 No, my co tonight include the Avengeman co founder of code pink with Jodi Evans is also on the call tonight, honey is your dad Barnes, who I met as a 2020 DNC Bernie delegate, also Cole Harrison and Brian Garvey in Massachusetts piece action. A big shout out and thank you to our organizers and tech navigators Shea LeBeau and Mahakan will be with us tonight. So, in the chat, we encourage you to introduce yourselves where you're from, if you know who your congressional representative is, we'd love to know. We'll be hearing from some great guests tonight Dr Arturo Lopez Levy is a political analyst for CNN, as well as Manolo de los Santos, the co executive director of the People's Forum in New York City talking about Cuba. We want to get Cuba off the state sponsor of terrorism list. That's absurd and we'll talk about that. But first, some updates let's go to you media for an update on what's happening with Afghanistan. Okay we can't hear you. Okay, can you hear me. Yes. Okay. Well, the latest in Afghanistan is that the judge who is looking at the possibility of taking 3.5 billion of the frozen funds and using it for 911 families came out with a recommendation saying that money should not be used for the 911 families, which is a fabulous great ruling for us, except that she is not doesn't have the final word. There's another judge that now takes her recommendation into consideration, and we'll see what he comes up with. And then of course there's always an appeals process. In any case it was good news, but there is already 3.5 billion sitting in US banks that the administration could have already sent back to the central bank of Afghanistan and haven't done it. So, even if we get that money released, doesn't mean that the Biden administration will send it back to Afghanistan so the fight continues to get that money back to the central bank. Yeah, and now we go to Hania Jadad Barnes for an update on US-Iran relations, not looking so bright tonight, huh? Well, yeah. Yes and yes and no. I would love to keep it positive and optimistic here because we know after literally 16 months, close to 17 months of negotiations, there is a bit of an optimism that the United States and Iran and even the European Union are not closer to reaching an agreement, reviving the JCPOA, which is as you all know is formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, to limit Iran's ability to develop nuclear weapons. The issues are going back and forth on the text of the negotiations with the Iranian civil society is really facing daily challenges under sanctions. What we know so far is that Iran wanted previously in the previous texts of the negotiation is to have the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps removed from the State Department list as a foreign terrorist group, but that request has been dropped from the new text by Iran. Additionally, Iran wants to have the US remove all of the unilateral and extreme sanctions and it's also asking to be compensated if the future US President pulls out of the deal in addition to really demanding that the three-year-old probe by the International Atomic Energy Agency into its nuclear programs be shut down. On the negative side, and we are very close to re-entering the JCPOA, but even though the diplomats now wrangle and go back and forth over possible revival of the nuclear accord, Iran's Navy just recently seized two American seal drones in the Red Sea last week. The capture came just days after the country's parliamentary Revolutionary Guard tow another sea drone before releasing it as the American warship trailed it, and the US Navy has been now deploying ultra endurance aerial surveillance drones to monitor threats in crucial waterways. We know that tensions also remain high after recent confrontations between the US forces and Iranian-backed militia groups in that region. We know also that Washington just recently last month carried out airstrikes in eastern Syria that targeted areas used by militias backed by Iran's Revolutionary Guard, prompting the response from the Iranian back fighters. So although we do have some optimism in terms of Iran joining and rejoining the nuclear deal, because Iran has capability between 60% to 90% of uranium enrichment, and Iran can in fact develop nuclear weapons, these tensions are now escalating. And I just hope for the sake of Iranian people and us not entering into another yet a long war, everyone comes to their senses and rejoin the JCPOA with diplomacy. Thank you for that update, honey. And just to let everybody know on Tuesday, September 20, that's the third Tuesday of the month, we will be focusing on a piece with Iran and unfreezing the Afghanistan's assets. So save that date as well. I want to share with you right now what's happening with our peace and Ukraine coalition. This was initiated by Code Pink. And we have partners, Massachusetts Peace Action that's co-sponsoring this event tonight as one of our partners, as is Veterans for Peace, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, US and other organizations. I'd like to share with you our website because we are coming up today, September 6, yeah. And starting September 12 through the 15th, we will have a week of action. There you see it is. And we're asking that all of you get involved. And if we scroll down, we can see what our central messages are, ceasefire now, diplomacy to end the war in Ukraine, money for climate jobs, healthcare and housing, not weapons for endless war, do not risk nuclear war. The latest reports that I'm reading suggest that we are spending or we have already allotted anywhere between $40 and $50 billion in the last six months for weapons and military equipment training and intelligence for Ukraine. This is not the way to de-escalate certainly. And there's so much at stake here. Nuclear war, yes, global famine, skyrocketing inflation, disruption of economies all over the world, climate destruction. So we've got to put the brakes on and we need everybody involved. We have four days of action and we'll be sending out a blast that says four actions to