Canadians have
supported the struggle of the Cuban people for independence and sovereignty
since the victory of the Cubans revolution on January 1, 1959.The response of the U.S. to losing its colony was to immediately impose
a severe economic and political blockade in the hope of strangling the country.
In the more than 45 years since then, Canadians have opposed the U.S. blockade
and shown their support for Cuba’s anti-imperialist stand in many ways. The
Canadian government, for its part, has voted against the blockade in the United
Nations and has passed legislation forbidding Canadian companies from following
American laws banning trade with Cuba. Canadians have supported efforts to
break the blockade, including joining caravans traveling through the U.S.
carrying medical supplies to be delivered to Cuba, and in many other ways.
On September 4,
as part of a national convention of the Canadian Network on Cuba (CNC), a
demonstration was held at the American Consulate in Toronto to protest the U.S.
role in the release from Panama of four convicted terrorists who had tried to
assassinate Fidel Castro at the Ibero-American Summit
in Panama in 2000. Three of the four were immediately admitted to the U.S.
in Florida, from where they have
organized terrorist acts against Cuba
for more than 30 years, including the mid-air explosion of a Cubana airliner in 1976 which killed all 73 people onboard.
The CNC national
convention elected an executive with representation from all regions
of Canada, reflecting the sentiment of Canadians across the country in support
of Cuba. It also took measures to further develop its work to oppose the U.S.
blockade and the new round of attacks against Cuba by the Bush administration.