Rallies in Bilbao, Donostia, Gasteiz and Iruñea on 23 June: "Biden, listen to the world: Unblock Cuba!

On that day, the United Nations General Assembly will call on the US to end the blockade of Cuba.

After the success of the solidarity boat along the Bilbao estuary with the same slogan, "Biden, entzun mundua: Unblock Cuba! (Biden, listen to the world: Unblock Cuba!), around 70 associations of Cuban emigrants, trade unions, parties and collectives in the Basque Country have called for four rallies in the cities of Bilbao, Bilbao, Bilbao, Bilbao, Bilbao, Bilbao, Bilbao, Bilbao, Bilbao, Bilbao, Bilbao, Bilbao, Bilbao, Bilbao, Bilbao, Bilbao, Bilbao, Bilbao, Bilbao, Bilbao, Bilbao, Bilbao, Bilbao, Bilbao, Bilbao, Bilbao and Bilbao, four rallies in the cities of Bilbao (Arenal- in front of the Arriaga), Donostia-San Sebastián (Boulevard), Vitoria-Gasteiz (Virgen Blanca) and Pamplona-Iruñea (Plaza del Castillo), simultaneously with the vote in the United Nations General Assembly, where, on that day, the US will be called upon, for the 29th time, to end the blockade of Cuba. On the last occasion, the result was 187 votes to three.

These rallies will have a brief cultural space, with artists from Cuba and the Basque Country, such as the troubadour Orlis Pineda (in Bilbao) and bertsolaris (improvisers).

On 23 June, the organisations will present the final balance sheet and will conclude the fund-raising campaign "Syringes for Cuba", to support mass immunisation on the island with their own vaccines, an unprecedented event among the countries of the South and a clear demonstration of resilience in the face of the blockade, which hinders the purchase of fungible health material. In the Basque Country as a whole, funds have already been obtained for half a million syringes.

The US blockade, reinforced in the last four years with 242 new sanctions, has had an unprecedented impact on living conditions in a country which, due to the pandemic, has seen its sources of income reduced to a minimum and, as a result, is suffering an acute situation of shortages.

The convening organisations demand that Joe Biden's government comply not only with the 28 UN resolutions, but also with its own electorate, to whom it promised to reverse the policy of economic asphyxiation of the Cuban people developed by Donald Trump.

To do so, they ask him to begin by lifting prohibitions such as those imposed on the sending of remittances, flights and the granting of visas, by reversing the full application of the Helms-Burton Act or the inclusion of Cuba on the list of "terrorist countries", or by recovering the 22 agreements signed with Havana, during the Obama administration, in educational, cultural or scientific matters.

It is true that the abolition of the blockade is not a presidential decision; it requires an act of the US Congress. But, as a historic opportunity, today the US Congress is dominated by the Democratic Party. Preventing any step in this direction, as well as the resumption of bilateral dialogue, is the cause of the current fierce political and media pressure against Cuba, from the Cuban-American ultra-right and its alliances in Europe. But if Joe Biden wants to, today, he can. And we must demand it of him, as does the international community in the United Nations.

Moreover, it is necessary to recognise that Cuba's solidarity with other peoples has not stopped: in the last year, it has sent 57 medical brigades, with 5,000 aid workers, most of them women, to 40 states around the world.

The convening organisations call on Basque society, in its broad political spectrum, to take part in these events and to say loudly: "Biden, listen to the world: lift the blockade on Cuba!

Press contact: medios@euskadicuba.org - 656410687 - 944151107

Calling organizations:

Cuban associations

 Acesma, Euskadi-Cuba, Desembarco del Granma, Sierra Maestra

Trade unions

 CCOO, EHNE Bizkaia, ELA, ESK, Hiru, Ikama, Ikasle Ekintza, LAB, STEILAS, UGT.

Political organizations

Ahal Dugu-Podemos, Alternatiba, EH Bildu, EK-PCPE, EKB, ELAK-PCTE, Ernai, Ezker Anitza-IU, EA, GK, PCE-EPK, Sortu

Collectives

Adeco, Askapena, Askapeña konpartsa, A. Jorge Adolfo Freytter, Bachué, Berdinak, Bizilur, Brics-PSUV EH, C. Bolivariano La Puebla, Coordinadora ONGD de Euskadi, Ecuador Etxea, Elkartasuna Eraldatuz, Emigrados sin Fronteras, Errekaleor Bizirik, Ezkerretik Foroa, Ingeniería Sin Fronteras, Internazionalistak Auzolanean, Inti Kokone, KCD, Komite Internazionalistak, Lumaltik, Movimiento Democrático de Mujeres, Movimiento Estatal de Solidaridad con Cuba, Mugarik Gabe, Mugen Gainetik, Mujeres del Mundo, Mundubat, Novisi Elkartea (Togo-Euskadi), Ongi Etorri Errefuxiatuak, Osaginez, Paz con Dignidad, Paz y Solidaridad, Resumen Latinoamericano, Revista vSUR, Saharako Lagunen Elkartea, Sandinistak, Siriaren Alde, SODePAz, Somos ALBA, SOS Racismo, Zabaldi.