take to end the war in Ukraine. So we're going to quickly review some of these actions and I am asking you to post in the chat what you are willing to do as I go through these actions. So let's take a look at Monday, September 12. This is a national call in and write in data Congress tell Congress no more escalation we have a one click message. I have to do is click on that. The International has put out this a similar call to Congress to oppose weapons shipments will be on war. And then we have a code pink one click vote no on the 2023 military budget because we know that that includes a lot of money for militarism in Ukraine as well. Beyond that we also asked people to call Congress there's the number for Capitol Hill the switchboard call for ceasefire you know we're hearing lawmakers in the United States say we don't want to ceasefire we want to beat Russia we want to win this war and fight into the last Ukrainian keep arming them and this is madness right because we are just ensuring further death and destruction and a protracted war we have to say no to this. Let's go to Tuesday, September 13. There we have. Now this is the call. This is the outreach to the White House and the State Department. Again, very similar messages calling for a ceasefire we want diplomacy. I had yet to hear President Biden mentioned the word diplomacy in reference to Russia and Ukraine. Nor have I heard Secretary of State Blinken mentioned the word diplomacy in reference to those countries. This isn't this is an outrage. We have a foreign policy fueled only by militarism and US global domination. Let's challenge it. Okay, moving on to Wednesday, and you can find all of these actions on our website at peace. www piece in Ukraine.org and I'll post that in the chat in a minute on Wednesday, September 14 is our national call and write in day and tweet to the media, specifically the New York Times, Washington Post CNN and MSNBC. We want these media outlets to feature alternative voices and we have a few that we're recommending code pink co founder co author, media Benjamin, who is about to release a book. She co authored with Nicholas JS Davies war in Ukraine making sense of a senseless war. I'm reading an advanced copy, it is fantastic. You will be featuring the idea and Nicholas later on and another code Conrad in October will hear more about that book which I hope all of you will read and share. Another person we're suggesting we promote is and right retired. Jeffery sacks economists, and we've listed others here on the website. You can send an email we're going to send the email. Let's take a look. We scroll down. We have some addresses. So we're asking you to take these actions but also to urge your friends and allies of your own list serves post all of this. Let's not keep it secret we want to share, share all of this valuable information and calls to action. Finally, on the last day, Thursday, September 15. Or Friday, September 16 that works for you. We have actions we're asking people to there we go. Email me your action titled event daytime location, describe it. Who do we contact we want to know more because we are posting these events on our piece in Ukraine or website and if you scroll down. We can see some of the events that are organized. We have one in Washington DC, maybe is organizing now with others. We have San Francisco, Nashville, San Mateo, San Pedro, Santa Barbara, and we are in the midst of posting one in Maryland to so do get us that information we urge you. So, what's the action, the action could be just setting up a zoom as Jodi Evans co founder of code pink mentioned earlier. She and others in her district her congressional district will be meeting with Congressman Ted loose office during this week of action to talk about deescalation in Ukraine. You can do that. You could have a rally outside your Congress members office and invite them down to talk to you. You could take this message to the street, hold a street vigil, you could go visit CNN of CNN is in one of your in your city, or you could visit the State Department their State Department offices everywhere you have a small delegation. Go visit them, bring a letter, we have sample letters. So, I hope all of you will get involved, and I'll post the relevant information in the chat. Thank you. All right, now we're going to go back to Cuba. We're going to visit with Brian Garvey of Massachusetts peace action who recently returned from Cuba. Brian tell us about it. Thanks, Marcy, and let me just say. This is why we love doing this this work with with code pink, because, you know, here at Massachusetts peace action, we're really about taking action and what you just heard, I mean, how ambitious was that. Great job in organizing. But yes, like Marcy just said, I just got back, La Habana less than 24 hours ago. I was down there on a delegation with with witness for peace solidarity collective. I went with organizers with artists and with elected officials from both the Boston area and several from Minneapolis, and also folks that are working on racial justice issues and policing issues. I was down there to learn from the Cuban people about their healthcare system about their economic system about how they use the arts to bring community together and boy do they just in every way imaginable. But also about the effects of the blockade, which is now over 60 years old. You know, while I don't think I've ever run into people who are more resilient than the Cuban people. The blockade does affect them, and it affects them every day. Now they've managed to, like I said they're resilient they've they've managed to to build a wonderful society. They've dealt with the effects of colonialism, and both by by the Spanish and neocolonialism by the United States in the early 20th century. So I'm sure most of you know, but it hasn't been without great difficulty. You know they have been building a society that provides for their people that provides housing that provides education that provides health care that was in some of the best best life expectancy in hemisphere. And they've done