Cuba’s National Ballet Visits Hamilton
An Act of Friendship that Should Not Be Missed
Letter From Cuba’s Alicia Alonso to American Artists
Impassioned Letter Calls to End the Political Ban Between U.S. and Cuban Artists
Letter from U.S. Artists and Scholars in Support of Cultural Relations with Cuba

Free the Cuban Five!
International Conference Advances Struggle to Free the Cuban Five
Call for Freedom of Cuban Five
Letter to Cuban Five


Cuba's National Ballet Visits Hamilton, Ontario

An Act of Friendship that Should Not Be Missed


Cuba’s National Ballet will be visiting Hamilton, Ontario, December 7-16. Alicia Alonso, the legendary founder and leader of the Ballet Nacional de Cuba (BNC) will be leading the ballet in performances of the Nutcracker. A world-renowned prima ballerina, she is one of the world’s best dancers and choreographers. Performances will be done in collaboration with Canada’s Ballet Youth Ensemble (CYBE) and take place December 13-16. The CYBE and BNC will also collaborate in providing dance workshops for youth 7 and up (see cubacanada.org for more information).

Voice of Revolution urges all those in the region to join in supporting this historic event, as a vital part of building people to people relations with Cuba. The performances offer an opportunity to see some of the best ballet in the world and to directly express our friendship to the Cubans themselves. It is a chance to find out more about Cuban art and culture, to learn together, people to people.

Alicia Alonso, leader of the BNC, will be coming for the first time in 33 years. She is doing so as part of the effort to build friendship with Canadians. Alicia Alonso is also a United Nations Goodwill Ambassador, who, as she puts it, has a duty to “defend the dignity of human beings, their cultural diversity, their identity and understanding among all the peoples of the world, regardless of their way of thinking and of organizing their lives.” Join her in this effort. She has also recently made a direct appeal to artists and intellectuals in the U.S. to work against the U.S. government’s blockade against Cuba. As she puts it, “The noble and legitimate dialogue between the cultures of our two countries has been absurdly hindered for several decades. We all know the reason: a cruel blockade or embargo, as others call it, that has for 47 years greatly harmed our country, for the “crime” of defending its sovereignty and self-determination.” Alonso danced in the U.S. in the 1920s-1950s and since the Cuban revolution has been a leader of the Cuban National Ballet. She calls on her fellow artists and intellectuals in the U.S. to “raise your voices with the purpose of rejecting so unfair a measure and demand the end of this inhuman and unjustifiable siege.” She concludes by saying, “To defend dialogue and permanent exchange between us is a right and a duty and it will be our contribution to peace and friendship among the peoples.”

So whether out of curiosity or interest in Cuba’s artists, or as part of further developing ties, or as part of defending the rights of artists and intellectuals to have dialogue and exchange, supporting this visit is an act of friendship that should not be missed. Attend the performances, sign the letter (see below), get other artists, professors, universities to do the same!

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“Defending Dialogue and Exchange Contributes to Peace and Friendship”

Letter From Cuba’s Alicia Alonso to American Artists

Dear Friends,

In Cuba, the culture of the people of the United States is considered worthy of respect and recognition. Artists and intellectuals of that country have awakened our admiration and nurtured our spirit. In the same way, I myself have had the opportunity to confirm that among the concerns and aspirations of Americans is the interest in knowing Cuban culture in all its expressions.

However, this noble and legitimate dialogue between the cultures of our countries has been absurdly hindered for several decades. We all know the reasons: a cruel blockade, or embargo as others call it, that has for 47 years greatly harmed our country, for the “crime” of defending its sovereignty and self-determination. In fact, on October 30, the United Nations General Assembly will again make a pronouncement on this theme. We feel confident that, once again, the blockade against Cuba will be condemned by the overwhelming majority of countries.

As Goodwill Ambassador of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), I feel it my duty to defend the dignity of human beings, their cultural diversity, their identity and understanding among all the peoples of the world, regardless of their way of thinking and of organizing their lives.

I am a Cuban artist who has carried out an important part of her career in the United States of America — a country where I have received immense honors and in which I have friends and a faithful public that, beyond time and contingencies, has always given me, for more than sixty years, the same affection and artistic respect. I speak to you all, admired and dear friends, to request that you raise your voices with the purpose of rejecting so unfair a measure and demand the end of this inhuman and unjustifiable siege.

