March/April 2006 Bi-monthly Newsletter of the Canadian-Cuban Friendship Association Toronto $1.00 Vol. 27.

A twenty-four hour vigil for Cuban victims of U.S. government-supported terrorism took place in Havana
facing the U.S. Interest Section. Relatives of the victims held up a large picture of their deceased family member.
Story by Susan Hurlich on page 4

DFAIT CONSULTATIONS — HULL/QUEBEC

Feb 7/8 2006 — from Helen Santek, CCFA Niagara
The 62nd sessions of the UN/CHR (United Nations Commission on Human
Rights) are scheduled to take place in Geneva from March 13 to April 21, 2006.
Join us at our
In preparation for the Geneva Convention, the Canadian government agency
DFAIT (Dept. of Foreign Affairs and International Trade) held its yearly
Annual
consultations in Hull this year, having issued invitations to all interested parties General Meeting
and NGOs (Non Governmental Organizations) who wished to submit a
presentation to a specific workshop. (Continued on page 2)

Thursday 25 May/06 6:30pm

Recycle Your Bikes — to Cuba
6:30pm Refreshments
Come out and volunteer to load bikes onto a container 7:30pm Program – details will be
in the May issue of Amistad
that will go to Cuba.
CCFA Toronto
Food and Refreshments at the
Greek-Canadian Democratic
March 18/06 10am to 2pm Organization storefront
Need about 30 volunteers so no one will be overworked. 290 Danforth Ave
(east of Chester Subway station)
If you can help, contact Harold Hosein for details at:
haroldhosein@rogers.com See you there! Everyone welcome!
2 Amistad
DEFAIT CONSULTATIONS — Cont. from page 1
All told, 26 workshops took place over the two days.
The inevitable U.S. sponsored resolution condemning the
human rights record of Cuba is expected to once again
surface this year like Medusa’s Head.
Friends of Cuba in attendance presented a total of eleven
presentations urging officials to vote against the anticipated
U.S. resolution condemning Cuba for perceived human
rights violations.
Among the Friends of Cuba were: Phillip LaRoux — Table
de Concertation; Marvin Glass — Chair of CNC;
Michael Walsh — Amies de Quebec; Roger Clement —
Ottawa/Cuba Connections; Lee Lorch and Geoffrey
Allen — CCFA Toronto; Jim Docherty — CCFA
Kingston; Elizabeth Hill — Association of United
Ukrainian Canadians; Dave Thomas and Helen Santek
— CCFA Niagara; as well as a few people who gave
friendly addresses but were not associated with the Cuban
friendship groups. A few written briefs were also submitted.
UN/CHR Condemn U.S. Guantanamo Detention Centre
— Having barely reached home, the explosive accusations
of the five independent experts who serve as monitors for
the UN Human Rights Commission hit world headlines. In
great detail, their report starkly points an accusatory finger
directly at the infamous U.S. Guantanamo Detention Centre.
The ugliness of Camp Gitmo finally stands exposed to the
world like a horror movie. Muslims randomly shanghaied
like game by U.S.military, blindfolded, trussed up and
transported directly to the Guantanamo hell hole. Prisoners
held with no hope of a trial, prisoners tortured indiscrimi-
nately, prisoners who, to this day, are anonymously
incarcerated with charges laid and condemned to a
malodorous purgatory.
U.S.accusations condemning human rights in Cuba,
however falsely represented, are downright surreal in
comparison. Utilizing the tortured logic of a serial
fabricator, the U.S. continues to falsify its modus operandi
not only in Cuba, but around the world as well.
Our presentations in Hull — It is difficult to gauge the
impact of our presentations in Hull, and more so, to second-
guess how Canada will cast its valuable vote on the U.S.
resolution condemning Cuba. [ In the past, Canada has not
abstained but voted supporting the US. resolution]
We hope that the international assembly in Geneva
will judge the expected U.S. condemnation of Cuban human
rights altruistically and ethically. The accumulating
evidence makes the task of separating the wheat from the
chaff much easier.
