Homepage News & Events Archive
2010
NOW National Conference
July 2 - 4, 2010
Boston, MA
Boston Park Plaza Hotel
Workshop:
SISTERS ACROSS BORDERS Demand to Ratify Women!
Friday, July 2nd
4:45 - 6:00 PM
Ratify Women! is the NOW Campaign designed to make a final successful push for US government ratification of a "clean" global Women's Treaty, otherwise known as CEDAW, the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women. The goals of our workshop are to educate participants about the use of United Nations international human rights treaties to advance women's rights in the US, to discuss how international women's movements and specific countries are using the United Nations as well as feminist transnational grassroots gatherings to increase women's political participation and our human rights, and to build sisterhood among women worldwide.
Women from nations where CEDAW has been ratified will share strategies to advance the status of women including National Plans of Action based on the UN Beijing Platform for Action, national and local women's budgets, creation of Ministries for Women & Gender Equality, and specific advances such as paid maternity/paternity leave, reduction of infant/maternal mortality rates, sexual and reproductive rights, and violence-prevention policies. We will share the new NOW Ratify Women! Campaign kit produced by the NOW Global Feminist Strategies Committee. Finally, we will also discuss possibilities of organizing specific US-based women's solidarity projects growing out of networks established at the US Social Forum (June), the US Women & Cuba Collaboration women's delegation to Cuba (March), and from NGO's working in Mexico, Venezuela and more.
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Panelists include:
- Norma Romero, Vice Minister for Equality, Gender Equality, Afro-descendents and Ethnicity, Ministry for Women, Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela
- Stephanie Ortoleva, Chair, NOW Global Feminist Strategies Committee and international human rights attorney, Washington, DC
- Tanya Burovtseva, Coordinator, Advancing Women as Peacemakers Campaign, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, WILPF—US Section, Boston
- Catherine Murphy, Sociologist and Documentary Filmmaker, The Literacy Project (US) and Cuban Film Institute/ICAIC (Cuba), screening a trailer from her film "Maestra" about the 1961 Cuban Literacy Campaign
- Jan Strout, NOW Global Feminist Strategies Committee and Co-chair, US Women and Cuba Collaboration, Virginia City, MT
Vancouver International Che Guevara Conference
Saturday & Sunday
June 26 & 27, 2010
Vancouver BC, Canada
Simple Free Registration Special $20 Registration with Chance to Win Prize Conference Schedule Vancouver Communities in Solidarity with Cuba
US SOCIAL FORUM II
June 22-26
Detroit, Michigan
06–28–2010 – DETROIT
Second U.S. Social Forum Closes in Detroit and Opens New Chapter in US Movements for Justice, Equality, and Sustainability
The United States Social Forum (USSF) closed Saturday with an inspirational national assembly and closing ceremony. Today, the Forum's National Planning Committee (NPC) declared the forum a great success with attendance of more than 15,000 people from Detroit, from rural and urban areas across the nation, and from countries across the world including South Africa, Palestine, Honduras and Nepal.
US Women & Cuba Collaboration Events at USSF 2010
Join the US Women & Cuba Collaboration and other progressive movement forces from all over the country when we meet this summer in Detroit at US Social Forum II to continue articulating visions and plans for "Another World" that is possible and necessary in the US.
The US Women and Cuba Collaboration is sponsoring and hosting two workshops this year at the USSF, and we warmly encourage your participation. Both workshops will be convenient to attend in centrally-located Cobo Hall.
Workshop:
Why Women? Why Cuba?
Building a Women's Movement for Cuba
Thursday, June 24
10am-12noon at Cobo Hall 02-43
Our workshop on Why Women? Why Cuba? will discuss the history and accomplishments of the Cuban women's movement under the leadership of the Federation of Cuban Women and in the context of the Cuban revolution. We will also discuss the role that Cuba has played internationally in advancing human rights, especially in the realm of healthcare and literacy.
Panelists include Rita Olga of Cuba, representing the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples, Carolina Sanchez of the Cuban Chapter in Defense of Humanity of the Ministry of Culture of Cuba, and Catherine Murphy, director of "Maestro," a film about the 1961 one-year national campaign that eradicated illiteracy in Cuba. A short trailer of "Maestro" will be shown. Jan Strout and Cindy Domingo, of the US Women & Cuba Collaboration will discuss strategies, campaigns and work that participants can take with them to build a women's movement and network of supporters to change US policy towards the Cuban people and to lift the 51-year old US blockade against Cuba. Panelists for this workshop are from Cuba and/or have traveled extensively throughout Cuba.