Let us work together so that Cuban artists and writers can take their talent to the United States, and that you are not prevented from coming to our Island to share your knowledge and values; so that a song, a book, a scientific study or a choreographic work are not considered, in an irrational way, as a crime.

To defend dialogue and permanent exchange between us is a right and a duty, and it will be our contribution to peace and friendship among the peoples.

Alicia Alonso
Prima Ballerina Assoluta
General Director of the Ballet Nacional de Cuba
UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador

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Cuba’s Legendary Ballerina Alicia Alonso’s Letter Ignites Broad Support

Impassioned Letter Calls to End the Political Ban Between U.S. and Cuban Artists

U.S.-Cuba Cultural Exchange (USCCE) a national network of artists and presenters took the initiative from Alicia Alonso’s letter (see above) to create a campaign to end the ban the U.S. has imposed infringing on the rights of artists in both countries to collaborate and create. USCCE has obtained an unprecedented number of signatures from noted artists, intellectuals, presenters and industry executives, from Alice Walker to Tom Waits, calling for an end to this ban between our two countries. During the [George W.] Bush administration further restrictions have been imposed under the embargo, impeding on a common dialogue of art and culture.

Alicia Alonso who is also UNESCO’s Goodwill Ambassador stated in her letter “Let us work together so that Cuban artists and writers can take their talent to the United States, and that you are not prevented to come to our Island to share your knowledge and values; so that a song, a book, a scientific study or a choreographic work are not considered, in an irrational way, as a crime.” Her stirring letter inspired the organizers of USCCE to create a movement towards changing the current restrictions, acquiring hundreds of signatures in its initial outreach. The letter, along with the hundreds of signatures will be delivered to the White House and the campaign will be ongoing until changes are made to allow a free flow of creative expression between the U.S. and Cuba.

Actor Sean Penn stated “When the fulfillment of multi-cultural interest and exposure is limited by the arbitrary acts of any government; when the dialogue and interaction between artists of one country and any other is banned, we begin to humiliate our own humanity. It has been said that the poets are the unacknowledged legislators of any given era. Let’s let those poets in the United States and Cuba interact.”

Actor Danny Glover sent the following statement, “As a basic democratic tenant Americans should support freedom of travel and of exchange between Cuban and American artists whose culturally diverse imaginations and creative collaborations are so necessary to dismantle the immoral blockade and censorship that impedes citizens from both countries in their projects to build a respectful, just, and peaceful relationship between our two countries.” Industry executive Robert Kraft, President of Fox Music stated, “The intrinsic value of an artistic dialogue with our Cuban friends can not be underestimated. The musical, artistic, and intellectual influence that Cuban culture has on American creativity is profound, and must be continued and supported.”

USCCE was formed in 2005 to encourage change in U.S. foreign policy towards Cuba bridging any cultural gaps allowing for shared free expression through the arts. To view the full list of signatures or for further information on USCCE, visit www.cubaresearch.info.

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Letter from U.S. Artists and Scholars in Support of Cultural Relations with Cuba

November 27, 2007
President George W. Bush
The White House
Washington, DC

Dear President Bush:

We wish to bring to your attention the accompanying letter, dated October 26, 2007, received from Alicia Alonso, Prima Ballerina and Director of the Cuban National Ballet, and also Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Ms. Alonso has toured extensively in the United States and her work has long been admired by the American performing arts community, cultural critics and the public.

We are writing you as representatives of the cultural sphere in the United States. We write you as American citizens. We write to express our dismay at your administration’s continuing hostility towards Cuba. We write to express our opposition to policies that keep us divided from our Cuban counterparts, preventing cultural interchange between our two countries. We believe the time has come to move towards cooperation and constructive relations with Cuba.

The present policies deny such possibilities of friendship and cultural sharing. We further note that cultural interchanges and relationships are also modes of communication and expression. In denying us the possibility of engaging in such exchanges and relationships, we are being denied our fundamental rights as guaranteed by the 1st, 5th and 14th Amendments of the U.S. Constitution.

This reality seems to run counter to other positions expressed by your administration. In September 2006, for example, Laura Bush inaugurated your administration’s “Global Cultural Initiative,” stating that “One of the best ways we can deepen our friendships with the people of all countries is for us to better understand each other’s culture by enjoying each other’s literature, music, films and visual arts.”

