http://www.us-cubanormalization.org/viva-cuba/

Dear Friends,

In 2019 the Trump White House and State Department has escalated political belligerency, economic sanctions, and military threats against Cuba.

• Cruise ship travel to Cuba from the US has been ended, as has educational travel to Cuba under the “People-to-People” license category. Meanwhile it has become extremely difficult for Cubans to get visas to enter the US for any reason.
• Title III of the 1996 Helms-Burton Act has been implemented, opening the floodgates for frivolous lawsuits by current US citizens regarding property nationalized by Cuba, in accordance with Cuban and international law, after the triumph of the Cuban Revolution in 1959-60. These property claims were all settled by the Cuban state with the rest of the world in the 1960s — Washington alone refused to settle. The policy of the US government was instead to seek the violent overthrow of the Cuban revolutionary government.
• The Trump Administration, with bipartisan support, promoted a failed military coup in Venezuela. The Trump team then tried to blame Cuba for their own debacle. Washington also aims to increase economic pressure on Cuba by ending the extensive Venezuela-Cuba trade links. Washington has threatened to seize Venezuelan oil shipments to Cuba on the open seas. All of this under the cover of sanctimony and two-faced demagogy about “democracy” and “human rights.”

An effective, sustained, coordinated counter-campaign against all these measures is urgently needed — especially inside the United States and Canada.

Washington’s escalating attacks on Cuba have seen parallel negative developments in Canada-Cuba relations. The closing of Canada’s visa office in Havana has led to unreasonable delays and significant financial obstacles for those Cubans seeking to travel to Canada. It continues to cause significant damage to business, cultural, scientific, and sporting relations. This development represents a serious departure from the relations which Cuba and Canada have enjoyed, especially given their uninterrupted diplomatic relations since 1945. Opposition to these stances of the Trudeau-Freeland government in the Hemisphere – including the important political support given by Ottawa to Trump’s attempted military coup and intervention against Venezuela – have mounted inside Canada. Cuba solidarity and anti-intervention forces across Canada and Quebec join in this Call and united organizing effort.

Therefore, in this moment of new threats and attacks, we call on you to join with the broad national and international forces that defend Cuba’s right to self-determination and unconditionally oppose the US economic, commercial, financial, and travel sanctions – the blockade.

As the 2020 US Presidential, Congressional, State, and local elections approach, together let’s plan united actions and campaigns to end this historic injustice!

The below signatories are issuing this Call for a 2nd National Conference for the Normalization of US-Cuba relations over the weekend of
March 21-22, 2020 at
Fordham School of Law
150 West 62nd St., New York, NY

Having the International Cuba Conference in New York City, the seat of the United Nations General Assembly, will ensure the presence of a significant number of Cuban guests and authentic representatives.

VISIT THE FOLLOWING WEBSITES AT:
www.CubaSiNYNJCoalition.org
www.US-CubaNormalization.org

email: info@us-cubanormalization.org

Global Days Of Protest – US Troops Out Of Iraq Now!

Green Bay Foro de DACA / Forum on DACA

CAIR

(WASHINGTON, D.C., 1/31/20) – The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), along with other civil rights organizations, today held a news conference with other Muslim, civil and human rights groups to condemn the Trump administration’s expansion of the Muslim Ban.

ACTION ALERT: Those impacted by the expanded ban should contact CAIR at: civilrights@cair.com or https://www.cair.com/report …

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Manitowoc, Wisconsin, May 2019

https://geopoliticsalert.com/farc-peace-deal-assassinated

Bogata (TSN) – Former Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) member and peace agreement signatory John Freddy Vargas was murdered Saturday after attending a meeting in a church in Huila.

Vargas, 42, was shot multiple times while he was on a motorcycle with his girlfriend, after the meeting with officials from the Agency for Reincorporation and Normalization (ARN).

“The event took place when the victim was riding a motorcycle and two subjects hit him twice with a firearm, dying immediately on the spot,” the Deputy commander of the Huila Police Nestor Florez informed, adding that Vargas “was in the process of being reinstated with the RNA.”

The former combatant, who was accredited by the National Reincorporation Agency, was developing agricultural projects in the rural area of that town.

Related: Colombia: Congress Votes to Confirm FARC as Political Party

​​​​​​​For his part, Ramiro Duran, a representative in Huila of the Common Alternative Revolutionary Force party (FARC)​​​​​​​, rejected this crime and indicated that as ex-members of FARC they fear for their safety.

Colombia continues to be one of the most unstable countries in the region due to the insecurity experienced by social leaders and former members of armed groups who signed the peace agreement.