This workshop is sponsored by the U.S. Women & Cuba Collaboration, along with collaborating organizations: the Cuba and the Bolivarian Alliance Issues Committee of WILPF (Women's International League for Peace and Freedom), and the LELO (Legacy of Equality, Leadership and Organizing) Worker to Worker Project.
Workshop:
Sisters Across Borders |
Advancing US Women's Rights through
Global Feminisms
Friday, June 25
1-3pm at Cobo Hall 02-42
The goals of our workshop are to educate and organize about the use of United Nations international human rights treaties to advance women's rights, racial and economic justice in the US and to build solidarity among women worldwide. Specifically we will focus on the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW)/Women's Treaty and UN Security Resolution 1325 which promotes a gender analysis in conflict areas, peacekeeping and post-conflict situation. We will also utilize the UN Beijing Platform for Women and the UN CERD/Racial Justice treaty as organizing resources.
We also will share and build the organizing of specific U.S.-based women's solidarity projects on US campuses, in local communities and with Cuba and Venezuela as ways to increase U.S. women's political and policy understanding as well as our contributions to transform U.S. foreign policy to one of peaceful and just relations. Panelists have direct experience with organizing and educating diverse women in the US and globally across race, class, age and sexualities on these international human rights strategies for the past twenty years and have organized women's delegations to work in solidarity with women in Cuba, Mexico and Venezuela.
Panelists include Jan Strout (NOW's Ratify Women! Campaign and US Women & Cuba Collaboration), Cindy Domingo (US Women & Cuba Collaboration), Erica Swanson (Leadership Council on Civil Rights), Laura Roskos (WILPF), Rita Olga Martinez (ICAP—Cuba), Jayariyú Farias Montiel (indigenous health organizer and media activist—Venezuela), Filmmaker Catherine Murphy screening a trailer from "Maestra" about Cuba's 1961 Literacy Campaign, Filmmaker Debbie Carlsen screening clips of "Queers Against the WTO."
Get Involved Nationally and Locally: Get E-Mail Updates, Register, Volunteer
CELEBRATE
INTERNATIONAL
WOMEN'S DAY!
Seattle and Belgrade, MT, Event Information Follows
Look for IWD Events in Your Location
An afternoon of CUBAN MOVIES & MOJITOS!!
Featuring the film SALUD!
Sunday, March 7th
3PM – 6 PM
To benefit Cuban Doctors supporting Haiti
and Health Care throughout the Global South
And to CELEBRATE 2010 INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY
Hosted by Susan Nichols Roughton and Jan Strout
at the home of Susan and Bob Roughton
200 Tower Road, Belgrade, MT
Space is limited; please RSVP to peacewomen4ever@yahoo.com or 406/388.1919
WOMEN'S HUMAN RIGHTS,
RACIAL JUSTICE AND SOCIAL WELFARE
2010 Women's Research Delegation to Cuba
March 13-23
US Women & Cuba Collaboration, program consultant
Organized by Marazul Charters, Inc
CELEBRATE 10 DAYS OF WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH 2010 IN CUBA!
Research Theme: In this delegation, we will research and develop models for taking into our own professional lives lessons of the Cuban Revolution that Cuban women have used to extend the definition of basic human rights to include rights to racial justice and social welfare such as health care, housing, employment, education and food, and also to investigate shared leadership strategies for US and Cuban women across borders.
Legal trip: The US Women and Cuba Collaboration is program consultant to Marazul Charters, licensed as a Travel Service Provider (TSP) by the US Treasury Department to organize travel delegations to Cuba. Per US government guidelines for legal travel to Cuba under the Treasury Department's General License for research, this delegation is designed for full-time professionals who are conducting full-time research in their fields. (See links below for additional information, and contact us or Marazul with any remaining questions you have.)
Applications: Send as soon as possible. Detailed information in Marazul Application. (Applications and Final payment deadline is Feb 15, 2010.)
Cost: Estimated cost of this research program departing from either Miami, FL or Cancun, Mexico, is $2000 USD. Does not include airfare to the departure city.
