00:05At this hour, we go live to New York City in the United States, where a peace, where a solidarity
00:10rally is taking place called Voices for Peace, to demand the immediate end to the United States, economic blockade and
00:18fuel blockade against Cuba and the removal of the island from Washington's list of states sponsor of terrorism.
00:25In New York, the grassroots communities and grassroots activists will gather in the Bronx.
00:32Coinciding with the presence of international delegations at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, progressive coalitions took the
00:39struggle to the streets of the Bronx.
00:41Under the central banner, Cuba is not a threat. The blockades grassroots organizations denounce Washington's unilateral measures and subform a
00:53collective punishment against the Cuban people.
00:55The event comes with the participation of Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rorías Pajriba on the same day as his speech
01:02before the general debate of the United Nations General Assembly, where on behalf of the Cuban people and the Cuban
01:08government, he strongly condemned the United States' blockade on Cuba, as well as the multiple unilateral sanctions that the United
01:17States is currently imposing on various countries around the world.
01:21Especially those sanctions imposed on any country that would trade oil with Cuba.
01:28This event is organized by the Cuba Sea of New York-New Jersey Coalition and a local group such as
01:35Take Back the Bronx, bringing together civil rights advocates, black liberation movements and anti-war activists.
01:42Organizers emphasized that Washington's arbitrary inclusion of Cuba and the state's sponsor of terrorism severely suffocates the island's access to
01:52international finance, medicine and food.
01:55Demonstrators also reaffirmed their historical bonds of solidarity with Havana, bowing to intensified grassroots pressure inside the United States until
02:03full sovereignty, self-determination and justice are restored.
02:07This way, removing both the sanctions as well as the blockade, the economic, financial and fuel blockade imposed by the
02:17United States on the island.
02:23We are looking at the images of the Voices for Peace rally.
02:28Let's recall this is an event that is demanding the immediate end of the United States' economic blockade against Cuba
02:34and the lifting of sanctions against the country and against all countries that trade with Cuba, as well as the
02:40removal of the island from Washington's list of states sponsor of terrorism.
02:45This is taking place in the Bronx neighborhood of New York and is being organized by working-class communities and
02:54grassroots activists.
02:55It also comes with the presence of Foreign Minister of Cuba, Bruno Rodriguez Pajrilla, at the same day as his
03:02address before the United Nations General Assembly-General debate.
03:06Which is 81st session is taking place currently on the UN headquarters of New York City.
03:23We are looking at the images of the activists from the Voices for Cuba for Peace rally.
03:29Let's recall this is an event that is demanding an immediate end to the blockade imposed on Cuba both the
03:36economic, financial and fuel blockade.
03:44Under the theme, Cuba is not a threat, the blockade is.
03:48This event is taking place to demand Washington to stop the illegal blockade against the island and take out Cuba
03:56from the list of states sponsor of terrorism.
04:00They are condemning the blockade as a criminalization and as a widespread collective punishment against the entire Cuban population and
04:11are also condemning the blockade as a crime under international law.
04:20Let's listen now to Manolo Santos from the People's Forum on this subject.
04:26My name is Manolo and I'm an organizer with the People's Forum.
04:36And there couldn't be a better place to gather to welcome our friends from Cuba than Harlem.
04:43Than the Schomburg Center.
04:52Because Black America, against all odds, against the foreign policy of its own government, has always welcomed Cuba and its
05:01representatives.
05:02Especially when Washington would not.
05:08But also the fact that the Cuban delegation continues to insist on their right to come to Harlem is important
05:18to us because it affirms the unbroken friendship between our peoples that has gone through many decades.
05:26Thank you to the Schomburg for hosting us.
05:29This institution which has guarded our black history and culture for generations is also acutely important as we talk about
05:39solidarity and sovereignty tonight.
05:43Deputy Director Casey Matthews recalled the history of Arturo Alfonso Schomburg.
05:50This Afro-Puerto Rican who not only fought to save black culture in the diaspora, but actively was an organizer,
06:02a revolutionary in the battles against colonialism in the Caribbean.
06:06Who fought for the independence of Cuba and of his dear homeland, Puerto Rico.
06:13He was someone who actively defended with his own body the life of a comrade of his named Jose Marti,
06:20Cuba's national hero.
06:24Literally there were gangs trying to beat up Cuban revolutionaries in the streets of New York and Schomburg actually went
06:31out to defend Jose Marti.
06:39But we are here to talk about quite a serious and concerning topic.
06:45This is not an ordinary meeting.
06:48Cuba faces a war.
06:50It's not a war that is visible on the evening news.
06:54It is a silent war.
06:56It's a war with explosions that cannot be heard in the streets of New York, but they are bombs nonetheless.
07:06These are bombs that are detonating in the form of the economic strangulation of the Cuban people.
07:11It's a nation, an island that is being executed slowly every day.
07:20An island people who have to face constant deprivation.