In the glare of world opinion that will follow, Canada
must give credence to the image of decency, honour and
fairness that we are known for around the world. Voting down
the U.S. resolution is the right thing to do.
Cuban Travel and Bank Info by Chico Oyler
This last trip to Havana I used the “Amigo Travel Card” from
Transcard. www.amigotravelcard.com
Transcard has some advantages over using credit cards and
traveller’s cheques. The fees are lower than credit card
companies, and the card is usable in many different places.
And most major Cuban cities also have Transcard offices.
However, the one day when I really needed money, Presidente
Chavez came to town and all the banks closed at noon.
Normally the Banco Financiero Internacional (BFI) is open
from 8:00am - 3:00pm, Monday - Friday. It was 2:00pm. and
the Cuban friend we were with said “Don’t worry, the
Cadecas in the Coppelia (Ice Cream Parlour in Vedado) at
23rd and L are open until 4:00pm.” Be forewarned! You
cannot use your Transcard at the Cadeca, but you can change
CDN $’s or use your credit card.
Another tip —take brand new CDN bills when you travel to
Cuba. If the bills are not in MINT CONDITION — if they
are torn or written on in any way — you may not be able to
exchange them for Convertible Pesos.
Volunteer in Cuba – Join the Canadian
‘Che Guevara’ Work Brigade!
Spend 3 weeks in Cuba doing agricultural or other work
alongside Cubans. Gain a personal and intimate understanding
of Cuba’s achievements.
Departure from Toronto
and other cities
the end of July or in Feb.
All ages welcome.
For more info:
www.canadiannetworkoncuba.ca/brigade
che_guevara_brigade@yahoo.com
The CCFA Toronto extends sympathy to
the family and friends of
Gina Ocaranza
who died 20 February, 2006 after a long illness.
A long time, active member of Free the Cuban Five Toronto
Committee and a Chilean Freedom Fighter
Amistad
José Martí’s 153rd Birthday Celebration
Recently back
from a trip to Cuba
with her parents,
Councillor Joe
Mihevic’s young
daughter Catherine
greeted this year’s
José Martí birthday
diners in Spanish
while helping
Joe MC this popular
CCFA Toronto event.
Toronto City Councillor Joe Mihevc and
his daughter Catherine
Toronto Cuban Consul General, Laureano Cardoso, praised
CCFA Toronto as one of the older solidarity groups in the
world. “You make a lot of effort to strengthen friendship
between Canada and Cuba,” he said.
Professor Keith Ellis spoke of the healing work Cuban doctors
perform throughout the world, citing thousands of eye-
operations in Venezuela and recent medical aid in remote areas
of Pakistan. “ Cuba uses science for life,” he said.
Then Professor Ellis quoted Nicholas Guillen’s poem:
Se Acabó (It’s Over)
Martí promised it to you
And Fidel carried it out;
oh, Cuba, it’s over,
it’s over forever here,
it’s over,
the thick manatee whip
with which the Yankee beat you.
It’s over.
Marti promised it to you
and Fidel carried it out.
It’s over.
Mitzi Concha read verses from Martí in English and Spanish,
and then regaled the audience with some spicy, little known
details about his love life.
As usual, Pablo Terry and his band “Sol de Cuba”
delighted dancers and listeners alike.
OUR THANKS to all the volunteers who made this
evening an enjoyable success for everyone.
3
by Ann Nicholson
Jean Shek,
a lucky
winner of
one of
the three
bottles
of
Havana
Club rum.
Thirty-five visits to Cuba
Marge and John Nielen of Barrie, Ontario love Cuba.
So much so, that Marge has visited 35 times, while her
husband John is just two trips behind.
“We first came in 1975 with Unitours. One week at El
Tropico in Jibacoa, between Varedero and Habana cost
$349,” said Marge, who used to work for the Industrial
Accident Prevention Association.
They have since travelled almost all over the Island,
although a favourite spot is Marea del Portillo in
Manzanillo province. “We’ve been here 21 or 22 times,
said John, a retired District Sales Manager for Hiram
Walker.
Why do they come? “The people, the scenery, the
peacefulness,” said John. “It’s the right price and Cubans
are fantastic people,” adds Marge.
