On the weekend of March 17 and 18, antiwar demonstrations were held across the United States - in Washington, D.C., tens of thousands of people marched on the Pentagon to demand an end to the war in Iraq; tens of thousands more marched in San Francisco and Los Angeles, with many smaller demonstrations across the country. And at many of the demonstrations, speakers from the National Committee to Free the Cuban Five brought the message of the Five to the crowd, while others members of the Committee gathered signatures on petitions demanding freedom for the Five, and circulated a newly designed flyer about the case.
Gloria La Riva speaking at the Pentagon
Steve Patt speaking in San Francisco
Committee Coordinator Gloria La Riva spoke at the Pentagon and read a statement from Leonard Weinglass, one of the appeals attorneys for the Five, who had been injured in an accident days before the march and was unable to appear in person. The entire rally at the Pentagon was broadcast on C-SPAN as well as on al Jazeera, which means that La Riva's talk was heard by hundreds of thousands of additional people who weren't able to attend the march. On the West Coast, members of the Committee proudly carried the banner of the Five through the streets of San Francisco, and Committee member Steve Patt addressed the crowd at the closing rally. In Los Angeles, another member of the Committee, Carlos Alvarez, spoke to the tens of thousands who gathered there. Several thousand more in Seattle heard Diana Esperas of the US Women and Cuba Collaboration speak about the Five.
In Vancouver over 500 people marched and rallied in Vancouver demanding US/UK Out of Iraq! and Canada/NATO Out of Afghanistan! The Free the Cuban 5 Committee-Vancouver participated to bring the demand of freedom for the 5 Cuban Heroes to the demonstration. We handed out informational brochures and fliers for our upcoming picket at the U.S. consulate on March 27 and talked to people about U.S. backed terrorism against Cuba and the fight of the 5 Cuban Heroes for liberation.
In Montreal, the the Table de Concertacion du Solidarite Quebec-Cuba placed the Cuban Five bannner on the stage to put the message of the Five in front of the crowd gathered there to protest the war.
Video of the complete speeches delivered in Washington, D.C. and San Francisco can be viewed below.
Tens of thousands march on the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. to protest the war
At the Pentagon
In the streets of Vancouver, BC
Diana Esperas speaking in Seattle (photo courtesy of the Alliance for a Just and Lasting Peace in the Philippines)
Ted Cloak in Albuquerque, NM
Carrying the banner through the streets of San Francisco