07:25A genocide hidden from most of us, but that is working effectively through hunger.
07:32Through a blockade.
07:35Preventing medicine.
07:37Cutting off fuel.
07:38Preventing food, spare parts, and everything else from breaking into the country.
07:46And as we know very well, this is not an accident.
07:49This is actually by design of the U.S. government.
07:53From Trump to Rubio, they have wanted for months now to turn this war from a silent one into quite
08:02a loud and vicious one.
08:04They're not hiding it.
08:07They go up to the podium of the U.N. and threaten war on humanity.
08:13The threat of U.S. military intervention grows louder by the day.
08:18And they're testing us.
08:20They're floating it.
08:21They're trying to see if we're willing to accept it.
08:24Which is why we're here tonight.
08:26To say that we stand with the Cuban people.
08:28That we say no to war.
08:42But we are here to say something else too.
08:44We are here to say that Cuba is not a threat.
08:48Cuba has never been a threat.
08:51Cuba sends doctors where the U.S. sends soldiers.
08:55Cuba sends teachers where the U.S. drops bombs.
09:00So when Washington calls Cuba a threat, ask yourself.
09:05Ask your neighbors.
09:07Who is Cuba a threat to?
09:10A threat to what?
09:12A threat to empire?
09:14A threat to the billionaires who want to continue keeping the world running for their profit?
09:21We all know the real answer.
09:24Which is that the real threat is the U.S. blockade against the Cuban people.
09:33We all know, we all know that the real threat is the Trump administration and its actions that are punishing
09:41the Cuban people every single day.
09:42The real threat is a government in Washington that would rather starve a whole island, a whole population, rather than
09:53admit that it has been wrong for the past 60 years.
09:57We are not here to speak for ourselves.
10:00We are not here to speak for the left or progressives in this country.
10:04We are here to speak for millions of people in this country who in recent polls demonstrate over 60%
10:10oppose the threat of war against Cuba.
10:19There are millions of people in this country who look at Cuba and see a people who do not deserve
10:26to be genocided.
10:28They don't see the Cuban people as their enemies.
10:31And in fact, most of us look at Washington and see danger.
10:37We are here because we believe in a different future, one without wars, without blockades.
10:46We know Trump and the billionaires want war across the planet.
10:52But the most of our humanity, of our shared and collective humanity, want one basic thing, the right to live
11:02with dignity and sovereignty.
11:04We deserve our future where our lives are not being dictated by these billionaires, not by their profits, not by
11:11their wars, not by Trump or Rubio or anyone else in Washington.
11:15So tonight, we have invited organizers, speakers from across the country who reflect the diversity of voices who are standing
11:26up to this Trump agenda to bring war on the Cuban people.
11:30I'm really excited to announce that we have Rosemary Mealy with us.
11:41Dr. Rosemary Mealy has been a reference for anyone who calls themselves an organizer in New York and in many
11:47parts of the US.
11:50Not just because she has written effectively about the history that brought Malcolm X and Fidel Castro together in Harlem,
11:58but because her constant reflection always seeks to enlighten where the real problems in society are, not where Washington tries
12:08to tell us.
12:10We're also excited that we have Alexa Aviles, New York City Council member.
12:19I don't live in Alexa's district, but I consider myself a constituent.
12:24Because if there's a voice that we can all count on to raise the issues that must be raised, to
12:31confront the powers that be, no matter what the circumstances are.
12:36If there's a voice that stands with the people of New York City, but also with the peoples of the
12:41global south, it's our dear friend Alexa Aviles.
12:45We're also very excited to have with us a young woman coming very far to New York, Dailene Briñas, who's
12:55a labor organizer, but I think she would prefer that I emphasize that she is a young Cuban American who
13:02is for peace with her own people.
13:11We also have a young anti-war organizer from, some folks might want to debate this, but I still call
13:17it the deep south, part of the deep extended south, Texas.
13:22Rachel DeMond, an artist and organizer with the Answer Coalition.
13:31And lastly, we will hear from someone that Trump doesn't want you to hear, someone that the Trump administration would
13:41prefer that you never listen to, and that is the voice of the Cubans themselves.
13:45We're honored, we're honored to have with us tonight, Bruno Rodriguez Barrilla, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Cuba.
14:04So, as we listen to this program tonight, the emphasis is not just on the facts or the data, which
14:14demonstrate how the U.S. government is cruelly attempting to vanish the Cuban people off the face of the map.
14:24But as we listen to each other and enter this dialogue, it is in fact to gather all the courage
14:30necessary, all the commitment necessary, all of the solidarity necessary to once and for all break the blockade against the
14:39Cuban people.
15:09And that was the Voices for Peace rally held in New York City, in the neighborhood of the Bronx, which
15:16is a rally that is bringing together working-class communities and grassroots activists to denounce the impact of the country.
15:43We'll be back with more information.
15:49We'll be back with more information.
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