There was a good attendance at the AGM of Blackpool and Fylde CSC on 23rd February when local members said farewell to Zelmys Dominguez Cortina who comes to the end of her tour of duty as Political Counsellor at the Cuban Embassy in London this summer. Full of gratitude for the solidarity and support shown by members of CSC around the country Zelmys urged all present to expose the cynical maneuverings of the United States within the European Union through countries like Poland and the Czech Republic and to continue to press the British government to oppose any attempt to align Europe more closely with Washington’s increasingly aggressive policy towards Cuba. Following the Annual Report of Work and Plan of Action for the coming year prioritizing campaigning against Plan Bush and for the freedom of the Miami Five, Geoff Bottoms, Gareth Pye and Marjorie Bottoms were re-elected to their posts of Chair, Secretary and Treasurer respectively. The evening ended with a buffet and a toast to Zelmys who was presented with a hand-made silk scarf and commemorative book together with a card signed by members of the local group.
A touch of Cuban culture and agriculture came to Preston on 29th January when over twenty local activists of Blackpool and Fylde CSC together with several members of the neighbouring organic farming community turned out to hear Dr Humberto Labrada talk about his own research, the situation in Cuba, and the mechanisms that enabled Cuba to survive the collapse of trade relations with the Soviet Bloc.Dr Labrada is an eminent Cuban researcher who specialises in organic agriculture and community participation. Until the break up of the Soviet Bloc at the end of the eighties, Cuba, a small country with no oil reserves of its own, had traded with the Soviet Union to obtain its oil and oil based agro-chemicals. Unable to import oil, Cuba turned towards a more healthy, self-reliant and sustainable form of agriculture. Urban gardens, allotments, small farms, animal traction and biological pest control are all part of this. In 1999 the Right Livelihood Award, known as the ‘Alternative Nobel Prize’ was awarded to the Cubans in the Swedish parliament for these advances.
Dr Labrada is also an accomplished musician who specialises in composition in order to promote his message and those present at the meeting were treated to one of his songs plus an audio-visual presentation of his Biodiversity Band back in Cuba. Organic methods of farming are the future and Cuba's green revolution is leading the way for the rest of the world providing yet another reason for solidarity with this socialist island nation struggling against the aggressive designs of its northern neighbour.
Nearly forty activists from the Blackpool and Fylde area turned out on 27th October at the Seafood Restaurant in Blackpool to hear Steve Wilkinson, editor of Cuba Si, speak about the latest US plans for regime change in Cuba once Fidel Castro dies. Giving an overview of the latest report from the Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba Steve warned of the dangers of other countries falling into line under pressure from the US and called on all present to write to their MPs condemning US plans for transition and calling upon the British government to improve relations with the island. Following a generous buffet Allan and Carol Gater of Noches-de-Salsa Dance School demonstrated the Salsa and taught a brave band of volunteers some basic steps. A raffle raised 100.00 for the CSC Music Fund to help restore the theatre in Miramar as a community arts resource and the Cuban Revolution and the Miami Five were toasted with a tot of Havana Club rum.
MONCADA NIGHT
It may have been a couple of days late but the celebration of Moncada Day at the Seafood Restaurant in Blackpool was as lively as ever when nearly forty members of Blackpool and Fylde CSC turned out to toast the Cuban Revolution and the Miami Five with the usual tot of Havana Club rum. The local press had given the group's event considerable publicity which generated a lot of interest leading to the recuitment of ten new members. Professor Theo Macdonald spoke about the crisis in the Middle East in the context of US imperialism before going on to detail the achievements of the Cuban Revolution in health and education. He called for greater solidarity with Cuba than ever in the light of Plan Bush while expressing his firmly held view that capitalism was on the verge of collapse paving the way for socialism. Following a sumptuous buffet music was provided by a local Peruvian pan pipe player called Horlando who ended the evening on a note of celebration. A total of 100.00 was raised for the local group's sponsored maternity hospital in Santa Clara.
Meeting with Luis Marron on Tuesday 13th June at the Black Horse Pub in Preston.
BLACKPOOL AND FYLDE CSC AGMMembers of Blackpool and Fylde CSC braved a wet and windy night on the Fylde Coast on 10th March for their Annual General meeting at the Seafood Restaurant in Blackpool to hear Geoff Bottoms speak about his recent US speaking tour and attendance at the oral hearing of the Miami Five in Atlanta, Georgia on 14th February.
Together with Bernie Dwyer of Radio Havana Geoff toured the eastern part of the US in February showing the documentary Mission against Terror and speaking at churches, universities and public meetings attracting hundreds of people new to the case of the Five. At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston Noam Chomsky chaired the meeting attended by 500 members of the public.
The AGM re-elected Geoff Bottoms as Chair, Gareth Pye as Secretary and Marjorie Bottoms as Treasurer. After reviewing the year's activity by the group plans were made for campaigning in the coming year. In the light of pressure exerted by the US on Britain and EU countries in the run up to the review of EU policy towards Cuba in June the members present re-committed themselves to campaign more urgently with national CSC to defend Cuba's national sovereignty and demand the freedom of the Miami Five. The evening concluded with a buffet and toast to the Cuban Revolution.
CELEBRATING MONCADA IN BLACKPOOL
Blackpool and Fylde CSC celebrated the 52nd anniversary of the attack on the Moncada Barracks on 26th July when the Cuban ambassador, H.E. Jose Fernandez de Cossio, and his wife Mrs Tania Fernandez de Cossio were the guests of honour. Forty local activists including new recruits to CSC toasted the Cuban Revolution and the Miami Five with a tot of Havana Club rum before descending on a sumptuous buffet at the Seafood Restaurant in Blackpool. The ambassador spoke of recent developments in the case of the arch-terrorist Luis Posada Carriles contrasting his treatment in the US with that of the Miami Five and explained Cuba’s decision to reject the meager offer of $50,000 in aid from the US following the damage caused by Hurricane Dennis amounting to $1.4bn. He and his wife were presented with a period print of Victorian Blackpool and thanked for their support and solidarity during their term of office in the UK. The evening which raised 150 pounds for the group’s sponsored projects in Cuba concluded with entertainment by local artistes and everyone dancing the salsa well into the night!
It publishes it's own newsletter Lancashire Cuba Si! which is mailed out to local members of CSC and its supporters. If you would like to be placed on the mailing list contact us at GARETH@PYE151.FREESERVE.CO.UK