Program Highlights:
- 10 days of living and learning experiences in Havana and Santa Clara
- Discussions with a range of Cuban women about achievements in Cuba to advance the status of women, accomplishments that mark Cuba as a global model of progressive women's movement and human development
- Half-day symposium with the Federation of Cuban Women (FMC) featuring a rich exchange of perspectives, research and strategies among Cuban and US women
Delegation Invitation and Details
Marazul Charters Cuba Travel Advice
OFAC: Cuba, What You Need to Know About US Sanctions Against Cuba
Wallingford Neighbors for Peace and Justice
and
"Friday Night at the Meaningful Movies"
is very pleased to present:
(85 minutes, Cecilia Domeyko, 2005)
Friday, February 19, 7:00 to 9:30PM
Discussion after the film will be lead by members of the US Women & Cuba Collaboration and will focus on the film's themes as well as contemporary US and Cuban relations and Cuba's role in humanitarian aid and international solidarity with Haiti. The Collaboration is organizing a women's delegation to Cuba in March 2010; for details about the Delegation and the US Women & Cuba Collaboration, visit their website.
This award-winning (CINE Golden Eagle, Chicago Film Festival, World Music Festival) film was directed by Cecilia Domeyko, creator of dozens of films capturing the Latina/o experience in the US and Latin America. Featuring ten talented and beautiful musicians, playing the harmonies of Cuban soul, CUBA MIA demonstrates the power of music to cross boundaries. This story of the musicians of the all-woman Camerata Romeu is filled with dazzling faces and fiery performances that astonish and delight.
By turns funny, angry, lyrical and moving, CUBA MIA takes us behind the scenes of a Revolution in progress—that has prioritized gender and racial justice, investment in arts, music, culture and the politics of sexuality as essential to healthy human development—and offers a slice of Cuban life seldom seen on the world's screens. "If you liked Buena Vista Social Club, you'll love CUBA MIA!"
Flyer DetailsLOCATION:
Keystone Congregational Church
5019 Keystone Place N., Seattle
(0.4 miles west of the I-5 NE 50th St. Exit - Metro Bus Routes 16, 26 & 44)
Directions can be found at Friday Night at the Meaningful Movies.
Event is FREE and open to the public!
...but Donations are kindly accepted.
Experts Analyze Cultural Exchange under the Obama Administration
The Havana Book Fair opened on Friday with a panel of experts from the U.S. and Cuba analyzing the state of cultural exchange between the two countries under the Obama Administration, AFP reported. Members of the panel, "Cuba-United States Cultural Relations: Present and Future," said that although cultural exchange has "rebounded under Obama" it has not reached "the levels of expectation" that were created when he was elected.
Sheryl Lutjens, current head of the Latin American Studies Association's Cuba section, said that academics on both sides face "access problems" to information in the other county and difficulty traveling back and forth. Rafael Hernández, editor of the magazine Temas, said that the increase in exchange is "not necessarily led by the governments, but by cultural actors that have become closer and closer over time."
According to Lutjens, "it's still not clear if [Obama] is going to support exchange," but his administration continues to deny licenses to visit Cuba. "We are at a very important moment, a moment of opportunity, where expectations are big, but the challenges are too, and therefore there is resistance to change," said Cuban academic Carlos Alzugaray.
Sheryl Lutjens is a member of the US Women & Cuba Collaboration National Advisory Board.
Feb 19, 2010
Cuba Central NewsBlast Blog
Center for Democracy in the Americas
Americans Are Learning Medicine the Cuban Way
By Julia Landau, East Bay Express
Posted on February 5, 2010, Printed on March 7, 2010
http://www.alternet.org/story/145523/
Melissa Rose Mitchell was discouraged. After taking the Medical College Admission Test, she was uneasy about applying to medical schools. In prep courses for the exams, she had glimpsed her future as a doctor, and she didn't like the environment she saw. "People were like, 'What kind of doctor do you want to be?' and it was all based on how much money you make," the Oakland resident recalled. "It was a really scary moment, because this thing that all my life I had wanted to do without question, all of a sudden I'm thinking, 'I don't know if I want to do this.'"
Mitchell had scraped together the money to prepare for and take the med-school admissions test, but even as she studied, she had begun to waver. "It had taken me over a year to save the $1,400 for the test and prep course and they said, 'We recommend that you apply to no less than twenty schools,' at about $200 each." And there were still the costs of plane tickets and a proper suit to interview at schools. She did well on the exams, but Mitchell was spending a lot of money to fulfill her goal of serving the poor.
