ABUJA, Nigeria — Over 300 people marched almost 2 miles through the streets here and rallied at Freedom Fountain Park in the Nigerian capital Sept. 25 to protest the U.S. rulers’ economic war against the Cuban Revolution. The demonstration demanded an end to harsh U.S. sanctions against Cuba and the end of Washington’s occupation of Guantánamo.
Initially organizers projected marching to the U.S. Embassy, but U.S. authorities in a complaint to the Nigerian government asked that the police stop the protest from getting to the embassy. Organizers agreed to an alternative route, and Washington’s violence-baiting of the action only served to enliven participants’ resolve.
The march took place on the last day of the Sixth African Continental Conference of Solidarity with Cuba. Nearly 300 delegates participated in three days of discussion and debate on how to advance solidarity with Cuba on the African continent. Twenty-nine delegations from 26 countries in Africa participated, along with three non-African delegations — Cuba, Venezuela and the U.S.
The conference was broadly sponsored by the Nigerian labor movement, with members and leaders from the Nigerian Labour Congress; Trade Union Congress; the National Union of Textiles, Tailoring and Garments Workers and the National Union of Air Transport Employees joining in the discussion. The Nigeria Cuba Friendship and Cultural Association and the Amilcar Cabral Ideological School also played a prominent part in the conference.