John always brings tools and useful items, such as
door handles, soldering irons and spirit levels with him.
Back home, Marge collects eye glasses which she brings
to the clinic in Pilon.
4 Amistad
One Week in Cuba:
Two Significant Events
excerpts, by Susan Hurlich, 10 Feb/06, Habana
1 — José Martí Prize for President
of Venezuela —
Upon receiving the UNESCO-
International “José Martí Prize” on
Susan Hurlich
February 3rd, Hugo Chavez Frias, (photo by Liz Hill)
President of Venezuela, kept over
200,000 people spellbound as he spoke
brilliantly — and at times poetically — in Plaza de la Revolucion.
Nominated by six Latin American countries, UNESCO cast a
unanimous vote that confirmed the award to Chavez, who was
warmly embraced by Fidel after the latter bestowed the honour.
It was Fidel who spoke about the impressive social programs that
the Chavez government has been implementing for the past seven
years for the Venezuelan people: the Literacy Campaign, which
touched 1.5 million people and, when it concluded last October,
led to Venezuela being declared free of illiteracy, then Mission
Robinson 2 (up to 6th grade), Mission Ribas (adults completing
high school), Mission Sucre (higher education), etc. Similar
programs are burgeoning in Venezuela’s health care system.
Chavez spoke mainly about the two intellectual and visionary
pillars of Latin American liberation: Simon Bolivar and José
Martí and how, if one truly follows in their footprints, the social
well-being of a people will naturally be front and centre in the
concerns of any nation As he spoke, Chavez wove in and out of
not only Venezuela’s history of struggle — talking about such
revolutionary patriots as Simon Rodriguez (Bolivar’s teacher),
Antonio José de Sucre, Francisco Miranda and others — but also
the history of the entire Latin American continent. He made
frequent references to the region’s powerful aboriginal history,
and to how Evo Morales, in becoming the first indigenous person
in the continent to be elected president of a nation (Bolivia), is
fulfilling the prophecy of famous Inca leader Tupac Katari, who,
just before his
death when being
quartered by the
Spanish conquista-
dores, said, “I am
going, but one day
I will return in the
millions.”
As Chavez says, and in this he underscores what Fidel himself has
always said, the only true guarantee for the development and
future of a nation is to have an educated, thinking people. Chavez
told the story about how Brazilians living in the mountainous
areas in the northern part of the country are going daily — by bus,
bicycle, car, on foot — to communities just on the other side of
the border with Venezuela to participate in classes under Mission
Sucre. It’s irrepressible — the desire for education. And it’s
all part of the increasing integration that is slowly but
surely taking on more force in Latin America, an integra-
tion in which both Cuba and Venezuela play a very central
role. First Venezuela, then Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and
Chile. And now Bolivia, to whom Chavez will donate his
U.S. $5,000 award prize to help combat the ravages of the
recent floods.
In Chavez’s words, this integration could be called many
different things: the Alternativa Bolivariana para las
Americas (ALBA) or the Martí Alternative of the Americas
(ALMA). It’s perhaps no accident, as Chavez says, that in
Spanish, ALBA means “dawn” and ALMA means “soul.”
2 — Twenty-Four Hour Vigil for Cuban Victims of U.S.
Government supported terrorism —
A solemn ceremony on February 6-7 took place at the
recently expanded “José Martí” Anti-Imperialist Tribune in
homage to those Cubans who have been victims of terrorist
activities organized, financed or supported by the U.S.
government. Cuban youth, dressed in black T-shirts, hoisted
138 black flags, each with a large single white star in the
middle on new flag poles located in front of the U.S.
Interest Section. (photo on page 1)
In the words of Carlos Alberto Cremata, president of the
Committee for the Victims of the Crime of Barbados,
“they are white stars over a black background, representing
the light of a people twho are in pain and mourning for
their children and families.” Cremata was just a little boy
when, in 1976, he learned that his father, co-pilot of the
Cuban airline that was carrying the country’s entire
national youth fencing team back home, was killed when
his plane was downed by a bomb blast just off the coast of
Barbados, killing all 73 on board.