In 2020, more than 20 social activists have been murdered in Colombia,  and according to the United Nations, since the peace agreement signing, more than 300 murders of human rights leaders have occurred.

So far, including Vargas, another four ex-FARC members and peace agreement signatories have been murdered in 2020.

This post was originally written for and published by TeleSUR English and appears here with permission.

https://geopoliticsalert.com/farc-peace-deal-assassinated

Mobilization4Mumia

215-724-1618

Mobilization4Mumia.com

mobilization4mumia@gmail.com

November 15, 2019                                   FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Pam Africa 267-760-7344 or Joe Piette 610-931-2615; mobilization4Mumia@gmail.com

JUSTICE DEMANDS ABU-JAMAL’S FREEDOM – NOT CONTINUED IMPRISONMENT TO APPEASE THE F.O.P. 

Mumia Abu-Jamal and his supporters are closer than ever to winning his release after 38 years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit. The Fraternal Order of Police, former district attorneys, and other political higher ups who participated in the frame up are now shaking in their boots because an innocent man may be given a new trial in which judicial, police and prosecutorial misconduct will be exposed.

Formerly hidden evidence disclosed by current District Attorney Larry Krasner justifies a new trial and Abu-Jamal’s immediate release. That decision is currently in the hands of State Superior Court judges. 

Pam Africa, of the International Concerned Family and Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal and a MOVE member, said “Abu-Jamal should have been released by Krasner on the basis of judicial and prosecutorial misconduct–as many others have been recently. By doing this,  Krasner would be following the color of the law.”

While Maureen Faulkner/Palkovic, widow of Daniel Faulkner, is being put forward as the face of the opposition in recent court proceedings, the real players behind the scenes are the FOP and their cronies. And they are dangerously worried. It is in the interest of the 6500-member FOP Lodge 5 to bring down Larry Krasner, the popular new DA with an anti-corruption agenda.  The FOPs’ campaign is nothing less than an effort to terrorize any court official who values justice more than letting an unfair conviction stand.

At a Nov. 12 press conference at the FOPs’ lodge, Faulkner claimed “I’m here for justice.” In 38 years, Faulkner and the FOP have never fought for justice. In fact, the FOP has a decades-long violent and racist history of defending every cop accused of police brutality and terror against Black and Brown and poor people.

Previous district attorneys were more concerned with getting high rates of convictions against African American and Latinx residents than actual justice. Their policies resulted in the unfair jailing of innocent people like Mumia Abu-Jamal and mass incarceration. “The police at the scene, supported by the FOP, also the prosecution under Edward Rendell knew that Mumia was innocent. The FOP and Faulkners’ recent attempt to remove DA Krasner from Mumia’s new appeals is just another cover-up ” said Rachel Wolkenstein, longtime Mumia supporter.

The FOP wants Abu-Jamal’s case to be taken from Krasner’s office and handled instead by conservative PA Attorney General Joshua Shapiro, who has staffed his office with several former assistant DAs fired from the Philadelphia DAs office – some of whom were complicit in Mumia’s unfair conviction.

DA Krasner says he found potentially damaging evidence about the prosecution’s trial witnesses in newly discovered files. He believes that evidence should be aired in court – but hasn’t said if Abu-Jamal deserves a new trial.

Abu-Jamal’s attorney Judith Ritter contends that the new evidence shows Abu-Jamal’s trial was “fundamentally unfair and tainted by serious constitutional violations.”

Abu-Jamal was a well-known political activist when he was severely beaten by police and charged with murder in 1981. Questions that have been suppressed and buried for decades could now could be made public for the first time during a new trial:

• DA Joe McGill paid off witnesses with favors and cash.
• McGill allowed a cab-driver witness with a suspended license to keep driving. (Photos of the crime scene by the Philadelphia Bulletin prove the cabbies’ car was literally not at the scene.) 
• Joe McGill illegally removed Black jurors.
• Joe McGill tracked and fixed the outstanding cases of other key witnesses.
• The DA’s office for 37 yrs withheld and suppressed critical information from Mumia’s criminal defense team.
• Judge Albert Sabo stated “I am going to help them fry the n*****” in front of Judge Richard Klein and court clerk Terry Maurer Carter.
• Alfonso Giordano–Philadelphia Police Commander — the highest ranking officer on the scene of officer Faulkner’s murder on Dec. 9th 1981 falsely stated that Mumia confessed while he was beating him in the police van.  

