Havana, August 31 (Radio Habana Cuba) — A shipment of 800 tons of wheat flour — collected by solidarity activists in the U.S. — has arrived in Cuba.  The donation will provide bread for millions of people in the provinces of Pinar del Rio, Artemisa, Mayabeque, Matanzas and Havana. 

This campaign was organized in the United States by the New York City-based “Let Cuba Live: Bread for Our Neighbors” campaign.

According to Manolo De Los Santos, the executive director of The People’s Forum — which was the main coordinator of the solidarity effort — while the campaign has succeeded in carrying out this delivery, it wasn’t without significant hurdles created by Washington’s blockade of the Caribbean island.

In the process of organizing the campaign, Manolo De Los Santos said they reached out to 14 different grain producers in the U.S. to purchase the massive order but received not a single positive response.  In order to successfully complete the delivery, the grain had to be shipped from Turkey and suffered delays “because of the U.S. government’s policy of extreme and arbitrary harassment of Cuba’s foreign trade, which is meant to create desperation for the people of Cuba and has brutal consequences.” 

The director of The People’s Forum said that the Joe Biden administration, “in its remaining months before January, has the power to swiftly end this crisis of hunger.”  It could remove Cuba from the “State Sponsors of Terrorism List,” an unfounded designation imposed in 2017 by Trump that restricts vital financial and trade transactions. 

The “Let Cuba Live: Bread for Our Neighbors” campaign is just one part of the larger fight against the U.S. blockade on Cuba.  The people of the U.S. will continue to fight against this brutal blockade and build bridges of solidarity with our neighbors in Cuba.

Manolo De Los Santos emphasized that donations are still being accepted to help offset the costs of this massive delivery, calling on supporters around the world to consider an additional donation. 

For more information:  https://secure.givelively.org/donate/peoples-forum-inc/let-cuba-live-bread-for-our-neighbors

[ SOURCE:  RESUMEN LATINOAMERICANO AND THE THIRD WORLD  ***  special thanks to Bill Hackwell ]

CAMPAIGN FOR PEACE, AGAINST THE BLOCKADE AND AGAINST TERRORISM                                                                                                                                             A CALL TO ACTION

To all people of good will:

From the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP), we call on all regions to join in the Day for Peace, against the Blockade and Terrorism.  It will take place from September 4th until the vote in the General Assembly of the United Nations on the draft resolution on the need to end the U.S. blockade against Cuba.

In times when the defense of peace is urgent, facing what seems to be a favorable scenario for a new world conflagration, this day will present an opportunity to unite around fundamental principles that govern our humanity: justice, equity and mutual respect.

With this call, we have special motivations.  The most urgent is, without a doubt, the immediate cessation of the genocide that the Zionist state of Israel is committing against the brother and sister people of Palestine, with the complicity of its Western partners.

Just as urgent is the need to end the U.S. blockade against Cuba, which for more than six decades has caused incalculable suffering to our people, and which continues to suffocate our possibilities of development and limit our free enjoyment of human rights.

The blockade is in itself an act of war and terror.  However, with the cynicism that characterizes it and the effort to subdue our people, the United States has unilaterally designated our country as a so-called State Sponsor of Terrorism, placing an extra burden on the suffocating framework of measures that impede the normal performance of our nation.  We Cubans have suffered firsthand the pain of state terrorism that has been driven by imperial hatred.  Such a designation is a vile lie that seeks to discredit the prestige that the Cuban Revolution has earned by demonstrating its commitment to peace and international cooperation.

For these three reasons, we call for solidarity, to join in the most varied actions to raise awareness in physical and virtual spaces, demonstrations, debates, forums, cultural activities and any initiative we can promote.  Every action counts, every voice is important.  Together we can contribute to building a more just world, where respect for human rights and the dignity of all prevails.

The struggle for peace is universal and together we can echo our voices in favor of a future without blockades or terrorism.

For a Free Palestine!

For a Cuba without a blockade!

For a future of peace and sovereignty!

Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP) 

Colombo, Aug 28 (Prensa Latina) Ambassador Andrés González thanked Sri Lanka for its support every year in the United Nations vote against the blockade of the United States against Cuba, an official source disclosed.

In a meeting in Colombo with Dayani Mendis, director general of the United Nations and human rights of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Sri Lanka, González also highlighted that Sri Lanka is part of the group of 123 nations that signed a declaration before the Human Rights Council of the UN, demanding the exclusion of Caribbean Cuba from the list of State sponsors of terrorism created by Washington.