After the flag raising, a group of relatives and friends of
the victims began a 24-hour vigil — facing the U.S.
Interest Section — in which they each held a large picture
of their beloved departed family member. These 138
picutures of victims represent the 3,478 Cubans who,
since 1959, have died as a result of U.S. orchestrated a
nd/or assisted terrorist acts: the 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion,
the 1976 Cuban airline bombing, a string of bombings in
hotels in Havana in the late 1990s and more. Plus 2,099
Cubans were disabled in these attacks.
For 24 hours, in dignity, sadness and determination, they
stood. Every 15 minutes, those holding the placards
changed. People from all sectors of Cuban society —
workers, students, elders, artists, etc. And from all the
mass organizations — women, farmers, the Committees in
Defense of the Revolution, — took part.
(cont. on page 8)
Amistad
HOW THE BLOCKADE AGAINST CUBA AFFECTS US ALL
Excerpts from a speech by Foreign Minister Roque:
We all know that the 45-year-old blockade imposed by the
United States against Cuba has caused severe hardships for the
Cuban people. What some of us may not know is that it is also
causing great economic difficulties for the rest of the world.
When Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Peréz Roque addressed
the United Nations General Assembly prior
to its vote on the blockade, some startling
facts emerged in his speech.
Mr. Peréz said that “in May 2004, the
Swiss bank, UBS, was fined 100 million
dollars, the largest fine ever to be imposed on a banking institu -
tion for having supposedly violated the sanctions against Cuba.”
The Minister explained that “over these past almost 47 years,
the blockade has cost the Cuban people 82 billion dollars.”
He then went on to list company after company around the
world that has been adversely affected by the blockade [a few
are listed below]:
When the Brazilian company ORO ROJO was bought out by an
American company, it cancelled its sale of tinned meat to Cuba,
which formed part of the diet of people suffering from AIDS…
On February 7, 2005 the FIRST CARIBBEAN INTERNA-
TIONAL BANK of the Bahamas cancelled its transactions with
Cuba due to the threat posed by the Government of the United
States. The British bank, BARCLAYS, commented recently that
it would do the same out of fear of U.S. sanctions. The Canadian
company, VECO, which operates partially with American
capital, had to cancel its planned participation in the develop-
ment of capacities for fuel storage in Cuba.
When the Danish company, SABROE, was bought by the U.S.
company YORK, the existing operation to sell refrigeration
compressors to Cuba, an integral part in the Cuban plan to
distribute soy yogurt to children aged 7 and 13, was cancelled.
It is because of this that, since 2004, the Dutch company,
INTERVET, has been banned by the United States government
from selling avian vaccines to Cuba, on the grounds that they
contain an antigen produced in the United States.”
The Mexican company, VAFE S.A. had to cancel the sale to
Cuba of a material needed to produce domestic pressure
cookers; it contained a raw material from the United States.
In September 2004, the Swiss airline, NOVAIR, cancelled the
lease contract with Cubana de Aviación of an Airbus 330,
because it could not receive maintenance owing to the fact that,
although the aircraft was made in Europe, it was produced using
American technology.
5
In October 2004, the Japanese company, HITACHI HIGH
TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION, was unable to sell
an electronic microscope to a prestigious Cuban hospital
for the same reasons.
“The blockade prohibits companies from third countries
those which you are representing here - from exporting
any product or equipment to the United States if it
contains any Cuban raw material. Not one company in the
world is allowed to export preserves to the United States
if they contain Cuban sugar. Not one company in the
world can export automobiles or any other equipment to
the United States without first proving that the metal used
to make them does not contain Cuban nickel.”
“The blockade imposed by the Helms-Burton Law,
prohibits companies from third countries from making
investments in Cuba, under the pretext that these are
linked to properties that could be claimed by the United
States. Because of this executives from the Canadian
company SHERRITT have been penalized, and last year,
the Jamaican company, SUPERCLUBS, under this same
threat, pulled out of trade with Cuba.”
