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Tribunal in
defense of the five Cuban heroes
• Large Cuban
delegation also to denounce the blockade of the island, and
expose the dangers of the FTAA and neoliberal globalization
THE sizeable
Cuban delegation participating at the 3rd World Social Forum
in Porto Alegre has very quickly entered into the activities
of an event bringing together 100,000 people in the Brazilian
city.
The future of
education in the five continents was the first tribunal
opened, attended by ministers from some 30 nations and UNESCO
representatives. The island’s educational achievements from
the 1961 literacy campaign to the current new programs aimed
at improving knowledge were outlined.
Cuban elementary
school student Gabriela Castellanos gave an improvised talk to
the 10,000 educators present; she offered greetings from the
island’s delegation and affirmed: "the Cuban people’s
struggle really shows that a new world is possible."
Her vibrant
message demonstrates why Porto Alegre continues to be a venue
for events as important as the World Social Forum.
A subject that
has awakened special interest is the report on the rigged
trial in the United States and the unjust sentences handed
down to the five Cuban patriots imprisoned in that country’s
jails. Relatives of Gerardo Hernández, René González, Ramón
Labañino, Fernando González and Antonio Guerrero are to
denounce the men’s situation in distinct tribunals. From
their cells, the five have sent messages of solidarity to the
thousands of representatives of NGO’s, institutions, ethnic
groups and other sectors meeting in the Brazilian city.
A roundtable and
other activities have been announced to discuss the situation
of the five prisoners of the empire. Additionally, Cuba’s
representatives will speak out against the Free Trade Area of
the Americas (FTAA), a neocolonial instrument of the U.S.
government, and the damage to Third World nations resulting
from the neoliberal policies of the Washington administration
and its allies. The serious difficulties that the U.S.
superpower’s criminal blockade creates for Cuba will be
aired once again at the forum.
The pro-peace
fight and rejection of war plans against Iraq, the problems of
Palestine, and the campaign to destabilize the constitutional
government in Venezuela are other issues to be raised by the
island’s representatives at the world event — now one of
the planet’s most significant political gatherings.
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