As citizens, artists, scholars, educators and cultural workers from all artistic practices, academic disciplines, advocacy and service organizations in the arts, we hope you will read and consider the words of Alicia Alonso as we call upon your administration to:

1. open a respectful dialogue with the government and people of Cuba in accord with established protocols supported by the community of nations;

2. end the travel ban that prevents U.S. citizens from visiting Cuba and allow for Cuban artists and scholars to visit the United States, thus eliminating the censorship of art and ideas, and

3. initiate, by working with appropriate members of Congress, a process that can result in the development of normal bilateral relations between our countries.

Sincerely,

Many, many artists, including Harry Belafonte, Jimmy Bosch, Musician/CEO JRGR Records, Peter G. Bourne, M.D., Chairman of the Board, Medical Education Cooperation with Cuba, Jackson Browne, Musician, Regina Cervantes, Cast of SiCKO, Wilma Colon, Arts Administrator, Puerto Rico Music Conservatory, Chembo Corniel, Musician/Producer/Teacher, Chemboro Records, Inc., Hector Cruz Sandoval, Filmmaker, Bill Frisell, Jazz Guitarist, Rob Gibson, Executive & Artistic Director, Savannah Music Festival, Danny Glover, Actor & Producer, Mickey Hart, Musician, Planet Drums & former Grateful Dead,Virginia Johnson, former Principal, Dance Theatre of Harlem, Robert Kraft, President, Fox Music, Saul Landau, Filmmaker & Author, Tom Morello, Musician, Rage Against the Machine, Holly Near, Singer-Songwriter, Sean Penn, Carol Pierson, President and CEO, National Federation of Community Broadcasters, Bonnie Raitt, Musician & Activist, Joe Randel, Director of ArtesAméricas, University of Texas Performing Arts Center, Arturo Riera, Chairman, San Jose Jazz Festival, Carlos Santana, Susanna Sloat, Editor, “Caribbean Dance from Abakua to Zouk;” Alice Walker, Author, Poet, Activist.

For the complete list go to www.cubaresearch.info/cubaletter.

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International Conference Advances Struggle to Free the Cuban Five

“Breaking the Silence” was the theme of a historic solidarity conference held in Toronto on November 9 and 10 about the case of the “Cuban Five” — René González, Ramón Labaniño, Fernando González, Antonio Guerrero, and Gerardo Hernández — five Cuban anti-terrorists who have been imprisoned by the U.S. government on false conspiracy charges and are serving sentences from 15 years to double life. The conference was organized jointly by the Canadian Network on Cuba, La Table de Concertation de Solidarité Québec-Cuba and the U.S. National Network on Cuba. Delegates from all over the U.S., Québec and Canada were joined by guests from Cuba and officials of the Cuban embassy in Canada. Voice of Revolution had an opportunity to participate in the conference and further strengthen working relations with various organizations in Canada, the U.S. and Cuba.

One highlight of the conference was the discussion on the next steps to take in the campaign to expand and build the movement to Free the Five. The panel of speakers feature Isaac Saney, professor at Dalhousie University, Canada; Gloria LaRiva, of the U.S. National Network on Cuba; Soffiyah Elijah, Deputy Director of the Criminal Justice Institute at Harvard Law School and activist on behalf of political prisoners including the San Francisco 8; Tim Louis, lawyer and former Vancouver City councilor, and Alicia Jrapko from the International Committee to Free the Cuban Five. Saney, an authority on the Cuban revolution and the author of Cuba: A Revolution in Motion pointed out that the case of the Cuban Five was part of the struggle in the defense of the rights of all human beings, and most particularly defies the efforts of U.S. imperialism to extinguish the right of all nations and peoples to self-defense and self-determination. He supported the call for an international day of action to demand the immediate release of the Five whenever the pending court decision is issued, regardless of the outcome of the appeal. Many speakers from the U.S. and Canada echoed that call and proposed important ways of advancing the cause of justice. In addition, the delegates expressed their renewed determination to continue with their local campaigns of pickets, petitions, film showings and public speaking and to disseminate information about the case of the Cuban Five to wider sectors of the society, especially media outlets, unions, schools, prisoners’ justice organizations and all levels of government.

The proposals of the participants were incorporated into a final resolution of the conference that gave a call “to increase the momentum developed in countless movements around the world” to free the five anti-terrorist Cuban heroes.