He concluded by saying that “the blockade affects not
only the rights but the economic interests of the United
States. According to a study made in June 2005 and
published by the Business and Research Centre of the
University of Southern Alabama, if the blockade were to
be lifted, 100 thousand new jobs would be created and an
additional income to the value of 6 billion would be
generated for the American economy.”
Mr. Peréz Roque’s speech gives us more than enough
reasons to convince everyone why the blockade must be
lifted – now!
In Canada, the mastercard company MBNA Canada recently
hired a US service company and now Canadian citizens are told
they can not use their card in Cuba! UPS Canada refuses to
pick up anything from the Cuban Embassy or Consulates in
Canada! and so on.... Is Canada a sovereign country or are we
already just a colony of the USA?
Canada Cuba Literary Alliance
www.CanadaCubaLiteraryAlliance.org
Submit prose, poetry, b/w Art; b/w photography to the
CCLA Members’ Anthology Deadline May 30, 2006
We are also publishing a special chapter with the theme of
“The Sky” for members or non-members.
The members’ anthology is an essential part of our mis-
sion to advance literary solidarity between Canada and
Cuba. For info or to become a member, contact:
RichardGrove@CanadaCubaLiteraryAlliance.org
6 Amistad
U.K. Cuba Solidarity Campaign for the Five
Nobel prize winner, Harold Pinter, 110 Members of Parliament, the
Mayor of London, and 15 Trade Union General Secretaries are among
10,000 British names on an open letter sent by U.K. Cuba Solidarity
Campaign to the US Attorney General calling for the immediate
release of the Cuban Five.
These signatures join ten other Nobel Prize Winners and more
that 5,000 intellectuals, Amnesty International and the US National
Council of the Churches of Christ.
An early motion in support of the Cuban Five introduced in
the House of Commons in 2002 was signed by112 MPs, including
Robin Cook, the former UK. Foreign Secretary and Leader of the
House of Commons.
The open letter was released by the British Cuba Solidarity
Campaign (CSC) in advance of the new hearing on February 13, 2006
to gain publicity for the cause of the Five. Many British MPs were
moved to add their names to the letter after a meeting at the House of
Commons with Olga Salanueva, wife of René González during her
visit to the UK. with her daughter Ivette. Olga and her seven-year-old
daughter have been unable to visit René for five years
because the U.S. refuses to grant her a visa.
Open Letter Wording:
Mr. Alberto Gonzales, Attorney General of the U.S. of A.
According to information supplied by International Press, on August
9, 2005, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta declared
null and void the decision passed in Miami which had condemned
Gerardo Hernández Nordelo, René González Sehwerert, Ramón
LabaZino Salazar, Antonio Guerrero Rodríguez and Fernando
González Llort for infiltrating the extremist Cuban American groups
in the south of Florida in order to obtain information about terrorist
activities directed against Cuba. Their prison sentences had already
been declared illegal by the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention of
the Human Rights Commission of the United Nations.
For the past seven years, these five young men have been held in
maximum security prisons; they have been held incommunicado in
isolated cells for long periods of time and two of them have been
denied the right to receive family visits.
At this present time, considering the nullification of the sentence,
nothing justifies their incarceration. This arbitrary situation, which is
extremely painful for them and their families, cannot be allowed to
continue. We, who have signed below, are demanding their immediate
liberation.
Further info at the following websites:
www.cuba-solidarity.org.uk www.antiterroristas.cu
www.freethefive.org and at www.canadiannetworkoncuba.ca
www.freethecubanfive-toronto.com
Media Fund for the Freedom of the
Cuban Five
There is an International effort to raise $250,000
US dollars in order to pay for a media strategy
in the US to publicize the case of the Cuban
Five. These five Cubans are imprisoned in US
jails because of their activities to prevent
terrorist acts against Cuba.
A sub committee of the CCFA Toronto is being
established to help in this effort. I am part of
this sub committee which is working jointly
with the Canadian Network of Cuba. This is a
six month campaign (started in January).
Despite winning their appeal last August, the
five Cubans are still being held captive. The
United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary
Detention in May 2005, also declared the Miami
trial as “illegal.”