all of this with one hand tied behind their back. And I have to say, it was embarrassing for me to know that it was my government that has tied that back. While we were in Cuba. The Biden administration made an announcement that they were going to continue policy. They're going to continue the trading with the enemy act in reference to Cuba for another year. And while, while it was disappointing for us all on the delegation. It was also motivating. We really, we really saw with our own eyes how important it is for us to end this blockade. And it's going to take a lot of advocacy for us to do so. We're all here tonight. So I'm glad to be with everyone here and I'm glad to be taking it taking action so quickly after returning from Cuba. Because they're, they're still facing the effects of the fire that they had just a month ago and the tonsis where I visited the tonsis province. They're dealing with blackouts because of the shortage of food fuel. They're also dealing with the shortage of food in some instances. Although this blockade been going on for 60 years, the need to end it is urgent. So thank you code pink for for doing so much organizing on this and for giving me the opportunity to advocate for Cuba, less than 24 hours after returning. It's really important to me and I'm really thankful for the opportunity. Thank you Brian, thank you Brian Garvey of Massachusetts Peace Action for going to Cuba, expressing solidarity and sharing with us your experience there. We also code pink is organizing a trip to Cuba and I'll post the link to that if you're interested in going for now we're going to turn over to turn to media Benjamin who will introduce our first guest media. That's great Brian that you went there and I'm so excited that you're back and able to take action right away. And our next speaker is somebody who I tremendously admire we're so happy that he was able to join us. We have here Arturo Lopez level a Cuban American he's a political analyst for CNN Spanish author of the book Raul Castro and the new Cuba, a close up view of change. He's been a fellow at the Inter American dialogue, the Aspen Institute Socrates Society, and a consultant for the new America Foundation. I recently was a full bright visiting professor at the autonomous University of Madrid, and one of my favorite affiliations that you have Arturo is that you're on the advisory board of a group I helped start called as said a alliance for Cuba engagement and respect that has been pressuring Congress and the White House to change its policy towards Cuba. Thank you so much for joining us Arturo. Well, can you hear me now. Yeah, so it's first of all, let me thank the thing, a cold pink for these kind invitation to talk about a Cuba on the list of nations sponsoring of terrorism. I think it's a great opportunity to thank the organization for what do what you do, defending peace in the best tradition of us patriotism from through all a Emerson and those people even in the 19th century that attract the admiration of the great Cuban national hero, Jose Martin. It's a, let me let me begin by saying that I always remember when we have phrases like Cuba see Yankees know or Cuba see and block a or no that it is one that I like a lot or like Cuba see and buy the know that I notice in the sign of our event I always remember the phrase of cultures that said that my country right or wrong if right to keep to be kept right or if and if wrong to be said right and I know that is a phrase that said a lot because we we used to say when I was studying in Cuba, that we say Cuba see and Yankees to if the Yankees are people like Lincoln or people like people from cold pink and people like I am now because I am now a citizen also of the United States. So that said, let me address the issue that we that I have been invited to talk here. I have a strong accent. If at any time, anybody doesn't understand what I say, I will be very glad to correct what I say. The first thing that I am going to be to divide my seven eight minutes in two topics. The first one is the first one is why Cuba should not be on the list of nations, a sponsor of terrorism. And the second is why should Biden take you off the list of nations, a sponsor of terrorism, as soon as possible. The first thing is that the least if you look at the creation of the least. I'm not going to say the way it has been misused, but the purpose the proclaim purpose of the lease was to send a serious signal to the international community, other nations about countries that the United States perceive a base on a kind of national criteria on some technical criteria that those countries are engaging in supporting terrorism. This is the this look to be, or supposed to be a very important tool of US policy against terrorism. And among other reasons because the US because of certain behaviors, but also because of its prominence have been the target of many terrorist activities in the past and today is the target of the potential target of many terrorist activities with four by groups that has an anti American agenda. And that's, that's a call to use the least responsible and to have their countries that specifically and only satisfy the criteria to be nations sponsors of terrorism. And by any meaning, even by the reports that the State Department has been writing about this issue, the State Department is not providing any main criteria or any technical criteria to say that Cuba should be on the list. The most important evidence that I have seen in the last year was a couple of months ago when they or a month and a little more ago when asked by a reporter about whether Cuba was on analysis to be taken off the list. And applying these criteria basically engaging in supporting terrorist activities of an international character, the only answer but make net price. And one of the reasons the, the press secretary of the State Department was that the State Department was aware that in the Trump administration, the secretary Pompeo put Cuba on the list so no argument in favor of keeping Cuba on the list. The only argument is that they are