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 Cuban Stories by Maria Martinez 
  
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For joy!Members of the Congressional Black Caucus will be visiting Cuba next week. I wonder if they'll inquire as to the health status of Afro-Cuban prisoner of conscience Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet. I wonder if they'll stop by the home of Antunez and see how he's doing. 8 comments to For joy! |
      
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We should fill theirs, and Amnesty's in baskets about them. Will it make a difference? No, but they won't ever be able to say they didn't know. Maybe we should issue a well timed press release speculating whether or not they will be able to free Dr. Biscet, with an emphasis on why he should especially matter to the black caucus.
Why don't we start a an email campaign to them letting them know who these people are and where they are.
these congressmen might only know where the crack houses are in their hood.
Give us their names
Ziva, that's a good idea: a press release. Taking that idea to the next step, a paid advertisement in a few major newspapers would be even better, but of course, we don't have institutions with the funding to do that. So, press releases and as Waijiro said, a letter writing campaign. Perhaps in conjunction with that college group RAICES. I was seeing in their website that they do letter writing campaigns, but then again, these congressmen will probably not really care what we have to say to them since we aren't in their districts. So individual letters to them might just go in the waste paper basket. Probably press releases would them be the best option.
[...] what Rep. Barbara Lee and the Congressional Black Caucus are basically saying with regards to Cuba: "It's a country that we've had an embargo against for what, 40 years, but it hasn't worked," Lee [...]
Apparently you can only send Congresswoman Lee an e-mail if you are one of her constituents. Nevertheless, we can send e-mail messages to the Congressional Black Caucus directly at: congressionalblackcaucus@mail.house.gov. There is nothing keeping any of us from sending a note, no matter how brief, to ask that they make an effort to meet with dissidents in Cuba who can speak to the particular plight of Black Cubans. Here is the letter I just e-mailed:
To the Members of the Congressional Black Caucus,
I am writing to ask that you make time during your trip to Cuba next week, to actively seek out the opinions and ideas of Cuba’s growing dissident movement. For fifty years the Castro regime has systematically denied its citizens their most basic human rights as guaranteed under the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Cubans do not have access to a free press, may not assemble without fear of government persecution, may not establish independent political parties, and cannot travel abroad without the express permission of the Cuban government. Many of the members of the Congressional Black Caucus are veterans of our own country’s Civil Rights struggles and know, perhaps better than most, how a free press, the ability to assemble publicly and the ability to speak freely are critical to the full exercise of our rights as human beings. I encourage you to actively seek out and make common cause with the brave men and women who struggle every day to create a truly free Cuba. As visiting representatives of the American people, you have a unique opportunity to ask to speak with people such as Yoani Sánchez, Oscar Elias Biscet, Oswaldo Paya, and Jorge Luis Garcia Pérez and to hear from them the often stark truth of daily life in Cuba.
Thank you.
Henry,
Are the Babalu expert on economics, I have a question for you regarding the C Economy, but I would like to ask you directly. What is your email?
Gabe,
You can email me or henry by clicking on the links on the sidebar with our names on them.
There's a contact us section in the right sidebar.