The Five Heroes Freedom Fund in the U.S. is
not for payment of legal fees; it is for spotlight-
ing the truth about the Cuban Five, not just by a
second full page ad in the New York Times, but
to meet the needs of a media strategy for a full
scale all-out fight for their freedom. Updated
information on the case of the Cuban Five can
be found at:
www.canadianetworkoncuba.ca
www.freethefive-toronto.com
Donations (payable to ‘Mackenzie-Papineau
Memorial Fund’) can be mailed to
S. Skup, Treasurer, 56 Riverwood Terrace,
Bolton, Ontario, L7E 1S4.
On the memo line, write:
“Media Fund for the Cuban 5”
You will receive a tax receipt from the charity
and 100% of your donation goes towards the ad
and publicity to inform the US public of the
unjust imprisonment of the Five.
If you would like to get involved with the sub-
committee of the CCFA Toronto, please phone
me at 416-654-7105. This is a critical time –
your efforts and support are important.
Elizabeth Hill,
President, CCFA Toronto
Amistad 7

Cuba’s Coffee Revolution — From CCFA Kingston

Organic and Shade Grown
Excerpts from Greenliving Magazine, Spring 2005 by Gillian Deacon
You are hereby cordially invited to
Torontonians love their coffee. An astonishing 1,630 retail
coffee oulets have sprung up across the city, selling
participate in the
900,000 cups of coffee a day.

But have you ever wondered where all those coffee beans 1st Trilateral Sister
come from and, more importantly, the effect of such a
huge demand on coffee-producing countries? Here are a
few facts to give you a real jolt:
Cities Conference
Canada – Cuba – United States
-Three square centimetres of rainforest are destroyed for every cup consumed.
-Coffee is one of the most heavily pesticide-sprayed food crops in the world. June 9 -11, 2006*
-Coffee is the number-one source of water pollution in most producing regions. Kingston, Canada
(*June 8th arrival recommended)
Derek Zavislake is CEO of Merchants of Green Coffee, a Toronto-based We welcome you to stay longer to enjoy the Kingston
importer of specialty, organic, fair-trade coffees. “The thing that makes overall Area, vacation packages available!
coffee production the number one cause of rainforest destruction,” he says, “ is
the trees in the regions surrounding the coffee plantations are cut down both to HOW FORMAL
accommodate sun-grown coffee trees and to provide firewood to fuel the drying ‘PEOPLE TO PEOPLE
ovens, which dry the beans before they are ready for export.”
PARTNERSHIPS’
Even though a few mainstream outlets offer at least one organic choice, not all THROUGH OFFICIAL
organic coffees are created equal. However a cup of Cuban coffee is guaranteed MUNICIPAL TWINNING
guilt-free. In contrast with the heavily industrialized production of most other ADVANCE PEACEFUL
coffee-producing countries, Cuba stands out as an example of how pure and RELATIONSHIPS
simple coffee production can be.
BETWEEN NATIONS
It’s an ironic situation. Decades long US economic sanctions against Cuba left
farmers without the access or means to pay for the chemicals and machinery
required for more modern production. Because they have been forced to rely on
traditional methods and available resources, Cuban coffee farmers have now Co-Sponsored by:
become heroes in the world market for their organic, shade grown beans. Kingston-Cienfuegos Sister City Association
& the U.S. - Cuba Sister Cities Association
In the El Oriente region, where the most popular Cuban beans are grown, small (USCSCA)
family farms have been growing coffee for over 150 years. Pruning and
weeding are done with machetes. Most Cuban farmers diversify their plantings Canadian, Cuban & US speakers and dignitaries
with orange, banana and grapefruit trees, placed to create the right shade
conditions for the coffee trees. No synthetic chemical fertilizers or pesticides
are used. The natural protection against leaf rust is a colourful tree snail that
If you are interested in how to twin your
feeds on the fungi that threaten coffee trees. All the beans are picked by hand, city with a city in Cuba, here are answers
by people who learned these methods from their grandparents.” and tips on how to go about it.