On Dec. 2, Krasner is expected to submit a response to arguments from Abu-Jamal’s lawyers for a new trial– taking a stand for justice against FOP intimidation.

The current FOP attack on DA Krasner is part of the 38 year effort to silence Abu-Jamal once and for all. We who believe in justice will not allow that to happen.

 ###

Honduras Solidarity Network

Last week, more than 3,000 people who left Central America escaping violence and misery were detained by Mexican security forces within hours of entering the country. The Migrant Caravan, started by Honduran refugees, is the most painful and recent evidence of the catastrophic consequences of U.S. and Canadian support for the regime of Juan Orlando Hernandez. All of these people have been sent to migrant detention centers for deportation. However, the Honduran refugees who were deported will try again: these people are not migrating, they are fleeing the violence, repression and poverty of a regime accused of corruption and drug trafficking. Today, international solidarity is more important than ever.

Join us in responding to the urgent call for accompaniment in Honduras! This delegation will focus on the Honduran Political Prisoners, the victims of political repression and on the human rights activists defending the environment and their communities. We will meet with Honduran organizations and grassroots movements representatives who are in the front lines of resistance. We will gather information and testimonies to hold US and Canadian officials accountable for their role in the human rights crisis increased in Honduras after the 2009 coup, for their support for Juan Orlando Hernández government, and for promoting the policies that force people to leave their country.

In the past, our delegations to Honduras have stopped an illegal eviction of a peasant cooperative in Rigores, accompanied cooperatives under threat of violence in the Aguan Valley, exposed fraud in the presidential election, and even accessed La Tolva Maximum Security Prison to visit Honduran Political Prisoners Edwin Espinal and Raúl Álvarez. Today, our friends and colleagues in Honduras ask for our solidarity. We count on you.

This delegation will be led by Vicki Cervantes (AFGJ board member/ Honduras Solidarity Network and La Voz de los de Abajo coordinator) and Eduardo García (AFGJ national co-coordinator). If you have any questions or are interested in joining the delegation, please contact Eduardo at eduardo@afgj.org or 202-540-8336 ext 7. As the planning goes forward, we will be able to share an agenda and more details.

Join this solidarity effort! Send an email today to eduardo@afgj.org to request your application form.

You can also click here to donate toward scholarships for black, indigenous and people of color youth who want to participate in the delegation but cannot afford the cost. Donate and send an email to eduardo@afgj.org to designate funds correctly.

This delegation is co-sponsored by La Voz de lxs de Abajo and Codepink, both members of the Honduras Solidarity Network.

In resistance,

Alliance for Global Justice

Lev Koufax, January 31, 2020

On Jan. 27, President Donald Trump, side by side with his partner in crime, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, announced their joint “Plan for Prosperity.” Trump touted this plan as a path to peace in the “Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”

The plan received support not only from Netanyahu, but also his political rival Benny Ganz. In particular, the continued existence of illegal Israeli settlements under the plan has been lauded by Israeli politicians. The Israeli ruling class is united on its apartheid policies against Palestine.

What Trump won’t tell you is that this isn’t a “conflict” at all. It’s the brutal oppression of the Palestinian people at the hands of the white supremacist state of Israel, based on the theft of Palestinian lands, and made possible by the United States. For more than seven decades, Washington has spent billions of dollars making the Zionist settler state its forward military base in Western Asia.

Trump also won’t tell you that his plan is about nothing more than setting in concrete the existing apartheid conditions in occupied Palestine.

A de facto state of apartheid has long existed for the Palestinian people. Nonetheless, Trump’s plan presents an escalation of the U.S.-Israeli strategy. To claim peace while putting forward a plan that does nothing to ease the violence of the Israeli state against the Palestinian people shows the lengths to which the U.S. will go to maintain its control over the region.

This “peace plan” is nothing more than a repetition of the policy of “Bantustan” territories in apartheid South Africa or the “Reservation Plan” for Indigenous peoples in the U.S. In both cases, promises of “self-governance” and “autonomy” were made. However, the apartheid regimes in South Africa and Washington only delivered segregation, poverty and violence.

There is no reason to believe that Trump’s plan is any different.

But there’s every reason to believe that the Palestinian people will resist, as they have since the Nakba (“catastrophe”) of 1948. Within hours of the Trump-Netanyahu announcement, Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza, Jerusalem and throughout the global diaspora responded with a thundering “NO!” Palestinians and supporters have taken to the streets in protest and will continue to undertake acts of resistance.

It’s the responsibility of people in the U.S. to support them.

From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free! End Israeli apartheid now!

Vigil to Honor Missing & Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls