INTERNATIONAL DAY OF ACTION
To Extradite Luis Posada Carriles to Venezuela and Free the Cuban 5!
Organized by:
Vancouver Communities in Solidarity with Cuba & The Free the Cuban 5 Committee Vancouver
SCROLL DOWN FOR PHOTOS!!
Check out some of our great media coverage!
May 10th FULL PAGE AD in 24 Hours Newspaper!
May 11th ARTICLE in 24 Hours Newspaper!
Watch footage of the Picket!
Watch footage of the Forum!
PHOTOS!
Click for larger version
PICKET ACTION AT THE US CONSULATE
Statements on Posada's Release
Vancouver Communities in Solidarity with Cuba and the Free the Cuban 5 Committee joint press release on Posada
Relfections by the Commander in Cheif, Fidel Castro
"A Brutal Reply"
Statement by the Non-Aligned Movement on Posada's Release
Statement by the Revolutionary Government of Cuba on the release of Posada
Statement by the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP)on the release of Posada
Statement by the Canadian Network on Cuba on the release of Posada
Report Back
VANCOUVER ACTIVISTS PROTEST RELEASE OF TERRORIST POSADA AND CONTINUED IMPRISONMENT OF THE 5 CUBAN HEROES
On May 11th in Vancouver people fighting for peace and social justice protested as part of the International Day of Action to demand the extradition of notorious anti-Cuban terrorist Luis Posada Carriles to Venezuela and for freedom for the Five Anti-Terrorist Cuban Heroes. Two events were co-organized by Free the Cuban 5 Committee-Vancouver and Vancouver Communities in Solidarity with Cuba (VCSC) and endorsed by more than 30 social justice groups, to bring people together in Vancouver for this important day.
MAY 11TH PICKET
The first event was a dynamic picket action held in front of the U.S. Consulate. 84 people gathered at the U.S. consulate to protest the outrageous release of Posada from prison. The first speaker of the day was Kelly White, an Indigenous Coast Salish Elder and independent media activist who opened the protest powerfully with a welcoming to unseeded Coast Salish territory. Following Kelly, David Whittelsey, organizer with the Free the Cuban 5 Committee-Vancouver and veteran of the Civil Rights movement in the U.S. outlined the case of Posada within the context of the U.S. �war on terror". The next speaker was Charles Boylan, organizer with the Communist Party of Canada Marxist-Leninist, who emphasized the growing resistance in Latin America to U.S. imperialism. Then, Lindsay Clarke, coordinator of the Social Justice Committee at Capilano College read a letter that was to be delivered to the U.S. consulate. After the letter was read a delegation from the picket went inside the consulate to deliver the letter. While the delegation was inside, the protesters continued chanting: �Extradite Posada to Venezuela Now!� and �Justice for the Cuban Five!� Nati Rosales of the FMLN Vancouver spoke next, finishing her talk by saying �Posada is the vomit of the earth!� The next speaker, Marysol Torres, spoke on behalf of the Vancouver Internationalist Bolivarian Circles �Bob Everton�, about the numerous terrorist crimes committed by Posada in Venezuela and other Latin American Countries. After Marysol, Rosa Quiro, organizer with the Solidarity Coalition for a United Latin America, gave a powerful speech asking for unity in all countries to bring justice to Posada and for the Five Cuban Heroes. The last speaker of the picket was Ernesto Na�ez from Vancouver Communities in Solidarity with Cuba (VCSC) who wrapped up the picket by saying, �Justice will be ours and we will not rest until we expose people like Posada Carriles, a symbol of the limitless tyranny of the empire.�
Participants in the picket were encouraged to come back to the U.S. consulate on June 26 for the next monthly picket for the Cuban Five.
MAY 11TH FORUM
Over 60 people came after the successful picket to sit down for a more in depth forum and discussion on the case of the Five Cuban Heroes and Anti-Cuban Terrorist Posada Carriles. MC of the evening Sophie Ziner opened the forum, by explaining Posada's 1976 bombing of Air Cubana flight 455, just one of his many horrendous crimes. Giving an introduction to the forum, Wilson Mu�oz coordinator of the Social Justice Committee of the Unitarian Church of Vancouver spoke and welcomed everyone to the forum. Wilson read the names of the 5 heroes and asked people at the end to say �with us always and ever.� The first speaker was Xiomara Zazueta a political and social justice activist from Mexico working with the Solidarity Coalition for a United Latin America. Xiomara spoke about U.S. plundering of Latin America from the perspective of Mexico and connected this to the growing resistance to neo-liberal policies in all Latin American countries. The next speaker was Lindsay Clarke, coordinator of the Social Justice Committee at Capilano College and one of the acting co-ordinators of the Vancouver Communities in Solidarity of Cuba. Lindsay outlined the case of terrorist Posada and stated, �Luis Posda Carriles is not only an anti-Cuban terrorist but a well known terrorist through all Latin America. The United States not only harbors but also supports Posada. So by their own logic that makes Bush and his government a full scale terrorists.�
The final speaker of the forum was Noah Fine, coordinator of the Free the Cuban 5 Committee-Vancouver, who wrapped up the forum explaining who the Five Cuban Heroes are, �The anti-terrorist work of the Five Heroes is not finished. It is our responsibility to finish the job of the Cuban Five and bring justice against Posada and freedom for the five anti-terrorist Cuban Heroes.� Discussion was vibrant with many people participating and giving ideas about how to organize around the case of Posada and the Five Heroes.
The May 11th International Day of Action was well received, with broad coverage in the grass roots, community and ethnic news media as well as main stream media in Vancouver. In preparation for the International Day of Action, on May 10th Vancouver and Victoria Cuba solidarity activists successfully placed a full page ad in the 24 Hours daily newspaper, exposing Luis Posada Carriles and the U.S. government and in defense of rights of the Five Cuban Heroes held in the U.S. jails. The 24 Hours newspaper has a daily distribution of 300,000 in Vancouver and Lower Mainland. Following that, on May 11th itself, there was significant news clip regarding picket protest in the same daily newspaper!
Vancouver activities on the May 11th, International Day of Action were a great success for spreading out the defense of rights of the Five Cuban Heroes and exposing the terrorist Luis Posada Carriles. It also established and achieved two very important political objectives. One, it made the Five Cuban Heroes and the terrorist Posada an issue that could be brought to the attention of thousands of working and human loving people, and second, it showed that great opportunities and openings exist especially to introduce the case of Five Cuban Heroes to broad layers of society.
FORUM IN DOWNTOWN VANCOUVER
