San Francisco Event Celebrates Cuban Revolution,
Demands Freedom for the Five
July 30, 2008
 On Friday, July 25, well over a hundred people packed into the Centro del Pueblo in San Francisco, CA to celebrate the 55th anniversary of Cuba's Revolution Day and to demand freedom for the Cuban Five. Sponsored by the National Committee to Free the Cuban Five along with the A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition, Compañeros del Barrio, and the FMLN of El Salvador-Bay Area, the event was held as a fundraiser for the the giant (75' x 35') billboard which will be erected in downtown San Francisco for the month of August. Funds are still urgently needed to pay for the billboard; to contribute please click here.
Friday's event featured a Cuban dinner prepared by members of the National Committee, and lively music played by the Troublemakers Union Band. Gloria La Riva, coordinator of the National Committee, provided an update on the case of the Five before leaving to fly to an urgent international solidarity meeting being held in Bolivia in defense of the people of Bolivia and Evo Morales (see related story here). Tony Gonzalez, Bay Area director of the American Indian Movement and a long-time fighter for native rights, spoke on the 40th anniversary of AIM, and about the struggle to free Leonard Peltier. Also speaking on various aspects of the struggle were Salvador of the FMLN and Keith Pavlik, Michelle Schudel, Aastik Pokhrel, and Rosa Peñate of the National Committee. All photos by Bernie Fox; more can be seen here.
Tony Gonzalez
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Rosa Peñate |
The Troublemakers Union Band
The billboard which will appear in San Francisco on August 1
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