 |
Five Days for the Cuban Five April 17 through April 21 Washington, D.C. |
|
Dear ,
The decades long war against Cuba—including the economic blockade and CIA sponsored terrorist actions, assassinations and subversion—is opposed by most people in the United States. But it won't end unless the people act. A first step would be the release of the Cuban Five, who have suffered so long simply for trying to thwart terrorist actions against their people and their country. We need to take action now and in the coming months to demand that these five men be released and allowed to rejoin their families in Cuba.
From April 17 to April 21, there will be very important actions in Washington, D.C., in support of the efforts to win the release of the Cuban Five.
The actions are initiated by the International Committee for the Freedom of the Cuban Five.
To reserve a $5 bus ticket
from NYC to DC for the Saturday action at the White House:
(917) 945-9877 or (718) 601-4751
On Saturday, April 21, there will be a picket/rally at the White House urging President Obama to take action to remedy the unjust incarceration of the Five. Chartered buses will be coming from New York City to Washington, D.C. The cost of a round trip bus ticket is just $5.
We look forward to seeing you in Washington, D.C., between April 17-21!
Visit the website of the National Committee to Free the Cuban Five for background on their case.
Schedule of “5 Days for the Cuban 5″
SCHEDULE FROM APRIL 17 TO 21
Tuesday, April 17
- All day of lobbying on Capitol Hill
Wednesday, April 18
- Lobby activities continue with distribution of information to elected officials.
- 2pm-4:30 pm Discussion of the Flawed Trial of the Cuban Five as Described in Stephen Kimbers’s Book, What Lies Across the Water at the University of California Washington Center 1608 Rhode Island Ave. NW, Washington, D.C. Host: Wayne S. Smith, Senior Fellow, Center for International Policy, and Former Chief of the U.S. Interests Section in Havana. Presenter: Stephen Kimber is an award-winning Canadian journalist and writer. The author of one novel and seven books of nonfiction, he is Professor of Journalism at the University of King’s College in Halifax, Canada, where he specializes in nonfiction.
- 7pm: Screening of the documentary “Will the Real Terrorist Please Stand Up, Nyumburu Cultural Center at University of Maryland, with the participation of invited guest Miguel Barnet, President of the National Association of Writers and Artists of Cuba (UNEAC)
Thursday, April 19
- Morning: setting up outreach tables in strategic points around Washington D.C.
- 6:00 pm, 102 Park Ave, Takoma Park, MD . Community Event to launch a new committee in Takoma Park in support of the Cuban 5. Local elected officials will be invited. Distribution of information and showing of the new documentary “Esencias” about the historic tour of La Colmenita in the U.S. in October 2011. Local elected officials will be invited. Distribution of information and showing of the new documentary “Esencias” about the historic tour of La Colmenita in the U.S. in October 2011.
- 7pm: Screening of the documentary “Will the Real Terrorist Please Stand Up,” Blackburn Center Auditorium, Howard University, 2400 Sixth Street, NW featuring Professor Piero Gleijeses, author of Conflicting Mission: Havana, Washington and Cuba 1959-1976.
Friday, April 20
“OBAMA GIVE ME FIVE”
- Public Event, Festival Center, 1640 Columbia Road, NW. Beginning at 6 pm with the traveling exhibit, Humor From My Pen, the political cartoons of Gerardo Hernandez. Meeting begins at 7pm with topics including; 1) Lift the blockade of Cuba 2) End the Travel Ban 3) Free the Cuban Five, 4) Remove Cuba from the list of countries that sponsor terrorism and 5) Return Guantanamo to Cuba.
Keynote Speaker: Dolores Huerta, President, Dolores Huerta Foundation and Co-Founder of the United Farm Workers.
Special Guest: Actor Danny Glover
James Early: Director, Cultural Heritage Policy, Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage
Salim Lamrani: Lecturer at Paris Sorbonne Paris IV University and Paris-Est Marne-la-Vallée University and French journalist, specialist on relations between Cuba and the US
Saul Landau: Professor, author, filmmaker. Emmy Award for his film produced with filmmaker Haskell Wexler, Paul Jacobs and the Nuclear Gang (1980). His most recent documentary “Will the Real Terrorist Please Stand Up”
Wayne Smith: Senior Fellow, Center for International Policy and Former Chief of the U.S. Interests Section in Havana.
Jose Pertierra: Immigration Attorney. He represents the government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela in the case of Luis Posada Carriles’s extradition.
Mavis Anderson: Senior Associate at Latin America Working Group (LAWG)
Poetry readings by invited guest Nancy Morejón, one of Cuba’s major authors and poets and Washington DC local artist Abayomi Huria.
U.S. and International guests: Cindy Sheehan, Norman Paech (Germany) Arnold August (Quebec), Stephen Kimber, and Brian Gordon Sinclair (Canada) Katrien Demynck (Belgium), Salim Lamrani (France), Juan Manuel Morales Iglesias and actor Willy Toledo (Spain), Invited Ambassadors of ALBA’s countries
Saturday, April 21
- 10 am, meeting with leaders of different religious denominations (Place TBA) with Special Guest: Rev. Dora Arce-Valentín, Presbyterian Reformed Church in Cuba. Cuban Theologian and professor of the Evangelical Theological Seminary of Matanzas.
- 1 pm picket/rally at the White House, people will be coming from DC and cities all over the country including buses from New York City that will travel to DC under the slogan “Freedom ride for the Cuban 5″. We are urging everyone to bring their signs and banners to send a strong message to President Obama.
- 4 pm, Closing Event, Bolivarian Salon of the Embassy of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, 2443 Massachusetts Ave, N.W., Keynote Speaker Cindy Sheehan. Presentations by DC children’s theater group: “The greatest weapon of Cuba, a tribute to Cuban doctors”, directed by Obi Egbuna Jr. and Hemingway’s HOT Havana: Brian Gordon Sinclair, Artistic Director.