals that now will not have the opportunity to have computers.” Smith vowed to “maintain a demonstration until we get the computers back” and called upon all opponents of the U.S. blockade to take a moment to protest this outrageous and cruel confiscation of humanitarian materials by contacting the following:

1. The Border Patrol, which under the Department of Homeland Security, which can be reached at 877-227-5511
2. The Office of Foreign Assets Control, which regulates the U.S. blockade of Cuba, which can be reached at 1-800-540-6322 or ofac_feedback@do.treas.gov
3. Your House representative, who can be reached at the Congressional switchboard at 202-225-3121.

In your phone calls and emails demand the immediate release of all items belonging to the Pastors for Peace Caravan, which have been seized at the U.S.-Mexico border. Let them know that you stand with the Caravan members who are currently protesting at the border, that you oppose the blockade of Cuba. Take action right now!

GO TO ORIGINAL

By BEN RATLIFF
Published: February 7, 2008

Tata Güines, one of the most important percussionists on the tumbadora, or conga drum, in the first generation of Afro-Cuban jazz and son montuno, died on Monday in Havana, where he lived. He was 77. Continue Reading »

GO TO ORIGINAL

HAVANA (Reuters) - “King of the Congas” Tata Guines, Cuba’s most famous percussionist who shared the stage with Josephine Baker and Frank Sinatra half a century ago, died on Monday in Havana. He was 77. Continue Reading »

Tata Guines, Manteca, Toronto 1993 from Cris McConkey on Vimeo.

A lower bandwidth version of this video is on Google Video

After hearing the news of the death of Cuban conga player Tata Guines, I decided to hunt up some old video footage as my small contribution in memorium. Continue Reading »

(CBS4) CORAL GABLES Democratic Senator Christopher Dodd said on Saturday in
Coral Gables that he will soon announce his plans for sweeping changes in
U.S. policy toward Cuba.

Dodd said on previous occasions that he would lift all travel restrictions
to the communist nation.

Dodd is a 31-year veteran of the senate who’s long had an interest in
Hispanic issues. He spent time as a Peace Corps volunteer in the Dominican
Republic and speaks Spanish fluently.

The Hill, DC - August 15

By Ian Swanson

When Democrats gained control of Congress, hopes were high that Cuba travel and trade restrictions would be eased by a party historically opposed to a so-called hard line on Cuba.

So far, however, the Democratic-led House has been tougher on Cuba than when Republicans controlled the lower chamber.

Sixty-six House Democrats — including 20 members of the freshman class — recently voted against a farm bill amendment offered by Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) that would have made it easier for U.S. farmers to sell agricultural goods to Cuba.

Earlier this year, the House also approved an amendment adding $36 million in funding for Cuban dissident groups after the House Appropriations Committee recommended only $9 million in funding.

“It was a blow for us to have the Rangel vote be, you know, the worst vote we’ve had,” said Sarah Stephens, an advocate for ending Cuba travel and trade restrictions who directs the Freedom to Travel Campaign.

The amendment was defeated 182-245 even though similar amendments were approved by voice vote when Republicans controlled the House.

More Democrats voted against the farm bill amendment than voted against another Rangel amendment last year that would have prohibited funding for implementing the overall trade embargo with Cuba. Only 40 Democrats voted against that amendment when it was considered.

Both supporters and opponents of the Cuba embargo said they were surprised by the vote. “If we can’t prevail on an issue of agriculture trade, it says it will be very difficult to prevail on other issues,” said Rep. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), a longtime supporter of trading with Cuba.

Both sides in the Cuba fight say Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) was instrumental in winning Democratic votes against the Rangel amendment. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) told The Miami Herald that Wasserman Schultz was “a tiger” on the Rangel vote, while Antonio Zamora of the U.S.-Cuba Legal Forum described her as a key party in building Democratic opposition.

“I was about as active as you could be,” said Wasserman Schultz, a second-termer who serves as a deputy chief whip for Democrats. At the same time, she said other members such as Reps. Albio Sires (D-N.J.) and Robert Andrews (D-N.J.) also worked hard to whip opposition.

Sires, a freshman, deserves credit for the 20 freshmen who voted against the Rangel amendment, said Joe Garcia, director of the New Democrat Network’s Hispanic Strategy Center.

Wasserman Schultz attributes the vote against Rangel’s amendment to “a more aggressive and better-organized effort by opponents on the Democratic side.” While the Appropriations cardinal said she was just as active on past Cuban votes, Wasserman Schultz claimed she is now more organized and knows more members personally from her experience co-chairing the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s “Red to Blue” effort in 2006.

Wasserman Schultz’s position on Cuba puts her at odds with some Democratic leaders, but she said she has no worries that this might affect her if she seeks a higher leadership position in the future. She said that Democrats understand they will not always agree on every issue and that she sought out Rangel to explain her position.

“I think it’s a matter of style, too,” said Wasserman Schultz, who remarked she was not one to get in someone’s face on an issue. “You can be diplomatic and diffident. There’s a way to handle differences of views with leadership.”

However, Wasserman Schultz has clashed with members on Cuba policy, including Rep. José Serrano (D-N.Y.), a fellow cardinal on the Appropriations Committee.

She noted that she does not arrive at her position on Cuba because of her district’s makeup, which includes few Cuban-Americans and is 20 percent Hispanic. Instead, she points out that she is Jewish, and that the words “never again” resonate in terms of the Holocaust and the state of human rights in Cuba.

