Street protests, meetings press for end to US attacks
NEW YORK — Fifty people held a spirited picket line July 11 demanding an end to Washington’s brutal oil blockade, other far-reaching sanctions and war threats against Cuba. The action, sponsored by the New York/New Jersey Cuba Sí Coalition, was held near the busy entrance to Grand Central Station in midtown Manhattan.
The protest got an overwhelmingly positive reception among passersby, many of whom joined in opposing the U.S. rulers’ brutal strangulation of the Cuban people. Some joined in chanting “U.S. hands off Cuba!”
“They want to return Cuba to what it was before, full of casinos and corruption,” said one passerby, originally from Cuba, who didn’t support the Cuban government but was opposed to Washington’s attacks. “Nobody wants a military intervention in Cuba.”
Picket participants passed out a fair amount of literature describing the impact of the U.S. measures. A tour-bus driver bought the Militant and the new Pathfinder book Cuba and the Independence War in Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde: The Fall of the Last Colonial Empire in Africa by Cuban revolutionary leader Víctor Dreke. He noted the potential of U.S. interference in other countries in Latin America, and the danger of other countries not standing up in defense of Cuba. “If they think the U.S. government won’t do it to them, they’re wrong,” he said. “I am glad you’re doing this to raise awareness.”
The NY/NJ Cuba Sí Coalition is planning a public meeting July 25 to celebrate the opening of the Cuban Revolution on July 26, 1953. For further information, contact cubasinynjcoalition.org.