BY SAM MANUEL
NEW YORK - Participants in the April 30 northeast regional conference hosted by the National Network on Cuba (NNOC) set plans for an October 14 march and rally in opposition to the U.S. government's aggressive policies against Cuba. The demonstration in New York City will be one of four regional actions to take place across the country. Protests are also scheduled in San Francisco, Chicago, and Atlanta.

The demonstrations are being organized by the NNOC as part of an international day of action that was called by the 3,000 participants in the World Meeting in Solidarity with Cuba, held last November in Havana.

The 50 activists attending the meeting represented coalitions working to change U.S. policy towards Cuba from Maine; Boston; Syracuse, Manhattan, and Brooklyn, New York; northern New Jersey; New Haven and Hartford, Connecticut; Philadelphia; Baltimore; and Washington, D.C. Participants also included representatives of the Committees of Correspondence, Communist Party, International Peace for Cuba Appeal, International Youth Brigade to Cuba, Socialist Workers Party, and Young Socialists.

Mario Medina, a representative of the Cuban Mission to the United Nations, spoke at the opening of the event. He condemned efforts by Washington to tighten the U.S. economic embargo under a bill introduced in Congress by Republican senator Jesse Helms. He also said Cuba's economy showed signs of stabilization for the first time in five years.

Many of those participating in the regional conference have been active organizing educational and solidarity work brigades or cultural exchanges to Cuba, collecting medical supplies, and organizing campus speaking tours for Cuban youth in the United States. Several participants noted the increased interest in Cuba and potential to organize in opposition to U.S. policy against Cuba.

Leslie Cagan, one of the four national coordinators of the NNOC, said organizing the four regional actions in a coordinated manner, including working on a common leaflet for all of them, would be the best way to tap this growing interest and maximize the effectiveness of the protests.

During the main discussion at the conference, participants grappled with what would be the most effective demands to put forward to build the actions. A similar regional NNOC conference in Chicago April 8 decided that demands of the October 14 action there would be ending the economic blockade of Cuba, normalizing U.S.-Cuba relations, lifting the U.S. travel ban, and respecting Cuba's national sovereignty.

Several activists at the New York meeting proposed that the October 14 protest should be organized around a single demand, to end the economic blockade against Cuba. They argued that this approach would allow for organizing the broadest protest against the central aspect of U.S. policy against Cuba. They expressed concern in particular that the demand to respect Cuba's right to national sovereignty might be interpreted as support for the Cuban revolution.

After considerable discussion and debate the meeting agreed that the demand to end the economic blockade against Cuba would be the central focus of the protest action, and the other demands would also be included. The exact wording of the demand on Cuba's sovereignty will be worked out later in collaboration with organizers of the other three regional actions. The meeting set up a coordinating committee to organize the protest and called for a follow-up regional meeting in New York City June 11.

Activists in New York City announced plans for a teach-in on Cuba in September as part of the efforts to build the October 14 action. The regional meeting also agreed to organize participation from the United States in the "Cuba Lives" international youth festival in Havana and other Cuban provinces August 1-7.

Several young participants were attending their first political meeting on Cuba. One young woman from Long Island, New York, encouraged the participants to step up efforts to reach students on the campuses. She explained that while many students like herself are just beginning to learn about Cuba, world events and the assaults on education and other social programs in this country have deepened young peoples' distrust of U.S. policies on a broad range of issues.

Several young people met briefly following the meeting to exchange phone numbers and discuss how they could work with the NNOC in organizing for the youth festival.

The meeting also heard reports on plans for a June 17 demonstration that will coincide with the arrival in Washington, D.C., of the fifth Friendshipment caravan to Cuba; activities for the 26th contingent of the Venceremos Brigade to Cuba; and lobbying efforts by NNOC affiliates to oppose the Helms/Burton bill that would tighten the economic embargo of Cuba.

For more information on plans for the October 14 protests and for the U.S. delegation to the "Cuba Lives" festival, contact the Cuba Information Project, 198 Broadway, Suite 800, New York, N.Y. 10038, or call: (212) 227-3422.  
 
 
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