But then her boyfriend saw a blurb in a church newsletter that appeared to assuage her growing worries. It was a unique offer to study in Cuba, the impoverished nation 90 miles from Florida that is internationally known for its training and use of doctors. She applied through the Interreligious Foundation for Community Organization in New York, a group whose mission is to "increase minority participation in medicine" and therefore increase the doctor-patient ratio for underserved areas.
Cuba began educating American medical students after members of the Congressional Black Caucus met with Fidel Castro in 2000. Congressman Bennie Thompson of Mississippi told Castro about areas in his district that suffer from extreme doctor shortages. The Cuban president responded by promising scholarships for 500 Americans to attend medical school in Cuba, under the umbrella of the Latin America School of Medicine. To qualify, the students would have to show aptitude and a commitment to work in underserved communities in the United States. Since then, 34 have graduated, and more than 160 are currently enrolled.
The Bay Area, it turns out, is something of a hub for the Cuba school of thought, where Cuba-trained students, unencumbered by the massive debt that plagues grads from US medical schools, have the luxury to do the kind of medicine that Cuba instructs — family medicine. The island's medical schools focus on nutrition and other preventative approaches. Cuba also is well known for its focus on the "social determinants of health."
The Cuban experience also may provide important lessons for our current health-care crisis. With a fifth of our per capita GDP, Cuba has health statistics comparable to those of industrialized nations. In the shabby, eroding, and commodity-deprived neighborhoods of Old Havana, Cubans also enjoy a better doctor-patient ratio than Americans: 59 doctors per 10,000 people compared to 26 for us.
© 2010 East Bay Express All rights reserved.
View this story online at: http://www.alternet.org/story/145523/
Seven US Doctors Headed for Haiti:
Graduates of the Latin American School of Medicine
Will Work Alongside Cuban Medical Brigade
This story was aired on the Tavis Smiley Show on January 3, 2010.
US graduates of the Latin American School of Medicine (LASM) are prepared to help alleviate the pain and suffering of thousands of Haitian people.
The seven young women physicians arrived in Haiti on the evening of February 3rd to begin a month or more of medical service alongside the Cuban medical brigade. The doctors come from Harlem, Brooklyn, the Bronx, and Staten Island in New York City; from Houston and from Minnesota. Two of them are currently working in Oakland, CA. A number of their fellow graduates are hoping to join them soon for the urgent work in Haiti.
The Interreligious Foundation for Community Organization (IFCO), which administers the LASM scholarship program for US students, is raising funds and collecting medical supplies to support the doctors' mission.
"These dedicated and skilled young doctors are ready to serve. They received their MD degrees in Cuba, with special training in disaster management and public health, and they are uniquely prepared for the multiple challenges of this urgent mission," said Rev. Lucius Walker Jr., executive director of IFCO. "We have sent them to Haiti with backpacks full of medicines and supplies—3/8 of a ton of medical aid for Haiti and more aid will follow."
All of the doctors are graduates of the Latin American School of Medicine in Cuba, which was founded as part of the Comprehensive Health Plan for Central America and the Caribbean that Cuba established in response to the devastation of Hurricanes Mitch and Georges in 1998.
The director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Mirta Roses, commended the work of the Cuban medical teams in Haiti on January 24th. "The Cuban teams were already in Haiti—before the quake took place. They were the first responders treating earthquake victims."
PAHO reports that Cuba's direct medical assistance to the Haitian people in the first 72 hours after the earthquake was critical. Cuban doctors have attended tens of thousands of patients and performed thousands of surgeries. Cuban doctors are working in 21 improvised health centers including 14 operating theatres with 16 surgical teams. Most recently they set up a tent hospital—with ultrasound and x-ray equipment– on the site of an amusement park in Port-au-Prince.
More than 100 specialists from many countries (Venezuela, Chile, Spain, Mexico, Colombia, and Canada) are also working with the Cuban health professionals.
A Cuban medical brigade of 350 physicians plus other medical personnel has been on the ground in Haiti for the last ten years, working in remote communities where people had no other access to health care services. More than 6,000 Cuban doctors have served in Haiti as part of that brigade. 400 young Haitians have also received full-scholarship medical training at the LASM, and are now attending the wounded in Haiti.