aware that the Trump administration before leaving office put Cuba on the list. I think that it is really serious and beyond the dignity of a power that claimed to be a democratic great power to give this type of answer. And when it is using a foreign policy tool that it is explained as essential and very important in an issue of utmost importance for national security. So if we talk about this we should mention also that US allies that are involved in anti terrorist activities. And I know that there might be a debate about this, but European countries, India, Israel, Pakistan, many countries have said that the use of this type of list should be a serious issue. Because it is a way to coordinate with, for instance, as part of the quad with Australia with India with Japan about countries that seriously are engaged in this type of activity. So it's a failure in the relationship with US allies too. And last but not least, I would mention that when we talk about or when Biden talk about a return, America is back and that it's a kind of action for reinforcing the multilateral approach of the United States. It is very difficult to see this line of weaponizing misusing a list that's supposed to send clear signal to the rest of the community about an issue like this one. And use it for other purpose. Even if the United States want to say that Cuba is a one-party system, it should be on a list of one-party system countries. If they believe that Cuba is not cooperating on a specific issue, well, make a list for that. But it is definitely not the proper place to put Cuba on a list that Cuba doesn't belong to. And let me say, let me go now to the second part. And let me tell you, this is having tremendous consequences for multilateral coordination of policies. And this is something relevant because even during the pandemic, the highest point of the COVID-19 pandemic, the United States refused to cooperate with Cuba on an international strategy. When UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and High Commissioner for Human Rights Michel Bachelet asked all countries that were sanctioning other countries to reassess the role of the sanctions and its humanitarian cause, Cuba was one of the few countries that the Biden administration took a look at the sanctions. And the sanctions against Cuba include financial sanctions that the US is getting reports from the SWIFT system about financial sanctions that are against Cuba because of compliance of financial institutions with the anti-terrorist struggle. So by the kitchen, the United States include Cuba on the list of nations' sponsors of terrorism and because of fear on many financial institutions and extraterritorial use of American laws against transactions that don't violate Cuban law, don't violate international law, don't violate European laws, for instance. Information is provided to the United States and the United States use it to sanctions Cuban entities, governmental and non-governmental, or delaying transactions that were even destined to use in alleviating the problem of the pandemic. So let me go now to the second and I will go very fast. Why should Biden take Cuba off the list as soon as possible? First, because Cuba is not a threat to the United States and by treating Cuba as a national security threat to the United States, the United States is using the wrong official image about Cuba. People that are, the Saudi international relations put a lot of emphasis on the construction of images and in the US official discourse, all the institution, all the, there are a lot of legal triggers that force a treatment of Cuba that Cuba doesn't deserve and is a wrong diagnostic of the situation that Cuba, in which Cuba is by now. This obviously has consequences. First, this wrong diagnostic affect the fact that Cuba is a country in transition and is in the middle of an intergenerational transition of leadership, is transitioning into a more market oriented economy and what it calls is for a policy of engagement that has nothing to do with the policy that the United States will address or target against a country that is a national security threat against the United States. It's also the idea of taking Cuba off the list of nation's sponsor of terrorism that it was in Cuba was included in the list at the last hour by the Trump administration. My Pompeo did it as part of his electoral campaign probably he if Trump doesn't run something that is doubtful but if Trump doesn't run, he would like to be in good terms with a Cuban American right winds in Miami, but he did it on January the 12 of 2021. And after saying that he was preparing the State Department for a transition to a second Trump administration. Basically, someone that was very close to the insurgents who invade the first branch of our Republic. It is then a test case of how much they were the United States is committed to a multilateral effort to combat terrorism and play a positive role in such important issue. Something that is very important to our region that is Latin America is the peace in Colombia. One of the reasons that were used by the Trump administration was the negative of Cuba to extra life to Colombia. Some members of the National Liberation Army, a guerrilla that was negotiating with the government, the Colombian government in Habana. According to declarations of the Norwegian ambassador Norway, a country that nobody can doubt of his credential is a NATO partner of the United States and the ambassador of Norway in Colombia that was previously the ambassador of Norway in Cuba. He said that Cuba was denying the extradition based on protocols that were signed and agreed by all parties, the Colombian government, the guerrillas, the Norwegian government and the Cuban government as goodwill mediators in the conflict. So now what we have is that President Petro, the recently elected president of Colombia has called for a beginning again of the negotiations. He has called for Chile to accompany the process and he did it on his inaugural ceremony and three hours after president of Chile, Gabriel Boris said Chile is