For information and registration details,
As the market for organic products takes off, with a growth rate of 20 per cent including travel assistance & logistical
(compared with 2 per cent for traditional foods), Cuban coffee is already the
number one choice in Japan and Europe.
information, contact: Ms. Judy Gallant
Email: jgallant@kos.net
The kicker, of course, is that the qualities that make the Cuban product more or 1-613-542-6749 (evening)
valuable mean these traditional methods must be maintained.
The City of Kingston, on the 17th November 2004,
Enter two Canadian organizations in partnership with Merchants of Green became the first Canadian city to officially twin
Coffee, all with an eye on the sustainability of the coffee industry in Cuba. with a Cuban city when it publicly confirmed a
World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Canada has had conservation teams on the ground
Sister City agreement with the City of Cienfuegos,
in Cuba since 1994. With added funding from the Canadian International
and to date, remains the only Canadian city to
Development Agency (CIDA), WWF Canada has created a program that allows
(continued on page 8)
have done so. (continued on page 8)
8 Amistad

Twinning - cont. from page 7 The topics to be explored will include: Cuban Coffee - cont. from page 7
Canadian coffee consumers
1)The logistics of forming Sister City relationships or ‘Twinning’; the Advan- to give something back to the
tages and the Process, Empowerment of Local Grassroots Community; Cuban farmers themselves.

2)The value of diverse people-to-people exchanges, the provision of forums for Cuban coffee with the WWF Canada seal
people-to- people diplomacy; The Benefits of Exchanges: Education, of approval costs an extra 25 cents per
Healthcare, Social Services pound which is channelled directly to the
local farmers, helping to pay for medical
3)The exchange of ideas between members of the represented municipalities clinics, educational materials and some
from the three participating countries; Twinning: The Potential for Increased sustainable equipment for the growers.
Commerce “The ultimate goal — a solar powered
4)The embracing by Canadian municipalities of the Sister City movement with dryer — to cut the assault on surrounding
municipalities in Cuba; Twinning and Arts and Culture forests for firewood,” says Zavislake.
“This is more about putting your $2.99
5)The empowerment of people and their communities through exchanges such latte towards a structured program operated
as: Non Profit Sector: Sport Exchanges; Cultural Exchanges; Educational by a trusted conservation organization to
Exchanges; Healthcare Exchanges; Environmental Protection; Emergency maintain high environmental stands in
Preparedness Cuba whole improving the conditions of
For Profit Sector: Tourism; Manufacturing; Imports and Exports (Agrifood) working farmers there.”
CCFA TORONTO STATEMENT The
Canadian-Cuban Friendship Association Toronto is
Twenty-Four Hour Vigil for Cuban Victims of U.S. Government active in promoting friendship, respect and co-op-
supported terrorism — cont. from page 4 eration between Canadian and Cuban peoples. Our
activities are directed to providing info/events about
Cuba to the public in areas such as culture, health,
Throughout the 24 hours, there was a special TV program including inter- education, sports, etc., to defend both Cuban and
views with family members of the victims. Short clips were shown document- Canadian sovereignty from U.S. interference and
ing the many terrorist acts to have taken place against Cuba. For Cubans, the to end the illegal U.S. blockade of Cuba.
protest is not just against terrorism against their own country and its citizens,
Amistad Editorial Committee
but against terrorism against any people anywhere in the world, including Editor: Ann Nicholson
against people within the U.S. itself. Assoc.Editor: Ardis Harriman Prod: Sharon Skup
Distribution: Doug Oyler, Diane Bell
Amistad is a bi-monthly newsletter of the CCFA
Cuba does not want revenge. Cuba wants justice. It is in this light that Toronto produced with volunteer labour. The Edito-
Cremata and other speakers at the opening ceremony denounced President rial Cmte reserves the right to edit submitted material.
The opinions expressed are not necessarily those of
George W. Bush’s government for wanting to free Luis Posada Carriles, who, the editorial staff. We encourage everyone interested
along with Orlando Bosch, masterminded the Barbados bombing and many to submit media articles, editorial ideas or letters. Pro-
other attacks. Bosch, who was pardoned from other crimes by former duced with volunteer labour/Photocopied by union
employees. Deadlines the 10th of every even month.
President George Bush (George W’s father), today lives in Miami.