The Cuba Solidarity and Justice Delegation arrived late Sunday night in Havana and has completed the first of ten days of meetings with our counterparts in Cuba.
The objective of the delegation is to establish relationships with our organizational counterparts in Cuba in the hopes of more in depth and frequent exchanges to share expertise and ideas in various topics. Members of this delegation include representatives from the SouthWest Organizing Project and the Southwest Workers’ Union. Our organizations have prioritized this process because grassroots and social justice movements from the U.S need to reconnect and build bridges of organizing and solidarity.
After a long day of traveling we arrived to the sweet smell of the Caribbean and the live night life of central Havana. The triumph and energy of the social justice driven revolution in 1959 is alive and well in the Cuban people.
Yesterday our guides (Rita and Nafal) took us on a driving tour of Havana and a walking tour of Old Havana. We learned so much about the history of the country and its estranged relationship with the United States. The effects of the irrational and unjust blockade are tremendous. Because the blockade affects the economy of Cuba, its impact reaches many facets of society including housing, transportation and health care among other things. However, in old Havana we saw a world class restoration effort of one of the most historic sites in the Americas which demonstrates the resolve of the Cuban people to continue to advance in the face of such harsh economic conditions.
Tomorrow we will visit the Group for the Integrated Development of the Capitol city, a community transformation project as well as representatives of the foreign ministry.
Old Havana
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Camaradas:
Saludos dese Nuevo Mexico.
What a wonderful post Aurea - congratulations to this amazing representation from SWOP and SWU.
Hasta! Rey
An international jury awarded the Cuban blog Generacion Y the top prize at the BOBs competition. Party Time, a blog that tracks fundraising parties thrown for US politicians, claimed the title of best English blog.
Yoani Sanchez gives voice to an entire generation of Cubans and provides the world with a window into Cuba through her clear and poetic writing, the BOBs international jury of bloggers and media experts said.
Sanchez called the award a "personal joy," and added that she hoped it would encourage more Cubans to begin writing and publishing their own independent blogs.
Cuba flag and Jose Marti sculpture, Cuban hero, Havana, Cuba, photo
"The Cuban and international blogosphere will celebrate my award today while Cuban television and newspapers will remain silent," she said in a video message at the award ceremony on Thursday, Nov. 27, in Berlin. "One day, real life will be like cyberspace, and on this island any citizen will be able to express themselves without asking permission. This award is a new push towards accomplishing this goal."
Yoani Sanchez is only able to publish her blog, Generacion Y, by e-mailing her entries to friends outside Cuba, who put her words online.
"Yoani writes in a clear and poetic manner under difficult circumstances," said Vanina Berghella, the BOBs' Spanish-language jury member
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