[act-ma] Urgent request - Call Boston City Councilors in support of resolution against US Blockade of Cuba

[Judy Freiwirth]

Dear friends,

Thank you to those of you who participated in our public hearing yesterday about the Boston City Council's resolution against the US Blockade of Cuba. It also calls for medical, academic, and travel collaboration between the US and Cuba for    You can read the resolution at this link<https://draftjuly26.files.wordpress.com/2022/07/resolution-calling-for-an-end-to-the-u.s.-embargo-against-cuba.pdf>.

We are writing with an urgent request from Boston City Councilor Kendra Lara's office. If you missed the public hearing, there was only one voice in opposition to the resolution: a right-wing Cuban-American named Albert Vasallo III, who is the editor of El Mundo, the largest Latino newspaper in the Boston area. He spent all afternoon yesterday trying hard to undo all of our hard work -- requesting a second public hearing, attempting to delay the process, and asking councilors to rescind their sponsorship. However, Kendra Lara still plans on introducing the resolution to a vote at City Council's regular meeting TOMORROW, Wednesday July 13. Vasalllo has vowed to mobilize his supporters to call councilors and ask them to vote no.

Kendra has asked us to lead a phone campaign in support of the resolution. We are requesting any and all Boston residents to call your city councilors and ask them to vote yes on Resolution 0618, Resolution calling for the end to the US embargo of Cuba. Please also ask your networks, contacts, and friends who are residents to call as well. If you know any Cuban-Americans, even if they are not Boston residents, please also ask them to call. Here is a list of city councilors, their districts, and their phone numbers: https://www.boston.gov/departments/city-council/who-my-boston-city-councilor

We understand that it is short notice, but the advantage is that Vasallo is also working on short notice. We think we can out-organize him, but it is vital that people take 5 minutes to call their city councilors.

In Solidarity,

Resolution Committee Against the US Blockade of Cuba
July26th Coalition<https://july26.org/>, DSA-Boston, First Baptist Church of JP, and Mass Peace Action