LASM is now training students from 49 different nations of the Americas, Africa, and other regions. Among the graduates are 33 young people from the US.
The Interreligious Foundation for Community Organization (IFCO) administers of the scholarship program for US students at the Latin American School of Medicine in Cuba.
IFCO is continuing to raise funds to support the medical mission of these LASM graduates, and to direct medical aid to Haiti. Contributions to the IFCO/Haiti Medical Service Project can be made at their website or by contacting their office at (212) 926-5757.
Photos, video clips, and more information are available at
IFCO/Pastors for Peace
Ciudad Juárez: Finally, Steps Towards Justice
Violence, including human rights violations, has been increasing in Mexico, and women's rights have suffered blow after blow, but 2009 ended with steps towards justice: on December 10 the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) issued a judgment in the "cotton field" case against the government of Mexico for violations of human rights. This judgment represents clear progress in the midst of so many legal reversals. AWID interviewed Andrea Medina Rosas from the Comité de América Latina y el Caribe para la Defensa de los Derechos de la Mujeres (CLADEM), which represented the cases before the Court.
By Gabriela De Cicco
January 29, 2010
awid.org
2009
Cuba undertaking unprecedented health action with pregnant women
Written by Granma International
Thursday, 17 December 2009 09:35
IN an unprecedented effort on the part of Cuba's public health services, medical personnel and those from other sectors are undertaking daily epidemiological screening throughout the country of all pregnant women and new mothers to check for respiratory symptoms.
This important screening is within the context of the AH1N1 pandemic and its particular "aggressiveness" in the case of pregnant women, a group at high risk of developing complications related to this virus.
Dr. Doris Sierra Pérez, national director of primary care at the Ministry of Public Health, informed Granma daily that this action began last September, given the capacity of the virus to produce severe pulmonary lesions within a few hours, thus requiring patients' immediate hospitalization in intensive care units.
From then on, on a daily basis, local health care personnel have been visiting pregnant women and those with newborn babies in their homes to confirm their state of health and, in the case of any flu symptoms, to instruct hospital admission and immediate treatment.
According to estimates given to Granma, of the 65,456 currently pregnant women in the country, and the 16,507 with newborn babies (a total of 81,963), an average of 96% are visited on a daily basis. Of these, 12,065 have been admitted to hospital.
Dr. Sierra highlighted the selfless dedication of Cuban health workers, including medical students incorporated into the screening program, who are making a decisive contribution to the saving of more than a few lives.
She also noted the support received from political and mass organizations and other sectors of society, in conjunction with the political will of the revolutionary government, which views the health of the population a prime human right.
From US Treasury—OFAC:
Effective September 2009:
New Cuban
Regulations
From US Legislators:
Toward New Rules About Cuba
Cuba Central News Blast
UN VOTE: Another drubbing at the UN: 187-3
October 30, 2009
WHO Director General Praises Primary Health Care in Cuba
Posted by Toronto Forum On Cuba
José A. de la Osa, October 27, 2009
Slow But Steady Progress
The Center for Democracy in the Americas, 28 July 2009
When Lincoln served in Congress, he reportedly said during a debate, "I walk slowly, but I never walk backward."
If you look at what happened in Cuba news this week - as we do every week - what leaps off the page are indications of steady progress. Many of us who work on these issues are impatient and want the Obama administration to move forward faster on normalizing relations with Cuba. But the reality is that progress is happening on many levels - it may not be flashy, but it is happening without much controversy and - and that is a major departure from the past.
Here are five examples.
First, the U.S. and Cuban militaries participated in joint military exercises, as they have done in the past, but our administration allowed the press to cover what had occurred. Our organization has previously proposed expanding military cooperation, and going public with these exercises will lay the groundwork for doing exactly that.
Second, officials from Tampa, Florida, traveled to Cuba for meetings with government officials about expanding trade ties. You remember Florida, right, the state that serves as the massive political obstacle to getting something real done on Cuba. The political climate is changing. Not that it didn't take courage for the delegation to make that trip; but this kind of courage is contagious.
Third, New Orleans wants to get into the act. Mayor Ray Nagin wants charter aircraft service between his city and Cuba just like Los Angeles and Miami have. The embargo against Cuba is not simply bad foreign policy and bad for our constitutional right travel, it is also foolish and self-defeating economically, and increasing numbers of Americans (and their elected officials) get that.