In another sign that the Democratic-controlled House is in no rush to change Cuba policy, Rep. Bill Delahunt (D-Mass.) said he believes his bill seeking to overturn the administration’s rules on travel by Cuban-Americans will not receive a hearing until next year. Those rules are particularly unpopular in Miami, and the Delahunt bill at the beginning of the year was seen by many as having bright prospects this year.

This Saturday morning, July 28, nearly 80 courageous U.S. travel ban challengers will return from Cuba, marching over the Peace Bridge from Fort Erie, Ontario, into Buffalo, New York, openly and proudly declaring that they have defied the U.S. blockade of Cuba and the ban on travel to that country.

BE THERE!!
Supporters will be coming from near and far to gather to salute and welcome them.

Come and join in the welcoming
any time from 8:30 on, on Saturday morning!
Be there to enjoy music and food together, and ask them about Cuba!
BRING A SALAD OR DESSERT DISH TO SHARE!! BRING CHAIRS AND BLANKETS TO SIT ON!

The Venceremos Brigade says “We oppose any and all restrictions on our right to travel to Cuba. We oppose the Bush Administration’s warlike actions towards Cuba and its relentless pursuit of “regime change” in Cuba - a country where people have free health care and education, where they do not suffer homelessness and hunger and where racism is actively combated, and whose largest export to the poor countries of the world is medical assistance. We support the Cuban people’s sovereign right to have the social system of their choosing–and we want to learn more about it.”

Latin America Solidarity Committee Task Force of the WNY Peace Ctr – 716-894-2013 - www.lascwny.org
Buffalo/WNY International Action Ctr – 716-604-9515 – iacbuffalo@action-mail.org
www.VenceremosBrigade.org

 

 Standard Podcast [3:05m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Activists to Protest Cuba Travel Ban
Joyce Kryszak

BUFFALO, NY (2007-07-27) The Peace Bridge will once again become a symbol this Saturday for the 38th return of the Venceremos Brigade.

Dozens of activists will defiantly announce their return from an illegal trip to Cuba as they cross from Canada into Buffalo.

The 1962 United States trade embargo against Cuba bans all unsanctioned travel to the communist state. But activists seek to have the embargo lifted, saying it’s unnecessary in the post-Cold War era.

Buffalo resident Ellie Dorritie will join the rally on Saturday. She stayed at home this year but did travel to Cuba in 1999. And she believes others should have that right too.

Film maker Michael Moore encountered trouble for traveling to Cuba when making his documentary “Sicko.” Activists, however, say they are hopeful this year’s rally will be as peaceful and uneventful as in recent years.

Click the “listen” icon above to hear Joyce Kryszak’s story now or use your podcasting software to download it to your computer or iPod.

© Copyright 2007, WBFO

Reverse Travel Challenge Saturday July 28th!

Please alert your networks!

Reminder to our Friends and Supporters!

Our intrepid caravanistas have arrived safely in Mexico!

Tomorrow Saturday July 28th –The Caravan is scheduled to cross back into the US from Reynosa, Mexico into McAllen, Texas.

We successfully delivered 90 tons of humanitarian aid to our sisters and brothers in Cuba! This symbolic expression of love was a gift from more than 120 communities throughout the U.S. and Canada.

We were also privileged to witness the graduation of eight U.S. students from the Latin American School of Medicine in Havana!

Please be on alert in case we need to activate our emergency networks! We will be in touch if the Caravanistas need our assistance crossing back into the U.S.

And don’t forget ˆ the Venceremos Brigade will be challenging the travel ban to Cuba on the same day- different border˜through Canada into Buffalo, New York.

Our supporters around the US continue to let their elected officials know about the pettiness of the US government’s policies toward Cuba. We are preparing to mount yet another campaign to win the release of humanitarian aid destined for Cuba - now being detained at the Texas border.

We remind you of the reflection by Rev. Diane Baker of Dallas, TX: “Our caravans are like water dropping onto a rock. The rock may seem impenetrable, but we just keep on keeping on — because the water always wins.”

For the most up-to-date news about the Caravan go to our blog at: <http://www.18thcubacaravan.blogspot.com/> www.18thcubacaravan.blogspot.com

Pastors for Peace is a project of the Interreligious Foundation for Community Organization (IFCO), which has been working for social justice since 1967. Photographs of the caravan are available at <http://www.pastorsforpeace%20./>www.pastorsforpeace

Thanks to Karen Wald for this!

[This is a rough, unofficial graduation]

En muchos países los atletas ni siquiera compiten por su propia patria. Algunos ganan hasta 102 millones de dólares en un año, más que el dueño de un central azucarero. Cuba cuenta solo con sus propios atletas, que no son profesionales. Es una lucha desigual.
A veces me divierto cuando veo los caballos vigorosos y bien nutridos, de raza –llamémosle aria–, igual que sus jinetes. Pero a pesar de todo es una lucha pacífica y una divertida herencia colonial. Dime en qué compites y te diré quiénes te colonizaron.

[In many countries the athletes aren’t even competing for their own homeland. Some are paid up to $102 million a year — more than the owner of a sugar mill. Cuba has only its own athletes, who aren’t professional. It’s an unequal battle.
Sometimes I am amused when when I see the vigorous and well-fed horses– we might call them an Aryan breed, like their jockeys. But despite everything it is a peaceful struggle and an entertaining colonial heritage. Tell me what you compete in and I’ll tell you who colonized you.]