November 9 Activities

Nearly 150 supporters of the Cuban Five gathered on the morning of November 9 in Toronto City Hall for the opening press conference. Keynote speakers at the press conference were Elizabeth Palmeiro, wife of Ramon Labañino, one of the Cuban Five, and Livio Di Celmo, brother of Fabio Di Celmo, a Montreal resident killed by a terrorist bomb placed in a Cuban hotel by U.S.-backed anti-Cuban terrorists in 1997.

At the afternoon plenary session, activists from solidarity groups in many cities shared their experiences of successful efforts to publicize the injustice committed against the Cuban Five, such as informing parliamentarians in Canada, members of the U.S. Senate and Congress, municipal government officials, union members, professors, students, religious organizations, arts communities and media outlets, both national and local, to involve broader sections of people about the case of the Cuban Five and to obtain statements of support demanding their freedom.

In the evening, a public session was held in the Toronto city council chambers, which was filled with some 400 people. The Ambassador of the Republic of Cuba in Canada, His Excellency Ernesto Sentí, greeted all the participants and thanked them for their consistent support. He declared that the most important weapon in the struggle to free the Five is the actions of the international solidarity movement. He encouraged everyone to raise and broaden the level of actions so that freedom for the Five is won.

The keynote speaker for the evening was Leonard Weinglass, the lawyer for one of the five Cuban prisoners, Antonio Guerrero. Weinglass placed the case of the Five in the context of the long history of violent terrorist attacks against Cuban targets launched by CIA funded anti-Cuban groups based in southern Florida. Funded and protected by the U.S. government, these groups are attempting to destroy the Cuban revolution.

Weinglass explained that the allegations of ‘conspiracy to commit espionage’ were completely false because the five Cubans had only gathered information about the terrorist groups and were not engaged in spying on the U.S. government or military. He noted that the latest appeal, argued on August 20 of this year, had addressed the fact that the prosecutors had not introduced a single piece of classified defense or national security information allegedly gathered by the five Cubans. They also do not prove any connection between Gerardo Hernández and the February 1996 shooting down of two civilian aircraft, which took off from southern Florida and headed into restricted Cuban airspace. Cuba had many times warned those engaged in these flights that they would be shot down, repeatedly warned the pilots again in this case, and then were forced to shoot the planes down. Hernandez was charged with murder, although he was not involved in any way and the Cuban government itself took full responsibility for acting to defend its airspace, as all countries do. Weinglass expressed confidence that the three-judge appeal panel would nullify the convictions for ‘conspiracy to commit espionage’ and ‘conspiracy to commit murder’ and revoke the life sentences given on those charges.

Elizabeth Palmeiro, wife of Cuban Five prisoner Ramon Labañino, then addressed the audience and denounced the hypocrisy of the U.S. “war on terror.” She declared “Ramon and his four brothers are serving time for being against terror, for being Cuban and for representing the best of the Cuban people.” She vowed that despite the long separation of the Five from their families, the U.S. administration has not been able to break their spirits.

Livio Di Celmo, brother of Fabio Di Celmo of Montreal, who was killed by a terrorist bomb planted at the Copacabana Hotel in Havana in September 1997, also addressed the session. The bomber was hired by the avowed terrorist Luis Posada Carriles, who as a CIA operative had a long history of organizing violent attacks against Cuba and Cuban targets under the auspices of the U.S. government. Di Celmo proposed that the families of the victims of terrorist attacks against Cuba form an organization to lobby for justice.

Gloria LaRiva spoke on behalf of the U.S. National Network on Cuba to emphasize the significance of holding an international day of action when the judges deliver their decision. Other speakers included Soffiyah Elijah, and Basilio Gutierrez from the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP).

Activities November 10

On November 10, a lawyers’ panel provided more information about the prospects of freeing the Cuban Five through the appeals process. The panel featured Leonard Weinglass, Bill Sloan, Paul Copeland, Juan Carranza, with U.S. Judge Claudia Morcom, representing the International Association of Democratic Lawyers, chairing. Weinglass pointed out that the current appeal panel includes two of the original three judges who had issued the favorable decision in August 2005 which stated the Cuban Five did not receive a fair trial because of the “perfect storm of prejudice” existing in Miami, in relation to any case involving the Cuban government. Weinglass acknowledged that the appeals process could still take several more years because the U.S. Attorney’s office has the right to seek reconsideration of any decision at the level of the full Circuit Court, as they did with the 2005 decision. Conversely, if the outcome of the current appeal is not favorable, the defendants could pursue their appeals as far as the U.S. Supreme Court, which would lengthen the process by another year. Still, Weinglass expressed cautious optimism that there would be a victory soon on the most serious charges, although he noted that there is no time limit on how long the judges can take to deliver their decision. He encouraged all the activists to continue their political campaign to publicize the case because in his view “judges will follow the law” if public attention is focused on a case.

