*photos from original Juventud Rebelde article
The Solidarity Movement in Canada is with Cuba
By: Jorge Luis Rodriguez Gonzalez
February 16th, 2008
The freedom of the Five, the extradition of Posada Carriles to Venezuela and the end of the blockade, are some of the demands of this group.
When she was a teenager, Tamara Hansen decided to support Cuba in its international struggle for the freedom of our Five Heroes, prisoners in U.S. jails, after she heard about them from a representative of the Cuban Embassy who visited her city, Vancouver, for a solidarity event.
Since then, this 23 year old Canadian has been part of the Free the Cuban Five Committee in her country and of the group Vancouver Communities in Solidarity with Cuba, of which she is today the coordinator.
During her stay on the Island, in order to participate in the Second International Conference for the Balance of the World, she told Juventud Rebelde some details of the work in solidarity with Cuba taking place in her country.
?In the last two years the Free the Cuban Five Committee has been much more active than in the beginning. On the 20th of August 2007, when the Five where facing the Court of Appeals in Atlanta, we demanded their freedom for 24 hours in front of the U.S. Consulate.?
?From December 2005, there have been protests in front of the U.S. Consulate once a month, they last for an hour, and between 25 and 90 people participate, which for us is a significant figure, if we take into account that the major media are not interested in the case of these anti-imperialist fighters. The silence in Canada is the same as in the U.S.?
?Only smaller media in Spanish, which exists in our city for the Latino communities, speak a bit about the case, and sometimes help the Committee in the promotion of its activities?
On the other hand, Hansen tells us, the case of the Five is also part of the agenda of VCSC, which carries out two other campaign demands: one against the genocidal policy of the blockade imposed by the U.S. on Cuba for almost a half century, and another for the extradition of the terrorist Luis Posada Carriles to Venezuela, something which is also absent on the information agenda of major Canadian media.
?The work of VCSC began in 2005, when George W. Bush announced his plan for ?freedom and democracy? in Cuba.?
A third year French student at Simon Fraser University, in Vancouver, she explains her work in the area of students: ?We organize many events on universities and colleges in our city?Simon Fraser University, Langara College, Capilano College and the University of British Columbia? to explain the importance of this struggle for the freedom of the Five.?
?We also make homage to Che, speak about Fidel, of the blockade, and we show Cuba as an example of an anti-imperialist country for humanity, which supports health, education, and other important projects which fight for life, and which represent human rights which are respected on this Island for all the social collective, with no type of distinction, which does not happen in many other nations, including Canada,? explains Tamara, who has visited our country many times as a member of the Ernesto Che Guevara Volunteer Work Brigade and became its western regional coordinator in 2007.
?With respect to the Five, although those who participate in our events come to support the justness of the cause, they remain skeptical about the possibility of their release, given the strength of the U.S. But, we continue working because we have to convince people that it is a struggle in which we can win.?
Fire This Time
Tamara Hansen also writes for the publication Fire This Time, which belongs to VCSC, an anti-imperialist and pro-Cuba newspaper, which is distributed for free in Vancouver, the production of which is a result of the sacrifice and donations of those who support the movement. For this reason it is published every month and a half, not monthly, as it?s defenders would like.
?We have published articles about the electoral system in Cuba, Che and Fidel, as well as the response by Felipe Perez Roque to Bush?s speeches. It is also a space to promote our work and its results and to call for solidarity with the Island.?