ready to join the effort. In less than three days after the inauguration, Alvaro Leyva, the Ministry of Foreign Relations of Colombia, traveled to Habana and denounced and asked Cuba for forgiveness for the fact that because of the previous government, Cuba, that has done so much for peace in Colombia, was affected and harmed by simply honoring the protocols. And now what you see in the majority, in the majority what I would say with the objection of Bolsonaro, everybody else in Latin America is saying let's work again on a peace process in Colombia and Cuba has been agreed by the government of Gustavo Petro and by the guerrillas as the best place for this negotiation to take place. Let me round up and I'm going to finish here. And in this case, it is important to remember that as Vice President of President Obama, Biden supported the participation and he was in charge of the Latin American region and he supported the sending to Habana of a special American envoy that it is said that he played a positive role in accompanying the negotiations that were mediated or promoted by Norway and Cuba. And in this case, a Bernard Aronson went to Cuba and played a very important role. It is unimaginable, unthinkable, that something like that can be done if the United States kept Cuba on a list that Cuba doesn't belong. Yeah, that's it. I'm sure that I went a little over. Thank you. Okay, you're forgiven. Thank you so much an honor to have you Dr Arturo Lopez leave you a political analyst for Senate and Spanish. Now we go to Hania Jodad Barnes to introduce our next speaker. Thank you, Marcy and again, Dr, you're going to have some time to answer some questions from our audience which I would really encourage everyone to please put in the chat so we can when media and Marcy in the next section they can ask those questions from our speakers. I cannot say enough about our next guest. He's someone who's very dear to my heart, because he's by far one of the most courageous and brightest activists and scholars of our time, who is at the forefront of this fight to bring awareness to the suffering of Cuban people. He's been here of spending about three days with code pink and him in Los Angeles early in June as he co coordinated the people summit conference which was held in opposition to the Biden summit of America's which failed miserably. There were about 3000 attendees from 15 different countries who opened up the space for a shared dialogue unity and collaboration. He was the co executive director of the people's forum in New York City, and he is a researcher at Tri Continental Institute of Social Research. He co edited most recently, Viva Ramos Venezuela versus hybrid war and comrade of the revolution selected speeches of Fidel Castro. He is the co coordinator of the people's summit, as I mentioned earlier for democracy and worked at the Martin Luther King Center in Havana. It is an honor to be in this space with human although please take it away. I'm honored to be in the face of same space with you, and the whole code pink family that gathers on these calls to fight for something, not just for one cause but for all the causes were fighting for. So how can anyone go after Dr Lopez levy. It's an honor to speak in the same space with him as well. As an organizer and activist I kind of come from a different route. And it's to say that the state sponsors of terrorism list is a completely arbitrary list. Despite whatever legal criteria, the State Department and other organs of the US government have created this list is completely arbitrary. And it's been proven since its creation. Going back to the 80s that it's always been used as a tool for political punishment against countries that do not align with US foreign policy. It has always been used as a stick against any country that talks about sovereignty or defense itself in any way shape or form against the corporate and military interests of the US and their regions. Why is cool bond this list. I think Dr Lopez levy explained it well enough that there's no rational reason, even according to the arbitrary criteria as to why Cuba should even be on that list. But almost advocate that it's almost like what is the next campaign. Our next campaign should be abolish this list to begin with. It has no use in our world. And often it's accompanied by cruel sanctions against the peoples of the world. I want to ask, why is in Saudi Arabia on the state sponsors of terrorism list for its acts of terrorism against the people of Yemen. When is the state of Israel going to be put on this list for its crimes against the Palestinian people against the people of Syria against the people of Lebanon. How many terrorists acts go on in the world today that actually received the support of the US government itself. Who will put the US government on a list for state sponsoring of terrorism. All Latin Americans, my age and older will know and will be able to recount. Not the hundred, the several thousands of young people who were in their 20s and 30s were disappeared by military dictatorship sponsored by the United States government, who will account for their lives. Therefore, I want to take away any credence. I want to take any morality, any sense of realness from this list. It does not deserve our respect. It does not reserve any sense of legality in our view. Why this affects the Cuban people so harshly. We have a very personal experience that I think many of us in the organizing community around Cuba faced when the fire in Matanzas took place just a few weeks ago. We saw how the US Embassy in Havana I think trying to say face immediately rushed and tweeted. We welcome all entities in organizations in the US who want to send humanitarian aid and who want to help the Cuban people in this moment to do so there are no barriers there's no legal limitations to doing so. But it seems like the US Embassy forgot about one of the most evil illegal instruments, which is precisely the state sponsors of terrorism list. No bank. No single bank in the United States are actually in many parts of the world was willing to make