WHO ARE THE CUBAN FIVE

• VOICES OF SUPPORT
• THE CASE
• DENIALS OF FAMILY VISITS
• MEDIA COVERAGE
• ACT NOW

First leg of Arnold August’s California tour exposed US misinformation about Cuban Democracy and the Cuban Five

On April 14th, an overflow audience of more than 80 students from San Francisco State University packed a conference hall for a lecture to hear about the realities of elections and the political process in Cuba. It was organized as the first leg of a northern and southern California tour in which 7 events will be held in five days during this week. The organizers of the state-wide tour joined hands with university professors and local social community groups to work out the entire program. Some community and local media are also involved in various parts of the state.

Felix Kury, a lecturer of the Department of Raza Studies, College of Ethnic Studies at the San Francisco State University was the convener of today’s event. Despite the fact that attendance was non obligatory, all of his current students attended the presentation. In addition, Professor Abdielk Oñata, Professor of History of and Director of the Latin American Areas Studies Program at SFSU supported the lecture by inviting his students to attend, all of which explains the full-house for this activity. The high attendance indicates that there is an increasing interest to find out more about the Cuban reality when it comes to democracy and elections and the case of the Cuban Five.

The keynote speaker for this tour is Canadian author Arnold August, specialist on democracy and elections in Cuba. He is also a member of the International Commission for the Rights of Family Visits established by the International Committee for the Freedom of the Cuban Five.

He initiated his conference by indicating that there are various targets in the cross-hairs of the US-led disinformation campaign against Cuba. One is the virtual complete black-out by the media and the official circles in the US and elsewhere about the case of the five Cubans. They are Cuban nationals imprisoned in the USA for opposing terrorist activities against their own country. On the issue of democracy and elections, the media normally deliberately avoids any serious coverage of the Cuban electoral system and how Cuba’s state institutions operate between elections. If elections and democracy in Cuba are ever mentioned by the ruling circles and their media, the goal is to hammer home the White House policy that there is no democracy or popular participation in elections in Cuba. This constitutes in fact one of the main pretexts for the close to 50 year-old old blockade against Cuba especially since the 1990s. This excuse can be used to justify any type of interference, provocation and threat against Cuba.

Arnold August used his lively photos, maps, charts and tables in the Power Point presentation to focus on the 2007-2008 elections. One could see by the look on the students’ faces that they seemed to be awed and genuinely impressed by what they were seeing. Even the professors, who of course had more experience and knowledge, later indicated to the organizer that they were very pleased to find out for themselves in detail and in an objective manner how the political system in Cuba functions.

The short question and answer period without exception was based on serious and respectful questions regarding the Cuban elections and the resulting new parliament. The meeting was closed by Alicia Jrapko, a member of the International Committee and one of the organizers of the tour. She explained the case of the Cuban Five and invited people to participate in the campaign for visitation rights for their families and the struggle to free these five heroes of the Cuban people.