BY MACEO DIXON
NEW YORK - Some 35 political activists met at Casa de las Americas here September 17 to make final preparations for the October 21 march and rally in New York City in opposition to U.S. policy toward Cuba. The meeting included representatives of political organizations and local Cuba coalitions in the Northeast affiliated to the National Network on Cuba (NNOC).
Earlier this year, the Network called actions in October demanding an end to the U.S. economic blockade of Cuba, lifting Washington's travel ban to the Caribbean nation, normalizing relations between the two countries, and respect for Cuba's right to self-determination.
There will be regional mobilizations in Chicago and San Francisco October 14 as well as local actions in Atlanta, Miami, Oklahoma City, and other places on that date. The New York action was set for October 21 to coincide with the opening of the United Nations's 50th anniversary commemoration. U.S. president Bill Clinton and the representative of the Cuban government, possibly president Fidel Castro, are both scheduled to address the UN General Assembly October 22. Cuba coalitions from throughout the East Coast are organizing busses to bring people to the New York march. The events on the 14th will also be used to maximize the numbers of people from throughout the country who will go to New York the following weekend.
At the Northeast regional meeting here, Mildred Colón of the U.S. Health Care Committee of Local 1199 of the hospital workers union in New York said her union will print an initial run of 10,000 leaflets for the October 21 action. The executive board of Local 1199 has endorsed the march. Dennis Rivera, president of the union, will be a speaker at the rally.
Leslie Cagan of the Cuba Information Project announced that organizers in New York had obtained permits from the police for the route of the demonstration. Protesters will assemble at 12:00 noon at the corner of 42nd Street and First Avenue across from the United Nations building. They will then march through midtown Manhattan, stopping briefly at the Rockefeller center that houses U.S. government offices, for a rally at Columbus Circle.
Rosina Rodríguez of the Dominican Friends of Cuba said that her organization is distributing 5,000 leaflets in Spanish for the October 21 action in the Dominican community and other Spanish-speaking areas in the city. The National Congress of Puerto Rican rights has produced a newsletter announcing the action.
The march is being publicized at meetings on campuses and elsewhere to report back on the Cuba Lives international youth festival that took place in early August. One such meeting took place at Casa de las Americas the night before the regional conference. The event, attended by 110 people, was sponsored by Casa de las Americas, the Cuba Information Project, Committees of Correspondence, Communist Party, Socialist Workers Party, Venceremos Brigade, Workers World Party, and the Young Socialists. Reportback events from the Cuba Lives festival throughout the region are also being used to build the demonstration.
The regional NNOC meeting voted to call a mobilization October 7 for mass distribution of flyers and pasting up of posters in New York City. Groups from throughout the Northeast are encouraged to send teams to participate in the outreach effort. Activists will also pass out leaflets that day among the crowd that will turn out to hear Pope John Paul II, who will be speaking at Central Park in New York, and at an abortion rights demonstration that will coincide with the pope's visit in the city.
Representatives of NNOC affiliates at the meeting reported that their local groups had already reserved some 15 busses from several cities in the Northeast to bring people to the march. In addition, the Cuba coalition in Miami has reserved 3 busses and some 40 people are expected to come from Montreal.
Tim Craine from the Greater Hartford Cuba Coalition reported that his group is planning a dance to raise funds for the October 21 action. Similar fund-raisers are being held throughout the region, like a potluck dinner by the Unitarian Fellowship of Newark, Delaware.
Craine said that his group has also called a protest October 15 when Clinton will be speaking at the University of Connecticut in Storrs, which they will use to recruit people to go to New York the following weekend.
Malcolm Kena of the D.C. Hands Off Cuba Coalition in Washington, D.C., said his organization will be publicizing the action at the Latin America Studies Association (LASA) national conference, which will take place at the U.S. capital September 28-30. More than 2,000 university professors and others are expected to attend the LASA event.
To endorse the march, send donations, or for more information contact the October 21st Cuba Coalition, c/o Cuba Information Project, 198 Broadway, Suite 800, NY, NY 10038. Tel: (212) 227-3422 or 633-6646.