a transaction of humanitarian donated money to support the Cuban people after the fire in Matanzas. We heard stories from all over the world of organizations that were collecting funds to support the Cuban people and buy medicine by other necessary supplies. We wanted that money to go directly to the hands of the Cuban Red Cross and other entities including religious organizations in Cuba that were providing support, and it was impossible. Precisely because of the threat that banks around the world face because of this designation that Cuba somehow sponsors terrorism. Definitely something is wrong in this world. When countries like Cuba that send doctors and teachers all over the world, then have to pay the price of being called terrorists to their face. Meanwhile, everyone, not everyone, not the people on this call refused to call out the US for their acts of terrorism. It's important that we take up this issue, because now more than ever, I was just in Cuba, like the Comrade from Massachusetts was saying I was also in Cuba just a few days ago. The energy crisis is only getting worse on the island. And that affects every other aspect of life. I'm thinking about the school children in Cuba who just yesterday started school again. They have to face a whole school year under these conditions. Who will be responsible for that? Of course, all the wonderful anti-communist in the world will say, and some of some Cuban Americans will say, not all of them, some of them will say, well, it's the Cuban government's fault. Why do we keep using that silly excuse when it's becoming more and more obvious that it's US sanctions? That is all this legalese that the US government has put in place? That it's the state sponsor of terrorism that is preventing the Cuban people from even doing basic things? One of the things that struck me the most, talking to people on the street, and this hurt me in a way that probably very few other things in life have hurt me. Which is that more and more people are commenting that life right now is looking more the same, if not worse, than the special period in the early 90s. The trauma that comes along with this for Cuban families is intense. If we're not able to actively push the US government to review this question of Cuba's role on the list, then we will have basically extended a period of major deprivation for the Cuban people in light of everything else that's taking place. As food prices go up, as energy prices go up, as Cuba is even prohibited from even bringing in pieces to repair its energy grid. What we do next on something that looks so small, but yet is so essential to the larger puzzle that is US Cuba foreign policy is going to be key. So I'm so excited to be joining with Code Pink on this campaign. I'm excited to be joining people across the country. I almost feel like there's nothing more to say because Dr. Lopez Levy said it all. But piece by piece of this charade called the State Sponsors of Terrorism, this has been falling that Cuba was sponsoring terrorism in Colombia. No one in Colombia believes that name anywhere else in the world. In fact, just to end here, the beautiful story to end all of this. Cuba is now sending 500 doctors to one of the poorest regions in Italy, to the region of Calabria. With what interest? Save lives. That is Cuba's mission that has been its foreign policy that has been the way it approaches international relations. If anything, I want to honor a previous campaign that Code Pink led Cuba in fact should be given the Nobel Peace Prize for what it does. Thank you so much. Thank you so much Manolo de los Santos so eloquent. So powerful yeah when are we going to abolish this list. At this point Brian Garvey of Massachusetts peace action is going to lead us in a campaign to get Cuba off the state sponsors of terrorism list. We have a Code Pink one click he'll tell you all about it. Brian. Thank you Marcy and thank you Manolo for your powerful words. I was at the MLK Center. That's that's where I stayed in Cuba and I just want to let you know that all the people there are doing great. I don't know if you know Sandor and Polo and she know but I met some of the warmest people in Cuba, not just people associated with the center but people that I would just run into on the streets of Cuba. And it surprised me. Because I know the damage that my government has done. But I saw with my own eyes there are monuments in the streets of Cuba, calling for friendship with the United States. I know they are not an enemy of the United States of America it was plain I saw with my own eyes. The only way that this policy is going to change is if we make a demand. And so that's what we're going to do now. Shea is going to say just about my heart just put in in the chat, a one click. Marcy just put it again. Please, you know if you were inspired by the words that you just heard. It's really easy, it takes about a minute, maybe even less, and you can send a message to the administration to members of Congress, as well I believe, calling for an end to this harmful policy. Manolo's right, it's completely unfounded. And it's a continuation of the Trump policy, as well. People voted to change government because we wanted some some changes in policy. And this last minute, last minute designation, which is completely unfounded by Mike Pompeo and Donald Trump, and that administration. It is, it's embarrassing that it's being continued by by the Biden administration. So we have to let him know. We have to let him know that that this is important that this is a voting issue for you. And that you expect him to carry through on some of the promises that he made during the campaign that, you know, they were going to return to normalizing relations with Cuba. And at the very least returned to some of the achievements of the Obama administration that did make life easier. You know, we don't need to, we don't need to put the squeeze on these people anymore, there's no need for it there's no justification for it. We need to be good neighbors. We need to be friends with a nation that's 90 miles to ourself. These