Fourth, Senator Byron Dorgan, a fearless crusader for changing Cuba policy, won approval in a Senate Committee for an important proposal that will expand agriculture sales to Cuba. Dorgan is also sponsor of the Freedom to Travel to Cuba Act, the Senate bill to repeal the ban on legal travel for all Americans, and he understands that expanding travel will result in increased Cuban demand for food produced in the U.S.
Fifth, the migration talks restarted by the U.S. and Cuban governments took place in New York. Both countries issued positive statements suggesting that progress is being made. We were able to confirm the reality of that diplomatic happy talk in private meetings this week with foreign policy officials from both countries during our visit to Cuba with seven high-ranking staff people from the U.S. Senate.
It takes time to dismantle a policy that has been in place for fifty years, long after it was evident to almost everyone that U.S. policy toward Cuba was hurting us a lot more than it ever hurt them.
But in just the last three months, we have seen real changes - the elimination of travel restrictions on Cuban-American families, U.S. cooperation in the effort to lift Cuba's suspension from the OAS, and now the resumption of migration talks. We may be walking slowly, but we're not walking backwards, and we see the prospects of a lot more progress to come.
Che Guevara's daughter recalls her revolutionary father
Libby Brooks, The Guardian, Wednesday 22 July 2009
Global Forum for Health Reseach 2009, Nov 16-20, Havana, Cuba: The Global Forum for Health Research (GFHR) is an independent international organization committed to demonstrating the essential role of research and innovation for health and health equity, benefiting poor and marginalized populations.
Celebrate Women's Equality Day at NAAM: Northwest African American Museum, Seattle, August 27, 5:30-8pm. Brought to you by National Organization for Women, Reclaim the Media, Evergreen College Labor Center, and US Women and Cuba Collaboration
Remembering Marilyn Clement
June 30, 1935–August 3, 2009
"Marilyn Clement's WILPF and Cuba organizing were most impressive. We travelled together on the delegation for the GX Interhemispheric Women's Peace and Justice Conference in Havana in 1996 organized by Medea Benjamin when Marilyn was ED of WILPF."
— Jan Strout, Co-chair, US Women and Cuba Collaboration
About Honduras:
Honduran Feminists in Resistance
22 July 2009
Open Letter to the President of the United States of America
Hondurans Demonstrating for Zelaya's Return
Hondurans Pour into the Streets Demanding Zelaya's Return
by Medea Benjamin
Published on Monday, July 6, 2009 by CommonDreams.org
The day started out full of joy, as thousands of Hondurans converged in front of the National Institute of Pedagogy, intent on marching about three miles to the airport to greet the plane that was supposed to bring deposed President Zelaya back to Honduras.
Honduran Feminists Speak Out
Cuban Five Visitation Rights for Adriana Pérez:
Obama and Clinton Must Change their Position
Arnold August, 15 July 2009
Today we have been informed that the US State Department has once again refused a visa for Adriana Pérez to visit her husband Gerardo Hernández.
A new approach to Cuba
By Barry R. McCaffrey
The Miami Herald, Jun. 23, 2009
2009 Miami Herald Media Company, All Rights Reserved
The Obama administration has made an excellent first step to eliminate some restrictions on travel to the island, to loosen constraints on remittances and to re-engage in migration talks. Positive, multiple lines of engagement are clearly the way forward. Broader contact and leverage with Cuba through additional commercial and people-to-people contacts will in time help promote a more pluralistic, less impoverished, and more open society.
High court won't review 'Cuban 5' espionage case
June 15, 2009
WASHINGTON (AP)— The Supreme Court on Monday refused to review the convictions of five Cuban intelligence agents who say they did not receive a fair trial because of strong anti-Castro sentiment in Miami.
Declaration by the Presidency of Cuba's National Assembly
June 15, 2009
The U.S. Supreme Court announced today, without explanation, its decision not to review the case of our Five comrades who are unjustly imprisoned . . .
Declaration of National Assembly
CUBAN NATIONAL UNION OF WRITERS & ARTISTS (UNEAC)
Havana, 19 June 2009
LETTER TO AMERICAN INTELLECTUALS AND ARTISTS
On June 15, the US Supreme Court refused to review the case of the five Cuban anti-terrorist activists unjustly imprisoned in your country. This is another chapter in a long series of injustices that have resulted in over 10 years' loss of liberty for Gerardo Hernandez, Rene Gonzalez, Ramon Labanino, Antonio Guerrero y Fernando Gonzalez.
