FRFI 204 August / September 2008
RATB tells Lloyds TSB, ‘Hands off Cuba!’
On 16 June 2008 The Guardian newspaper reported that Lloyds TSB Bank has written to customers who have dealings with Cuba telling them to cut off their links or take their business elsewhere. The letter states: ‘I must advise you to find alternative ways of making payments to your suppliers with Cuban connections’. This is a result of the Helms-Burton Act, a US federal law which strengthens the US blockade of Cuba by threatening sanctions against companies outside the US that trade with Cuba. RATB has responded by initiating a letter writing campaign and held a lively protest outside Lloyds TSB in Camden, London on 12 July. Contact us if you want to organise a protest outside your local Lloyds TSB branch.
Celebrating the Cuban Revolution
On 26 July, RATB celebrated 55 years since the attack on the Moncada Barracks that sparked the Cuban Revolution. A large crowd attended an all-day Cuba fiesta in Brixton, south London, enjoying Cuban food, salsa classes and live music. The event was supported by the RMT trade union, the Marti-Maceo Cultural Association of Cubans in Britain and the Movement of Ecuadorians in the UK. In Manchester and Edinburgh, city centre stalls brought Cuba’s anti-imperialist message out onto the streets. In Newcastle, RATB?organised an outdoor music concert, complete with a ‘hip-hopera’ telling the story of the Cuban Revolution, followed by a film.
Free the Cuban 5!
On 12 September, the Cuban 5 (see page 11) will have been unjustly imprisoned in the US for 10 years. On 5 and 7 June demonstrations were held in London, Liverpool and Glasgow, to condemn the court decision to turn down their latest appeal. In Newcastle the local RATB group showed the film Mission Against Terror about the case of the Five, and the terrorist attacks against Cuba that they were trying to prevent. On Saturday 13 September RATB will be organising actions around the country as part of international protests to mark the tenth anniversary of the Cuban 5’s incarceration.
Educational meetings
Regular RATB educational meetings and film showings in Newcastle, Manchester and London have addressed issues raised during the successful Cuba speaking tour earlier this year, not just about Cuba, but about the necessity of building socialism in Britain. In Manchester the monthly Cine Revolucion film club is being run by new RATB members. In London monthly educational meetings, are also led by new members. These have included discussions on the health and education systems in Cuba, which sparked serious analysis of the demise of the British welfare state.
There is now an organising group for RATB in London, open to anyone who wants to be active in defending socialist Cuba. If you would like to take part or set up a branch of RATB where you live please contact us.
EVENTS
LONDON
RATB monthly educational and
campaign meeting
Tuesday 12 August 7-9.30pm
Upstairs at Calthorpe Arms,,
Grays Inn Road WC1
Tuesday 9 September
Ring to confirm time and venue
Reading material from RATB
pamphlet, Revolutionary Cuba, the streets are ours
Order your copy for £3 (cheque or
postal order to Rock around the
Blockade) and send to BM RATB, London WC1N 3XX
Saturday 13 September 12-3pm
Rally to demand immediate release of the Cuban 5, political prisoners in US gaols on the tenth anniversary of their incarceration
North pavement of Trafalgar Square
For further information phone 020 7837 1688 or email [email protected]
MANCHESTER
Sunday 24 August 2pm
Film showing of Mission against Terror
Cross Street chapel, off Market Street
Saturday 13 September 12pm
Free the Cuban 5!
Defend socialist Cuba!
Piccadilly Gardens
Manchester RATB: [email protected]
07940 988 203
DURHAM
Saturday 16 August 12-3pm
Hungry for Change! Street action on the food and fuel crisis and biofuels
Framwellgate Bridge, bottom of Silver Street
NEWCASTLE
Friday 27 September 7pm
Public forum with Cuban
permaculturalist Roberto, featured in the film The power of community: how Cuba survived peak oil
Star and Shadow Cinema, Stepney Bank, Byker Bridge
Organised by North East Permaculture Network, supported by RATB.
DUNDEE
Thursday 25 September 7-9pm
The Revolution will not be televised – documentary account of the failed US backed coup against the Bolivarian Revolution in Venezuela in 2002
Room G3
Dundee University Tower,
Perth Road
Saturdays 12.30-2.30
Street stalls
Murraygate