are good people. These are good people and they need an end to this policy so if you haven't taken the action here. Please do. I put I put it in the chapter third time or fourth time and I ask all of you on this call to please share this one click this petition I think we have 10,000 signatures let's get more. Telling the White House what we want we don't want to wait a year before we take up this issue again we want to an end to it right now it's so unjust. I have a Q&A right now with our special guest, Dr. Arturo Lopez Levy and Manolo de los Santos so if we can put them on the screen highlight them. And Manolo as well. Excuse me. It's my phone going off. I think there was probably a heat wave advisory coming my way but anyway, back to Cuba. I have a question maybe and I are going to ask questions and you can please post your questions on the chat as well. What is to be done, what, what about the landscape in Florida can we talk about that at all because it seems like politically, the Biden administration is at least waiting until after the midterms maybe after that. I think it's about demnings elected as the senator of Florida. They want to see Florida, you know, often a swing state considered a swing state to vote for Democrats. What, what do you recommend as a strategy to bring Florida over enough to our side to convince the Biden administration it isn't such a risk to take Cuba off this ridiculous list. So, Manolo, Dr. Arturo Lopez Levy, Medea any of you who want to take that. I can say some things there and I begin let me thank Manolo for his kind words about my presentation and knowing that it's obvious that there are different approaches, I value more what he did. I want to mention also that there is a phrase that he used I said, no one in Colombia believe that that Cuba is a nation sponsors of terrorism. And when he say no one is no one. Because even President Albert Uribe, that is considered to the right of Genghis Khan, he went to a meeting with President Petro, and he said that he support the idea of beginning again the negotiations in Cuba between the ELN and the government. Anyway, in his memoirs, Alvaro Uribe said that he was happy with the conversations that he had about the negotiations with the FARC with Fidel Castro, not even with Diaz Canel or Raul Castro. Alvaro Uribe said that Fidel Castro was helping in the negotiation with the FARC that his wife, I don't remember her name, was sometimes bothered because Castro called very late at night, but the conversation was worth that he told, I don't remember her name, that it was important to get the call from Fidel, something that I just want to mention because I think he used a very good phrase when he said this word that no one in Colombia believe that. That was the main rationale used to put Cuba on the list of nations' sponsors of terrorism. They don't have anything to throw at us in terms of some kind of rationality to discuss this issue. But talking about Florida, I think that it is very important to dialogue with the Cuban American community and bring this debate inside Miami. And inside the debate there. There is a recent victory in the primary, in the district that Baldeming left open, and there is a Cuban American there for the first time. There is someone that openly say that the embargo is a disaster and an offense against the Cuban people. I know that some people were not very happy with things that he said in democracy now, but for me it's more than enough. It's a historical watershed that has been crossed. Someone that most likely be in the next Congress, a Cuban American that begin by saying that his view about the embargo or the blockade is that it harms the Cuban people and that the Republicans has manipulated this issue under the coverage or under the facade that they are promoting human rights. The blockade has nothing to do with human rights. There might be legitimate concerns to discuss about human rights in Cuba, but none of them is promoted by the embargo. And about the elections, I saw today early in the morning because I tried to check the elections in Florida, and 538 was given as a compound indicator close to 15%, 15%, because sometimes people when I say 15, they understand 50. So let me be clear this 15%, 15% of opportunity for Baldeming to win the election in Florida. So I think it is very hard to believe that the administration is still think that she can win the senatorial race. And I will concentrate more in a district that is more competitive, that is the district in which Congresswoman Maria Salazar is the only competitive district probably after the Santis redrawing gerrymandering of the map of Florida that is where it is a Colombian American. Now I forgot her name, but I will remember. She's running against Maria Alvira Salazar, who had been very hard on promoting the idea of Cuba as a terrorist country and even has accused President Gustavo Petro of also being a terrorist. Thank you so much, Dr. Turalipesli, for your analysis. Manolo, anything you want to add about the landscape, the political landscape? Oh, you're good? Okay. Well, I think it would be good to continue on this path of what we can do. And we know that Marco Rubio, the senator in Florida, is very strong when it comes to this policy, but also a Democratic Senator Menendez is very powerful and helps to set the agenda. Given that he is a Democrat, why isn't it possible to put more pressure on him to come out against some of the sanctions or the terrorist list? Do you think there is some possibility there? And Arturo, I'll ask you that, because you know he's a Cuban American. I think that Marco Rubio is running for everything he can, and he's not running for president because of his very bad performance in 2016, but he has big ambitions and his statements are of the worst kind. Marco Rubio even has claimed that the embargo doesn't exist. And what I think is, if we could have a good PR campaign, it will be good to get everything he has said and basically use some rationale to oppose it, because if something doesn't exist, why to keep it in the first