verbena-19

ACTION: Tell Bush, Congress, Commerce & Treasury: END THE U.S. BLOCKADE OF CUBA!

November 2, 2005


A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition
www.answercoalition.org

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Subscribe
http://www.pephost.org/site/R?i=C-4EX79eDk3z5QeJiPjBSA..

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Tell Bush, Congress, and
the Commerce & Treasury Departments:
END THE U.S. BLOCKADE OF CUBA!

Next Tuesday, November 8 - in one week - the United Nations General Assembly will vote for the 14th consecutive year on a resolution to end the blockade of Cuba. As with previous years, the outcome of this vote will undoubtedly be a show of the international opposition that exists to the U.S. blockade.

Historical Voting Pattern: 1992 - 2004

Click on the link below to view a graph that shows the number of votes supporting the resolution demanding an end to the blockade for each year from 1992 until 2004:
http://www.pephost.org/site/R?i=JM4p3CdxDA-SzzIVQTsayQ..

In 2004, only 4 countries voted against the resolution and in support of the blockade - the United States, Israel, the Marshall Islands, and Palau - while 179 countries backed the resolution. The 2005 vote will be held on November 8.

Opposition to the blockade is also widespread amongst the people of the United States.

The A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition has set up an easy-to-use mechanism to send a message of opposition to the U.S. blockade of Cuba to the Congressional Representative in your District, Senators in your state, President George W. Bush, Secretary of the Department of Commerce Carlos M. Gutierrez, and Secretary of the Treasury John William Snow. We have provided a sample letter, but you can customize your message to get your point across. Please take a moment now to send a message to Bush and Congress by clicking here:
http://www.pephost.org/site/R?i=_N0YkHoK8IUDQvfw9hzxkQ..

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Background

The blockade of Cuba is a central part of the 45-year-long war waged by the United States government since the 1959 Cuban Revolution. The U.S. seeks to overthrow the Cuban government and roll the clock back half a century to the days when it dominated the island nation just 90 miles from the coast of Florida.

For all of this time, the blockade has deliberately made it difficult for Cuba to supply people - 70 percent of whom have now been born and lived their entire lives under the blockade - with necessary nourishment and medical supplies. The U.S. blockade of Cuba is an act of economic warfare - the use of food and medicine as a weapon.

The blockade is an act calculated to bring widespread devastation and suffering to the people of Cuba by depriving them of the ability to freely produce and market their goods or to purchase necessities to which they are entitled, including food, medicine, equipment and materials to secure their infrastructure. Despite non-stop attempts by the biggest military and economic power in the world to cripple Cuban society, the people have withstood this assault and the government has used the limited available resources to provide free health care, education, housing, adequate food, and jobs to all of the people, while also sending tens of thousands of doctors and dentists all over the world (as just one example, more than 13,000 currently are working in service of the Bolivarian revolution in Venezuela).

Additional background information on the blockade:
http://www.pephost.org/site/R?i=nl_TdkZO4VYRQGwh4fTJ5w..

TAKE ACTION to demand End the U.S. blockade of Cuba!
http://www.pephost.org/site/R?i=40biQ3JuRY9CYNI3iWo78Q..

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The National News Agency (AIN) of Cuba covered the launching of the campaign on October 28. The article appeared around Cuba, including in Periodico 26, the newspaper of Las Tunas Province in eastern Cuba.

US Solidarity with Cuba Activists to Launch Campaign Against Blockade

Havana, October 28 (AIN) - The anti war and racism coalition, ANSWER, proposes to start a campaign by sending letters to Members of Congress, the State Department and White House to demand an end to Washington's economic, commercial and financial blockade against Cuba.

This campaign will begin before the UN General Assembly vote on November 8th on Cuba's Resolution entitled: "Necessity of Ending the Economic, Commercial and Financial Blockade of the US Government against Cuba".

The announcement was made during a meeting with Cuba's diplomatic representatives in Washington, D.C. by a large group of activists from diverse solidarity with Cuba groups.

The meeting was aimed at taking a look at the origins, reach and consequences of the blockade against Cuba presented by the head of the Cuban Interests Section in Washington, Dagoberto Rodriguez.

During the meeting, representatives of the ANSWER coalition, No War on Cuba and other organizations that form part of the movement denounced the US genocidal policy against the island.

Reverend Lucius Walker recalled with emotion the battles that members of the Pastors for Peace Caravan had to fight in order to offer its solidarity aid to the Cuban people.

The efforts of the solidarity organization to recover the computers and other electronic equipment confiscated by US authorities during their crossing of the border into Mexico of their recent US-Cuba Friendshipment Caravan last July were highlighted.

Recognition was also given to the solidarity group Pastors for Peace for their protests each Wednesday in front of the US State Department to demand an end to the blockade.

National News Agency (AIN)
http://www.pephost.org/site/R?i=9yIzJdFizMaxjb6aAIm6RQ..

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Read the Report by Cuba on Resolution 59/11 of the United Nations General Assembly: "The necessity of ending the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States of America against Cuba" from August 15, 2005:
http://www.pephost.org/site/R?i=X-7Y6Wo5w_G4Tcp1ssKsiQ..

TAKE ACTION to demand End the U.S. blockade of Cuba!
http://www.pephost.org/site/R?i=sZRtNeoawEiFqIETcR3G7g..

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DONATIONS ARE URGENTLY NEEDED to help sustain the A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition in its many projects, including building opposition to the war in Iraq, mobilizing against the blockade of Cuba, organizing in support of the Palestinian and Haitian people, and more. It is only because of the generous donations of people who support this work that the A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition can continue to provide effective organizing tools for the broader movement for social change. To make a donation on a secure server, click here:
http://www.pephost.org/site/R?i=gqNv0pLZ22448UQrhXY1eQ..

A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition
Act Now to Stop War & End Racism
www.answercoalition.org
info@internationalanswer.org
National Office in Washington DC: 202-544-3389
New York City: 212-533-0417
Los Angeles: 323-464-1636
San Francisco: 415-821-6545

posted by Annamarie at 2:29 PM