FRFI 152 December 1999 / January 2000
Make a New Year’s resolution you can keep – boycott Bacardi!
Rock around the Blockade’s Boycott Bacardi campaign was in the news again in October, as the Independent on Sunday urged ‘Latin lovers boycott Bacardi’ (17 October), detailing Bacardi’s support for the US blockade and its manoeuvres to steal the trademark of Havana Club, the real Cuban rum. Interest in the campaign continues to grow internationally, with the German Cuba Friendship Society adopting our leaflet and an exchange of information with the Belgian Oxfam which campaigns against Bacardi. We’ve also done a radio interview with BBC World Service Caribbean. In Britain, material has appeared in the hip-hop press and even a grudging little comment from the Cuba Solidarity Campaign made its way into the autumn issue of Cuba Si. While a little nonplussed by what it considers our ‘aggressive direct action’ against Bacardi, Cuba Si nonetheless concedes that ‘the stage is set this winter for a highly effective campaign to highlight the role of Bacardi in supporting the US blockade and the drafting of anti-Cuban legislation’.
Campaign materials are available from the address below. Some activists, particularly in the Northwest and Midlands, have also found paint and marker pens inspiring when contemplating Bacardi’s widespread billboard lies. Meanwhile, if you’re based in London, sign up for our Bacardi Bar-busting Blitz on 18 December. The idea is to get sponsored for demonstrating outside every Cuban theme bar that sells Bacardi from Hackney to Waterloo, dressed in bat costumes, shaking buckets and generally spreading a little seasonal cheer! For a sponsorship form tel: 0171 837 1688. We are also planning a Smash the US blockade! Boycott Bacardi! national dayschool in the new year, with a provisional date of 12 February – contact us for more details.
Rocking all over the town
In London, regular club nights of hip-hop, funk and Latin music at Harpers Bar near Tufnell Park in October and November raised over £700 for Rock around the Blockade and are fast becoming an unmissable item on the London calendar! The next is planned for Saturday 12 February – join the party! On 1 November we held a meeting to commemorate the 32nd anniversary of the death of Che Guevara. We’ve held stalls at colleges in central London and at a Che exhibition at Barnet College as well as at the Cuba Solidarity Campaign’s postcard campaign to mark (a little belatedly) the 40th anniversary of the Cuba revolution, where we narrowly resisted eviction by irate CSC stewards. Our next campaign meeting is on Monday 6 December, 8pm, Conway Hall, Red Lion Square, London WC1.
In the Northwest, Rock around the Blockade held its annual sponsorship walk over Kinder Scout, planting a Cuban flag at the top and raising £250. At the University of Lancashire our Cuba Vive society signed up lots of new members, and stalls were held at the Manchester Metropolitan and Manchester University. We’ve joined People against Global Imperialism for a stall in Liverpool and attended the Sheffield Raise your Banners event, where we raised around £200. To get involved in Rock around the Blockade in the northwest, phone 01254 679605.
In the Midlands, Rock around the Blockade attended the human rights fair at the University of Lincoln and showed Rhythmic Revolutionaries, the late-night Channel 4 programme made by brigadistas Jim Carey and Dave Holman about their experiences on last year’s brigade. A number of people at the university were so inspired they now plan to set up a Lincoln Cuba Vive society. Midlands comrades have also held boot sales to raise funds and street stalls in Nottingham, Birmingham and Lincoln and at the end of November held a Boycott Bacardi meeting in Sparkhill, Birmingham. For details of Midlands events, contact Jim Craven on 01400 230 151.
In Bristol, the well-established Cuba Vive society signed up loads of members at the freshers’ fayre at the beginning of term and held its first, well-attended meeting in November. More events are planned – contact Naz on 0117 927 3981. Meanwhile in Cardiff despite all attempts by the student union bureaucracy to stifle the new Cuba Vive society, comrades have fought back against the prejudice and hypocrisy of SU members to hold well-attended meetings, leaflet students and organise some timely activity against a Bacardi promotion night at the college. They have finally succeeded in winning official recognition for their society. Contact Viktor: 01222 259 823.
All this activity means Rock around the Blockade has so far raised £2,500 towards a sound system for youth of Guantanamo in Cuba. It’s good – but it’s only halfway there. We need your help to raise the full £5,000. We’re encouraging activists all around the country to take part in a sponsored swim and Make a Splash for Cuba – phone 0171 837 1688. Or perhaps you could organise a car boot sale? Or send us a donation – all amounts gratefully received (cheques/ POs payable to Rock around the Blockade). And if you’re not yet a member of Rock around the Blockade, then join now!
Brigade to Cuba: a unique experience
Rock around the Blockade’s fourth brigade to Cuba will be leaving for Guantanamo, southeast Cuba on Saturday 15 April, returning on 29 April (though there are a limited number of places for a 1 May return, for those who want to stay on for the May Day celebrations in Havana). The brigade’s time will be split between agricultural work, political meetings, visits to hospitals, schools as well as recreational events. The cost will be around £650. To be considered for inclusion on this brigade you need to be able to commit yourself to working in solidarity with Cuba, before the brigade goes out and after its return, and be prepared to raise money for the sound system. For more information, contact us at Rock around the Blockade, c/o FRFI, BCM Box 5909, London WC1N 3XX.