Letter to American Intellectuals
Jean Colman, Who Fought for the Rights of
Low-Income Women, Dies at 59
by Kristyn Joy, Contributing Writer
Real Change
May 20, 2009
Vol 16 No 24
Jean Colman, a longtime leader in the national movement for dignity and fair treatment for low-
income women, died early May 8, after a nine-year
battle with breast cancer. She was 59.
Travel Challenge 2005:Jean Coleman's Reflections
VII Taller Internacional: Mujeres en el Siglo XXI
The Chair of Women Studies of the University of Havana and the Federation of Cuban Women held the VII International Scientific Workshop "Women in the 21st Century" at the University of Havana from the 18th to 22nd of May, 2009, in Havana, Cuba. It was also co-sponsored by COSUDE, HIVOS, OXFAM, ACSUR, MUNDUBAT, ACPA, and the FELIX VARELA CENTER.
Its main purpose was to promote the opportunity to exchange information, to update and assess academic work on topics concerning Feminism, Gender, Women's Studies and work being done with contemporary women and feminist movements.
The Measure of a Revolution:
Cuba, 1959–2009
Understanding the Past, Considering the Future
May 7–9, 2009
Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada
The "Measure of a Revolution: Cuba 1959-2009" conference was jointly organized by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Havana University, Boston University and Queen's University.
Obama's Cuba Moves Do Little to End the Economic War on Havana
By Jeremy Scahill, Rebel Reports
Posted on April 7, 2009, Printed on April 14, 2009
A group of U.S. lawmakers visiting Cuba has called on the Obama administration to join every other country in the Western hemisphere in normalizing relations with Cuba.
For Relatives, Travel to Cuba Just Got Easier
MARCH 12, 2009
BY FRANCES ROBLES
frobles@MiamiHerald.com
Travel to Cuba Just Got Easier
Ongoing Hurricane Relief
News from Sandra Levinson,
Center for Cuban Studies and Cuban Art Space, NY
Dear Hurricane Relief Contributors,
Last week, thanks to you, the Center's first two containers of materials arrived in Cuba for delivery to hospitals terribly damaged by the three hurricanes that hit Cuba in 2008. The containers contained 30 hospital beds and mattresses, 40 operating tables, and 15 sterilizers, Within the next couple of months we will continue to send materials because we were able to get all of these materials DONATED and only had to pay for the shipping of the containers! With luck we can continue to do this, though of course we cannot count on it, in this economy. We realize that this cannot be a one time only shipment, because the needs are so great and hurricanes happen every year, so we will continue to raise money for hurricane relief and put the money into these kinds of shipments. Thank you so much for your support.
Sandra
Feb 4, 2009
For information about making Hurricane Relief donations:
Dear Friends,
The effects of Hurricanes Gustav, Ike, and Paloma, had grievous effects on Cuba and their effects persist even when news coverage does not. According to the Cuban government, the hurricanes have caused more than $5 billion in damage across the island, and 444,000 houses have been impacted with 63,000 completely destroyed. Every resource in Cuba has suffered damage. There have been incapacitating losses of food crops and farm animals, electricity and water services, as well as destruction of institutional structures including schools and hospitals.
The Cuban people are known worldwide for their international solidarity with other peoples in their times of need. Today, the Cuban people are in need of our solidarity both in terms of humanitarian aid and a change in U.S. policy to Cuba. Please take action immediately in both of these areas.
Thank you,
US Women and Cuba Collaboration
August 2009
The U.S. Women and Cuba Collaboration works closely with the following organizations and particularly encourages your support of their humanitarian aid drives.
MEDICC (Medical Education Cooperation with Cuba)
Blockade on Cuba Costs US Economy More
Invasor.cu
Monday, January 12, 2009
Hurricane 2008 News
Hurricane Paloma wrecks hundreds of homes in Cuba
By Anne-Marie Garcia,
Camgauey, Cuba, Sunday Nov 9, 2008 (AP)
Reports about Hurricane Paloma from Susana Hurlich in Havana
Friday, Nov 7, 2008
¿Como ayudar a Cuba — How to help Cuba?
