ACFS Perth rallies against the US blockade on Cuba  

The Australia-Cuba Friendship Society, WA Branch gathered in front of the US consulate in Perth, Western Australia to call on the Obama Administration to lift the blockade on Cuba.

The protest took place on Tuesday 25th October 2011 while the Cuban delegation presented a resolution against the US criminal blockade at the UN General Assembly.

The peoples of the world once again for the 20th time voted in favour of the Cuban motion 187 votes in favour, 2 against (the US and Israel) and 3 abstentions.

We call on President Obama to end this act of political barbarism.

In solidarity,

ACFS WA

Viva Cuba, End the US blockade, Free the Cuban Five.

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End the US blockade on Cuba  





 
On Tuesday 25th October for the 20th consecutive time Cuba will move a resolution against the US blockade on Cuba at the United Nations General Assembly.

The UN General Assembly will again take a vote on the US blockade against Cuba. We should not be fooled that the US has softened its stance, in reality 

the Obama administration is imposing tougher sanctions on companies trading with Cuba in comparison with previous presidential administrations.

It continues also to damage the trading relations with European companies. Recently The European branch of PayPal, a company that facilitates electronic transactions in the Internet, demanded that German firm Rum & Co. remove Havana cigars, rum and other Cuban products from their web page. This despite there being regulations that explicitly allow Europeans to do business with Cuba, were formulated as a countermeasure to the US sanctions against Cuba.

The current intensification against Cuba also jeopardises the National Transplant Program. A report on resolution 65/6 of the United Nations General Assembly states that Washington's stance has negatively impacted the acquisition of reagents needed for transplant.
 
ACFS calls on ordinary people around the world do take notice of the pain that the US is inflicting on the Cuban people and that we join most other Governments and peoples around the world to say it must stop. 

Let's send a A message to the Obama Administration "While you are fixing the world, here’s another issue to add to the list End the Blockade on Cuba". Please consider bringing your friends and contacts and join us in sending this message.

Join the solidarity movement around the world that calls on the Obama Administration to end this political barbarism.

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Fidel Castro's speech at the UN in 1979  


Fidel Castro's speech at the UN in 1979. Cuban film maker Santiago Alvarez.
In Spanish with English Subtitles. It was delivered 32 years ago but his vision of the world and the main enemy of peoples development continue to be valid today.

In solidarity with the peoples of the world.

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Gerardo Hernandez's cartoon exhibition. Perth WA  



A complete success in the campaign for the freedom of the Cuban Five.

Australian Premier of Gerardo Hernandez's cartoon exhibition held at the KURB
gallery in Northbridge, Perth, Western Australia from 1-7 October 2011.
Here the photographs taken at the opening night on Saturday 1 October attended by
around 80 people.

Thanks to CHAKETA band for performing on the night and donating their time to
the cause of the Cuban Five.

Exhibition curated by Dr. Christopher Crouch & Eileen Whitehead.
Organised by the Australia-Cuba Friendship Society, ACFS.

Posted by Picasa
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hA2aKjtp8qA

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This is the youtube of Gerardo Hernandez having a phone conversation with Carlos Alberto Cremata,
director of La Colmenita (The little bee have) theatre group currently touring the United States.

For more videos please visit: http://www.youtube.com/user/cubadebatecu

Rene will not be completely free until his return to Cuba.

We call on President Obama to free the Cuban Five now!

Join the campaign to join the Cuban Five.
For more information on the case visit:
http://www.freethecuban5.com/
http://www.freethefive.org/

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Will the Real Terrorist Please Stand Up!  

To all friends of ACFS and Cuba.

This is a unique opportunity to learn more about the plight
of the Cuban Five.

This will also the last information session on the Southern Cross Brigade to Cuba which departs in December.
www.cubabrigade.org.au

Come along and join us in solidarity with Cuba.

Free Entry

All donations to our health project in Las Tunas, Cuba.

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Gerardo Hernandez Cartoon Exhibition  

Grand final weekend for the Freedom of the Cuban Five in Perth

With a welcome to country by Balladong Noongar Man Barry McGuire the exhibition of Gerardo Hernandez cartoons opened at the Kurb Gallery in Northbridge, WA.

On Saturday 1st October around eighty people defied the grand final weekend and gathered to seeing the political cartoons sketched inside a US prison cell by Gerardo, one of the Cuban five incarcerated since 1998.

Gerardo Hernandez was sentenced to double life imprisonment plus 15 years. He referred to his sentence in these words “but I have only one life to give for my country”.

The case of the Cuban Five took a recent twist when under the Freedom of Information Act members of the solidarity movement in the US uncovered information that confirms the US Government had paid a number of journalists to publish negative articles designed to damage the integrity of the Five Cubans. These five men were tried and sentenced in the media even before going on trial. This new evidence has allowed Gerardo’s legal team to seek leave to have his case reviewed based on this new evidence under a habeas corpus appeal.

The exhibition is made up of thirty of Gerardo’s political cartoons which have been displayed in several cities in the US, Belgium, Ecuador and now Perth WA. Many of his works are devoted to the frustrations of the Miami mafia seeing the Cuban Revolution grow older. Another section of the exhibit portrays the double standards that the US has shown in its war on terrorism. The final selection is dedicated to comandante Fidel Castro marking his birthday each year since the incarceration. In particular there is one that refers to Fidel’s reflections by depicting his pen as a different weapon in the same struggle; the struggle for Cuba’s self determination.

As part of his welcome Barry McGuire dedicated a message in song of oneness and solidarity to the Cuban Five.

This exhibition will go National in Australia; it attempts to break through the deafening silence of the media. A small piece was picked up in the community newspaper the Guardian Express and media attended the event in Perth.

In his intervention Cuban Consul General to Australia Reinaldo Garcia gave an update on Rene Gonzalez, one of the Five, who is due for release on Friday 7th October. His security is under threat from new orders that will place him under a three year-control order to remain in Miami and extends the inhumane deprivation of the 13 years he has been denied his human right to access to his family.

Several people left messages in a book for Gerardo acknowledging his courage and expressing solidarity. The Exhibition will remain open until Friday 7th October.

People in solidarity with the cause of the Cuban Five will continue the struggle until the Five are free and returned to Cuba. We renew our calls to President Obama to free the Cuban Five.

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