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Letter Sup****ting Cultural Relations w/Cuba Continues to Gain Signers
Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit
[See the letter itself and links to it following the first article.
CAAEF re****ts 1500+ signatures; USCCE re****ts 1,000+, ACN says 500+.
To view the full list of signatures (however many there are) or for
further information on US-Cuba Cultural Exchange (USCCE), the national
network of artists and presenters that initiated the letter, visit
http://www.cubaresearch.info/cubaletter.
-NYTr]
Agencia Cubana de Noticias (ACN)
http://ainch.ain.cu/mailman/listinfo/ingles
US Personalities Blast Wa****ngton's Policy Against Cuba
Havana, Dec 13 (acn) More than 500 artists, writers and scholars from
the United States have signed on to a letter to President Bush
requesting the lifting of the criminal US blockade against the island
for over 45 years impeding cultural exchange between the two nations.
"We write to express our dismay at your administration's continuing
hostility towards Cuba. We write to express our opposition to policies
that keep us divided from our Cuban counterparts," states the text.
"In our opinion, the time has come to take steps toward cultural
exchanges, cooperation and constructive relations with Cuba," states
the letter published on the Website of The Cuba Research and Analysis
Group (CRAG) at: http://www.cubaresearch.info/cubaletter
The organization began the campaign after receiving a letter on October
26 from prima ballerina assoluta Alicia Alonso requesting that voices
be raised against the blockade. "Let us work together so that Cuban
artists and writers can take their talent to the United States, and
that you are not prevented to come to our Island to share your
knowledge and values; so that a song, a book, a scientific study or
choreographic works are not considered, in an irrational way, as a
crime."
Among those signing on the letter to Bush are actors Sean Penn, Peter
Coyote, Harry Belafonte and Danny Glover. Among the authors are Alice
Walker, William Kennedy, Gore Vidal and Cristina Garcia.
Numerous musicians have also joined including Carlos Santana, Tom
Waits, Ry Cooder, Tre Cool, Mickey Hart and Tom Morello, Holly Near,
Bonnie Raitt, and Andy Montaez, re****ts Granma newspaper.
Latin American intellectuals heeding the call from Alicia Alonso
include Cuban-Americans Nelson Perez Valdes, Enrique Sacerio Gari and
Lisandro Perez.
***
Cuban American Alliance - Dec 12, 2007
http://www.cubamer.org
CALL TO SIGN LETTER to President Bush
The following letter has received tremendous endorsements from US
artists and scholars who sup****t cultural relations with Cuba -- well
over 1,500 signatures. Join the signers. Click on the link Letter to
President Bush, also available on our website http://www.cubamer.org
Let us work together for a great holiday present:
CULTURAL RELATIONS WITH CUBA.
Muy agradecido,
Delvis Fernandez Levy
for the Cuban American Alliance Ed. Fund
PS Thanks if you have signed -- pass the word!!
***
Letter from US Artists and Scholars
in sup****t of Cultural Relations with Cuba
November 27, 2007
President George W. Bush
The White House
Wa****ngton, DC
Dear President Bush:
We wish to bring to your attention the accompanying letter, dated
October 26, 2007, received from Alicia Alonso, Prima Ballerina and
Director of the Cuban National Ballet, and also Goodwill Ambassador for
the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO). Ms. Alonso has toured extensively in the United States and
her work has long been admired by the American performing arts
community, cultural critics and the public.
We are writing you as representatives of the cultural sphere in the
United States. We write you as American citizens. We write to express
our dismay at your administration's continuing hostility towards Cuba.
We write to express our opposition to policies that keep us divided
from our Cuban counterparts, preventing cultural interchange between
our two countries. We believe the time has come to move towards
cooperation and constructive relations with Cuba.
The present policies deny such possibilities of friend****p and cultural
sharing. We further note that cultural interchanges and relation****ps
are also modes of communication and expression. In denying us the
possibility of engaging in such exchanges and relation****ps, we are
being denied our fundamental rights as guaranteed by the 1st, 5th and
14th Amendments of the U.S. Constitution.
This reality seems to run counter to other positions expressed by your
Administration. In September 2006, for example, Laura Bush inaugurated
your Administration's "Global Cultural Initiative," stating that "One
of the best ways we can deepen our friend****ps with the people of all
countries is for us to better understand each other's culture by
enjoying each other's literature, music, films and visual arts."
As citizens, artists, scholars, educators and cultural workers from all
artistic practices, academic disciplines, advocacy and service
organizations in the arts, we hope you will read and consider the words
of Alicia Alonso as we call upon your Administration to:
1. open a respectful dialogue with the government and people of Cuba in
accord with established protocols sup****ted by the community of nations;
2. end the travel ban that prevents U.S. citizens from visiting Cuba
and allow for Cuban artists and scholars to visit the United States,
thus eliminating the censor****p of art and ideas, and
3. initiate, by working with appropriate members of Congress, a process
that can result in the development of normal bilateral relations
between our countries.
The effort surrounding the letter has resulted in over 1,000 signatures
to date. To view the full list of signatures or for further information
on US-Cuba Cultural Exchange (USCCE), the national network of artists
and presenters that initiated the letter, visit
http://www.cubaresearch.info/cubaletter.
This work does not end here. We will be in touch with you regarding the
progress of our efforts in the near future.
*
The Cuban American Alliance Education Fund, Inc. (CAAEF) is a non
profit organization for the development of mutually beneficial
engagements between Cubans and Americans that promote understanding and
human compassion. Visit our website http://www.cubamer.org
for news,
opinions, and Cuba related events.
*
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