Participants were welcomed by Rev. Gerald Keucher, pastor of the church. The meeting was co-chaired by Rev. Lucius Walker, director of the Interreligious Foundation for Community Organization, and historian Jane Franklin.

Lazo was welcomed at the start of the meeting by a delegation of young people, including two Brooklyn youth studying in Cuba. Lazo reminded them that December 2 marks the 50th anniversary of the Granma landing. Quizzing them on their knowledge of the major flashpoints of the revolution, he took them from the beginning of the revolutionary war in 1956 to the sweeping social and economic advances for workers and farmers that began with the triumph in 1959.

In a reference to Washington’s plans for a “democratic transition” in Cuba, Lazo said: “The transition already took place back in 1959!"

Lazo pointed out that today more than 30,000 Cuban doctors, teachers, and technicians volunteer in more than 100 countries. “Forty-five million Africans have been tended to by our doctors,” he said. “In almost three years, Operation Miracle has restored the eyesight of 400,000 people from 24 countries.”

Cuba's foreign minister, Felipe Pérez Roque, spoke at the end of the meeting, addressing the tightening by Washington of its economic embargo against Cuba. He reported on the further restrictions by Washington on travel by U.S. citizens to Cuba and urged meeting participants to protest these assaults on Cuba's sovereignty and the right to travel.
 
 
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