BY GREG McCARTAN
NEW YORK - Young people, political activists, unionists,
and others opposed to U.S. policy against Cuba are
stepping up their work to build the October 21
demonstration in a number of cities on the East Coast.
Some 30,000 flyers have been produced and distributed in
New York City to people at events as varied as women's
rights protests, the Central Park ceremony of Pope John
Paul II, and actions against cuts in social services.
Endorsed by 100 organizations, the march demands that Washington, "End the U.S. economic blockade of Cuba," "Lift the U.S. travel ban," Normalize relations with Cuba," and "Respect Cuba's self-determination." After assembling at 12:00 noon at 42nd Street and 1st Avenue across from the United Nations, the demonstration will proceed to Columbus Circle for a rally. Part of an international series of protests in solidarity with Cuba, the march follows by one week regional actions in San Francisco and Chicago organized around the same demands.
The march is timed to coincide with the visit of high- level delegations to the United Nations, including from the United States and Cuba. Counter-revolutionary Cuba organizations are calling for a protests and march from outside the Cuban Mission to the United Nations on October 22-24. In response, supporters of Cuba here are building picket lines at the mission for the three days; others in the region are encouraged to participate.
At a coalition meeting in New York October 10 attended by 45 activists representing sponsoring organizations, march organizers reported 25 buses are reserved from cities from Maine to Florida.
Speakers at the march include National Network on Cuba leader Andrés Gómez from Miami; Lucius Walker of IFCO/Pastors for Peace; Dennis Rivera, President of 1199 health care union; former U.S. attorney general Ramsey Clark; Brian Taylor, a leader of the delegation to the Cuba Lives festival from Washington, D.C.; Congresspeople Charles Rangel and Nydia Velázquez; and Angela Davis. A taped message from Mumia Abu-Jamal will also be part of the program.
In a phone interview from Boston, Carol Thomas said the July 26 Coalition has reserved three buses and are working with activists in the region to let more people know about the march. Thomas, a coordinator of the group, explained they are building the march by "focusing on the fact that President Clinton will be in New York and the United Nations, because the march is about U.S. policy towards Cuba."
Activists in Miami are planning to send "two big buses to the march," reported Orlando Collado during a phone interview. Collado is a leader of the Miami Coalition to End the Embargo of Cuba.
Brian Adams, coordinator of the D.C. "Hands Off Cuba Coalition," said activists in the nation's capital have organized special mailings, phone-banking, and have been "selling bus tickets at meetings for Cuba artist Norberto Codina." The coalition has one bus reserved and others from the area are organizing car pools.
Reaching more student organizations and activists on area college campuses was one important theme of the outreach discussion at the October 10 coalition meeting in New York. Building solidarity with Cuba has been an ongoing activity on at a number of universities.
Members of the Latino Coalition for Social Justice, active in the Washington Heights part of the city, reported they sent out a mailing of 5,000 and are leafleting in the area. A leader of the Dominican Friends of Cuba said the group is seeking to get Spanish-language media in the area to carry information on the march. A leader of the Local 1199 health care committee reported the unionists had sent out a mailing of 2,000.
A representative from the New Jersey Network on Cuba reported that the coalition, along with the Cuban-American Committee for Peace, is organizing a press conference October 18 to publicize the march. Five buses are planned from northern New Jersey.