The panel on next steps took place in the afternoon. In the evening, the conference concluded with a “Noche Cubana” cultural event organized by th e Cuban Consulate in Toronto, which included readings of poetry by and about the Cuban Five and a rousing musical performance by Canadian folksinger Faith Nolan.

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Call for Freedom of Cuban Five

November 10, 2007 - We, participants in the two-day conference held in Toronto, Canada, “Breaking the Silence: Solidarity Conference for the Cuban Five” issue this call to all people of good will who want a world of peace and justice:

• To increase the momentum developed in countless movements around the world to free Gerardo Hernández, René González, Ramón Labañino, Antonio Guerrero and Fernando González, five Cuban anti-terrorist political prisoners incarcerated in the United States since 1998, whose only crime was to work to prevent planned terrorists acts of Miami-based, anti-Cuba groups responsible for nearly 3500 deaths and thousands of injuries in Cuba since 1959.

• To join together in an immediate response and a “Week of Free the Five” actions whenever the decision of the Atlanta federal appellate court is reached.

• To support the formation of an international commission for the rights of family visits to help secure U.S. visas for Adriana Perez and Olga Salanueva to visit their husbands, who they have been prevented from seeing for nine years, and to issue timely visas to all family members. To distribute the “100 Women in Each City” petitions for women to sign demanding the right of family visits for Adriana and Olga.

• To demand the extradition to the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela of the terrorist Luis Posada Carriles whose acts included the bombing of a Cubana civilian airliner that caused the death of all 73 people aboard in 1976.

• To call on the U.S. government to end its double standard on terrorism, to cease its plans to change the constitutional order of Cuba and to end the blockade.

• To pressure the Canadian government not to cooperate with U.S.-imposed “security” requests but rather to expand its bilateral relations and strengthen its independent foreign policy towards Cuba.

• To call for organizations all over the world to urge their elected officials (parliamentarians, mayors, etc.) to sign letters and petitions addressed to the U.S. Attorney General, U.S. Ambassadors and Ministers of Foreign Affairs to demand justice for the Five and their families.

• To join together in broadening the international campaign to Free the Cuban Five, to incorporate more youth, to link with other social movements including movements in support of political prisoners, and to engage in more frequent actions to “break the silence” of the mass media on the rights of the Five and their families.

Issued and adopted on November 10, 2007 at: “Break ing the Silence: Solidarity Conference for the Cuban Five,” Toronto, Canada, organized by the Canadian Network on Cuba, la Table de Concertation de Solidarité Québec-Cuba, and the National Network on Cuba (U.S.) and attended by hundreds of activists and prominent figures in the struggle for constitutional and human rights.

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Letter to Cuban Five

To our dearest Brothers, Co-fighters, Compañeros and Heroes -- Antonio, Gerardo, Ramón, Fernando and René,

“The truth must not only be the truth, it must be told.” - Fidel

We gathered this weekend, November 9-10, 2007 to break the silence surrounding your most important fight against terrorism and for all of humanity. We are more than 250 people who gathered in these two days as members of the National Network on Cuba (U.S.), Canadian Network on Cuba, La Table de Concertation de Solidarité Québec-Cuba and many independent people interested in advancing your cause, which is the cause of all human beings. This is the first conference where these groups have come together and we know, based on our unity and commitment to the Cuban Revolution and to your case, this conference is the start of many. Our conference tackled many important issues surrounding your cause: the legal injustice, the abuse of human rights and the continued struggle for your freedom.

We know the truth, and now our task is to make sure it is told. This conference is a turning point to reinforce our commitment to continue fighting until the day you are free and to continue telling your story after you are free.

With love and solidarity,

Breaking the Silence: Solidarity Conference for the Cuban 5

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Voice of Revolution
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