What’s going on in Cuba?
And why the the US blockade needs to end now
Online meeting
Monday 9 August, 6.30pm
Speakers
Bárbara Montalvo Álvarez, Cuban ambassador to the UK
Cristina Escobar, Radio Havana, Cuba
Ollie Vargas, Kawsachun News, Bolivia
Richard Burgon MP
Grahame Morris MP
Len McCluskey, General Secretary, Unite the Union
Rob Miller, Director, Cuba Solidarity Campaign
Organised by Cuba Solidarity Campaign
Information from the organisers
An economic crisis caused by the tightening of the US blockade, 243 additional US sanctions, and the COVID-19 pandemic has led to serious shortages in food, fuel, and medicines in Cuba. Rather than seeking to alleviate this suffering, the administrations of Donald Trump, and now Joe Biden, have sought to exploit the frustrations of the Cuban people in recent months. Cheered on by a right-wing Cuban American lobby in Florida, the international press hugely exaggerated the scale of protests on 11 July, while at the same time downplayed or ignored the role of the blockade and US funding of opposition groups and social media campaigns, and misrepresented pro-government demonstrations as opposition.
Panellists will reflect on what happened on 11 July, how it has been reported, and why an end to the US blockade, as demanded by 184 countries at the United Nations in June, should be a moral and humanitarian obligation for the US government and for anyone genuinely wanting to aid the Cuban people.