Radio Cadena Agramonte emisiora de Camagüey
Washington, Aug 4.- Regardless of creed, but united by one goal: the lifting of the blockade, the Jacksonville section of the US "Hands Off Cuba" Committee was born, the first in the most populous city in Florida.
"The Jacksonville community is coming together to break the blockade and support Cuba, and far from being a one-off meeting, this event marked the beginning of a new chapter for solidarity with Cuba in the Deep South", Hakim Jihad, coordinator of the group, told Prensa Latina.
During the inaugural meeting, held at the Yellow House Art Gallery in Jacksonville, a report was heard from the delegation that recently traveled to the May 1st festivities in Havana.
The energy in the room was electrifying, marked by curiosity, enthusiasm, and a deep desire to know the truth about Cuba beyond the lies of US imperialist propaganda, he commented.
Florida, often considered a hostile territory for solidarity with Cuba, witnessed something different, he pointed out.
"In a state dominated by some of the most severe anti-Cuban policies in the United States, this event demonstrated that the situation is changing", Jihad warned.
The report highlighted concrete acts of solidarity. The delegation delivered medical aid worth $200,000 directly to the Calixto García Hospital in Havana.
Earlier this year, the Committee collaborated in coordinating a shipment of containers worth $517,000, which included 500,000 painkillers, in collaboration with Not Just Tourists, Pan-American Medical Group, the "Hands Off Cuba" Committee of Los Angeles, and Global Health Partners.
Attendees also learned about the growing national movement, including the significant support of the AFL-CIO of California, which represents 2.3 million workers, and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union.
The formation of a Northeast Florida section of the US "Hands Off Cuba" Committee is already underway, building an organized base of resistance in one of the states of greatest strategic importance for the fight against the blockade, Jihad stressed, commenting that "the room united not only in admiration for the resilience of Cuba, but also in the determination to fight until the blockade falls".
But this is just the beginning of a whole great effort to extend the initiative of the Los Angeles Hands Off Cuba Committee, founded in 2019, to the rest of the United States, said activist Brenda López from California.
"A section of New Orleans is in the process of being formed", commented fellow activist Mark Friedman, highlighting that there are many people here who would like to see the improvement of relations with Cuba, the lifting of sanctions against the island. "Our work is heading in that direction", he added.
Friedman insisted on the importance of how we have added young people. Solidarity, support for Cuba needs to include them.
For López -a member like Friedman of the Los Angeles Committee- the Jacksonville one arises at a time when our fundamental rights are being seriously attacked by the current administration.
But being realistic -she pointed out- it is the reality of a system that prioritizes profits over people. "And that's where Cuba comes in; Cuba has demonstrated at the national and international level a humanistic and preventive approach with regard to fundamental rights", she stated.
López denounced the more than 60 years of economic, commercial, and financial blockade against the Antillean nation and especially condemned the inclusion on the list of state sponsors of terrorism. The fight to eliminate all these coercive and hostile measures "we owe to the Cuban people, who have been resilient for so long, but also to ourselves", she concluded. (Text and photo: PL)