Sandra Levinson,
slevinson@cubanartspace.net
September 16, 2008
Susana Hurlich Writes from Havana:
Detailed Hurricane Ike Reports
Susana Hurlich is a Canadian free-lance journalist based in Havana
Reports from September 7 through September 17
Latin American Working Group Action Alert
lawg.org, Sept 11, 2008
LAWG Action Alert on Cuba Hurricanes
Sign a petition: US assistance to Cuban hurricane victims
In Wake of Storm Damage, Calls to Ease Cuba Embargo
New York Times, Damien Cave, September 10, 2008
Serrano calls for suspension of regulatory restrictions in order to help Cuba recover from hurricanes
serrano.house.gov/PressRelease, Sept 8, 2008
Serrano calls for emergency suspension of US–Cuba family restrictions
2008
VIO Venezuela Weekly News Roundup
Friday, November 7, 2008
Obama Has Historic Opportunity to Improve Ties With Latin America Center for Economic Policy and Research, November 6, 2008
Obama Has Historic OpportunityCubans hope Obama's win means 'better times ahead'
By Mary Murray, NBC News Havana Bureau Chief
Wednesday, November 05, 2008 4:05 PM
Why Can Cuba Do It?
Jose A. De La Osa
Havana, Saturday, 18 October, 2008. Year 12 / Number 291
Cuba's Ministry of Foreign Affairs calls for a permanent end to the US travel and economic embargo against Cuba
September – 6 – 2008
Cuba Ministry of Foreign Affairs Statement
Cuba: Women Combating Shortage of Decent Housing
Patricia Grogg, Inter Press Service News Agency, August 01, 2008
US Committee strengthens efforts to free the Five / Comité estadounidense fortalece
campaña por libertad de los
Cinco
Prensa Latina, July 29, 2008
Chronicle of an Injustice: Brief Summary of the Case of the Cuban Five, Leonard Weinglass, July 21, 2008
Legal Activists of Color Blog
nlgtupocc.blogspot.com/2008/07/brief-summary-of-case-of-cuban-five-by.html
Brief Summary of the Case of the Cuban Five
Cuba has authorised sex-change operations and will offer them free to qualifying citizens, officials say.
Published: 2008/06/07
Story from BBC NEWS
Cuba To Provide Free Sex Change Operations
Venezuela Creates New Ministry for Women
Olivia Burlingame Goumbri, Venezuela Information Office, Caracas, April 25, 2008
2007
Luci Murphy, Washington, DC, Cuban American singer activist, receives Paul Robeson Award for Peace and Justice
Tim Wheeler, People's Weekly World Newspaper, September 20, 2007
Is homosexuality persecuted in Cuba?
José Manzaneda, Coordinator of Cubainformación TV,
September 19, 2007. A CubaNews translation. Ed Walter Lippmann.
Vilma Espín Guillois, Cuban heroine, President of the FMC, Dies
Marta Rojas, Granma, June 19, 2007
Haircut, Highlights, and Safe Sex Tips in Havana
Mary Murray, NBC News World Blog, March 1, 2007, 8:02am
2006
Cuba's Female Vocal Group Sexto Sentido
Omar Vazquez, October 2, 2006, from Walter Lippmann via AfricansForCuba@yahoogroups.com
Before 2006
The couple's decision
Raisa Pages, March 8, 2000, Granma International
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Mission Statement
Our mission is to build a strong US women's movement dedicated to ending the US government blockade of Cuba and to creating mutually beneficial US–Cuba relations; our work is rooted in the concept of universal human rights, racial and economic justice, and women's rights.
Campaigns
- Right to Travel: Help us work to end all travel bans on US citizens for travel to Cuba, and on Cubans who cannot secure US visas to visit the US.
- Reality of Cuban Women's Lives: Learn about impressive public policy advances of Cuban women, and also about the harsh impacts of the US blockade on the lives of Cuban women and children.
- Advancing Global Feminisms: Join us as we learn how to share the lessons of global women's networks to advance the status of women globally and to build a strong US women's movement.
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Join the US Women & Cuba Collaboration. Contact us to be added to our email list for notices of news, action items, and upcoming delegation opportunities (not more than one email a month).
Victoria Kill
info@womenandcuba.org
Project Co-Chairs:
Cindy Domingo
yoson66@hotmail.com
Jan Strout
peacewomen4ever@yahoo.com
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