Vol. 71/No. 39 October 22, 2007
The meeting was sponsored by the Atlanta Cuba Solidarity Committee, the Department of African-American Studies and the Sankofa Society at Georgia State University, and a number of political parties and organizations in solidarity with the Cuban Revolution. Taliba Obuya from the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement and Sankofa welcomed people to the event. Dianne Mathiowetz from the International Action Center and Loretta Van Pelt from the Young Socialists cochaired.
Sobukwe Shukura, a co-chair of the National Network on Cuba, pointed to the role of thousands of Cuban volunteer troops in the 1970s and 80s in helping to defeat the U.S.-backed South African apartheid army in Angola. Shukura is a member of the All African Peoples Revolutionary Party and hosts the Revolutionary African Perspectives show on WRFG radio.
Mathiowetz said the five Cubans were arrested nine years ago after collecting information on rightist organizations that have violently attacked Cuba. The five were charged with conspiracy to commit espionage and other offenses, and sentenced to long prison terms, she added.
The Cuban Five are on the front lines of the class struggle in the United States today, said Jacob Perasso of the Socialist Workers Party. He pointed to the record that each of the five have in fighting to end imperialist domination. Three of them fought in Angola.
Two members of Cajolas United in Solidarity for Guatemala (CUSG) explained the devastating impact of U.S. government policies on Guatemala. A young member of the group, one of 13 brought to the meeting by CUSG, spoke in the discussion on the need to follow the examples of Che Guevara and Fidel Castro, and to make a revolution in the United States. The meeting also featured clips from Mission Against Terror, a video about the Cuban Five, and a film on Cubas role in Angola.
Related articles:
Natl Latino congress backs freedom for Cuban 5
N.Y. event celebrates legacy of Che Guevara
Intl conference on Cuban 5 to be held in Toronto in November
Join campaign to free Cuban 5
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