González and Mendis also talked about reciprocal support in international forums and organizations of the United Nations.

This year, Sri Lanka and Cuba celebrate 65 years of their diplomatic ties, established on July 29th, 1959, a few months after the triumph of the Cuban Revolution, when Commander Ernesto “Che” Guevara visited the country, whose name was Ceylon at that time.

In recent days, the Cuban ambassador delivered to Foreign Minister Ali Sabry a congratulatory letter from his counterpart Bruno Rodríguez for the anniversary of bilateral relations.

In the letter, Rodríguez reiterated to Sabry the invariable willingness to continue working to strengthen the historical ties of friendship and cooperation of the two nations.

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Havana, August 28 (Radio Habana Cuba) — Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez said on Tuesday that the Caribbean island nation is very much aware of the destabilizing activities of the National Endowment for Democracy of the United States (NED) and its interference in the internal affairs of other countries.

In his account on the social network X, the foreign minister referred to the report recently published by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the subversive actions perpetrated by the Foundation.

The text reveals that, since 2017, the NED has financed 54 anti-Cuban organizations.  It reports that in 2018, the Cuban Democratic Directorate, an anti-government organization, disclosed that it had received “funds for democracy” from the United States and paid $48,000 to its employees, agents and contractors in Cuba.

The Asian giant’s report warns that in recent years, the NED has continued to change tactics and has gone even further by acting against the historical trend of peace, development and beneficial cooperation between peoples.

It also underlines the urgency of unmasking the NED and alerting all countries about the need to see beyond its true colors, protect themselves and fight against its attempts at disruption and sabotage.  (Source: Prensa Latina)

Washington, August 27 (Radio Habana Cuba) — U.S. Democratic Congresswoman Barbara Lee has described Washington’s blockade against Cuba as “obsolete and harmful,” and said that she will work to achieve “a more intelligent and humane policy” towards the Caribbean island nation.

A member of the House of Representatives for California since 1998, Lee recalled that she has deployed her efforts in Washington’s policy towards Cuba for four decades, and that she is committed to lifting the “failed embargo (blockade) on Cuba.”

“The United States should support the efforts of the Cuban people to build a peaceful and prosperous society, which can satisfy the hopes and needs of the Cuban people.  And we see the Cuban people organizing to achieve this,” the president of the Congressional Black Caucus (2009-2011) stressed in a statement.

“But the U.S. policy continues to be based on the idea that punishing Cubans is somehow helping them,” she emphasized, recalling that during the Barack Obama administration, some important measures were adopted “to rethink our strategy towards Cuba.”

However, the Donald Trump administration “not only undid those measures, but expanded the embargo, accusing Cuba of being a state sponsor of terrorism,” Barbara Lee noted.

She commented that President Joe Biden has adopted “a series of small, important and positive measures.”  “We have begun to speak again with the Cuban government on issues of mutual interest, such as migration and law enforcement.  We have increased our diplomatic and consular presence, and we have taken measures to encourage travel and trade.”

For the U.S. lawmaker, “these steps remain only symbolic changes in a policy that continues to isolate and punish the Cuban people.  After six decades of failure, it is time for the United States to try something different,” because in the end it is “the Cuban people who are paying the price.”  (Source: Prensa Latina)

Ulaanbaatar, Aug 26 (Prensa Latina) The director of the Cuban Center for Sex Education (Cenesex), Mariela Castro, denounced at the World Women’s Forum, which was held in Mongolia, the effects of the blockade imposed by the United States against Cuban society, diplomatic officials highlighted.

At the event, held on August 22 and 23 in Ulaanbaatar, the Cuban legislator also stressed that the US economic, commercial and financial hostility limits the acquisition of medicines, supplies for sexual and reproductive health, as well as resources for the care of victims of sexual violence, among other aspects, according to a press release from the Cuban mission in Mongolia.

Before the Forum, sponsored by Mongolian President Khurelsukh Ukhnaay and co-sponsored by the Foreign Ministry and the United Nations (UN), the Cuban delegate took the opportunity to thank on behalf of her country the support of Mongolia to the people of Cuba in confronting the genocidal policy Washington has been carrying out for more than 60 years.

She also reiterated Cuba’s interest in continuing to develop bilateral relations in several fields, including ties between women’s organizations and political parties.

Under the theme Towards a Greener Future, the meeting brought together, among other personalities, the Mongolian President, UN Under-Secretary General Amina J. Mohammed, Chancellor Battsetseg Batmunkh and Oyungerel Batnasan, President of the Women’s Association, both from the host country.

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