Chargé d’Affaires Lianys Torres Rivera, Ambassador of Cuba | Credit: July 26.org
South Paris, Maine
Word came to the Let Cuba Live Committee of Maine that Cuba’s ambassador to the United States, Lianys Torres Rivera, would be in Portland on other business and wanted to meet with Mainers working for decent U.S. relations with Cuba.
Accordingly, on February 13, in the evening, 40 or so activists from throughout Maine gathered at the hall of Teamsters Local 340 in South Portland to dialogue with the ambassador. Ms. Torres Rivera previously served as Cuba’s ambassador in Vietnam.
She began with a brief survey of Cuba’s current situation, emphasizing that while the country’s economic situation is very difficult, her government’s priorities are unchanged. All citizens’ basic needs are being met, education and healthcare receive maximum support, and Cuba’s solidarity extends throughout the world, to the Global South in particular.
Citing Cuba’s great need for economic development, the ambassador critiqued the U.S. economic blockade as causing shortages that affect every aspect of life in Cuba. She mentioned the false U.S. designation of Cuba as a terrorist-sponsoring nation. That’s the mechanism the U.S. government uses to block the flow of money to Cuba from international financial institutions.
She and her audience agreed that President Biden could remove that misplaced label “with the stoke of a pen.”
Questions and answers occupied most of the session with Ms. Torres Rivera. Questions touched on: education in Cuba, increased Cuban migration to the United States, Cuban medical solidarity with the rest of the world, visits of U.S. delegations to Cuba, and U.S. promotion of social media as a device for broadcasting U.S. anti-Cuba propaganda.
In a comment that particularly resonated with her listeners, Torres Rivera recalled that it was through Cuba’s revolution that she, a daughter of a poor farming family, gained an education preparing her to be an ambassador.
Two members of the Portland City Council were on hand. Great enthusiasm was evident as discussion turned to the prospect of the Portland Council joining other city councils in the United States in passing a resolution condemning the U.S. economic blockade of Cuba.
Facilitating the meeting was Barbara West of Let Cuba Live. Other organizations represented at the encounter were Maine Veterans for Peace, Peace Action Maine, a couple of labor unions, Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, Democratic Socialists of America, and the Communist Party of Maine – that had made arrangements for the meeting.
To conclude: Anyone wanting to work toward ending the U.S. blockade of Cuba and/or learn more about Cuba might contact Let Cuba Live. Call Barbara at (207) 841-2917 or Tom at (207) 743-2183.
W.T. Whitney Jr. is a political journalist whose focus is on Latin America, health care, and anti-racism. A Cuba solidarity activist, he formerly worked as a pediatrician, lives in rural Maine. W.T. Whitney Jr. es un periodista político cuyo enfoque está en América Latina, la atención médica y el antirracismo. Activista solidario con Cuba, anteriormente trabajó como pediatra, vive en la zona rural de Maine.
COMMUNIST PARTY OF MAINE 