place? But he keeps saying that there is no embargo. And the second thing that they are claiming is that the private sector is very important for the development of Latin America, except and except now, et cetera, and et cetera. And now what we have is the opening in Cuba of a significant space for private sector and cooperatives, and the US policy is anchored in 1989 or something like that, that make very difficult to believe that there is a policy towards Cuba as the fundamental rational of what they are doing. This is the policy towards Florida or I will say towards Miami by other means. I don't know if I answered the question of if there is something specific that you would like that I address. And by the way, in the case of bald demons, I think in some sense, if I were in Florida, I will vote for her and not for Rubio, because of her position about guns and other issues. But even in the issue of stopping prosecuting or stopping appropriating a budget for persecuting travelers to Cuba or not persecuting travelers to Cuba, to persecuting sale of food to Cuba. Not even allowing but but cutting the funds for the Treasury Department monitoring a sales of food to Cuba in the middle of the pandemic. In the middle of a situation really, really difficult for Cuba, but them in steel, both against the majority of her party. So the majority of the Democrats both both in favor of the Rachida Tali amendment to the budget bill, and still, but then stay on the side of Diaz Balar and their, the rest of the delegation in Florida on this issue so I don't have any hope in the Cuba issue with her. And I believe that if I have some money to put in the in the race, I will go for the for the for the district that is competitive. And, and I tried that and it's the name of the Colombian woman that I forgot earlier by the way, the Cuban American that is supporting that is opposing the embargo as in human is Maxwell Alejandro Frost, in case I forgot to say it. But we need to contrast this issue where the money will make a difference if you have some money to put on also where there is a narrative that eventually could make a change in the next Congress. Thank you so much. I have a question about the sanctions. How do we get around them how it can or is Cuba circumventing these sanctions. How are they obtaining medicines syringes for the vaccines. All sorts of supplies that they need desperately. And is there anything we can do to help them. I know code pink is raising money and has raised money a lot. But what else. It's an extremely complicated scenario, because I think even ways that Cuba had established over the last few years to sort of go around us sanctions to sort of go through the US blockade to be able to access basic supplies and not just medicine but many other things for their country have been shut down because of the 243 sanctions placed by the US by the US government and the Trump specifically. I mean, right now there are stories, for example, of Cuba makes oil purchases abroad. The ship is on open sea on its way to Cuba. This ship is somehow diverted and sent to another port. Even after the fact that Cuba's paid for it. We still see examples where the fact that Cuba's actually not trying to buy medicine but Cuba's trying to buy the raw materials needed to create its own medicine it has a powerful pharmaceutical industry with capable scientists a capable industry for this. It's been almost in made impossible for Cuba to buy these supplies in the last two years, which is why there's a major scarcity in this. I think the real pressure from us has to be not just to raise money to send supplies. Because as much as it is useful to Cuba in the short run. None of what we fundraise for can ever really meet Cuba's demands. None of it. I have one last question. It's a necessary act, but we have to do more. And I think the big push has to be against those sanctions. Even if we can't convince everyone, particularly people in Congress that the US blockade is something immoral and cruel that needs to be removed getting some consensus on why would we want to maintain the sanctions placed by Trump. Only actively hurt more and more of Cuba's population, not its government is a big thing to actually bring about in conversation. Can I say something about that. I think that there are there is an area in which the action and bringing the issue to the discussion is very important is what happened with in my chances. Hello. Yeah, and what happened in my chances had a consequences for the environment. There was a meeting by phone or by by soon between Cuban officials and officials of the United States of several agencies on this issue. And we should try to build on what happened during the last two years of the Obama administration. There were some protocols about environmental protection that even touch the issue of Florida. Cuba need the rep to repair or even rebuild the base of super tankers is something that many experts are saying is that there should be an opportunity for a cooperation between the United States and Cuba. Outside the sanctions and opening the possibility of financial transactions that will allow Cuba to reveal those energy deposits, because the process of bringing in addition to what Manolo said, the process of bringing this oil to land. It's very difficult from in other places and not in this station that was built in 1980 but still is the best installation that Cuba has for this. So we should. This is an area in which we should work. I think that we should not we should use the mechanism of licenses, but we should not stop denouncing that the mechanism of licenses is a big leaf over the cruelty that the embargo is is an economic weapon. It doesn't distinguish between civilians and non civilians. Sometimes it's even more permissive. The action on human rights in Cuba the action from a humanitarian perspective of the these sanctions that the real name is economic weapons. At times doesn't respect even a regulations that exist in international humanitarian law. I can give you examples, but we all have probably time for that so I will stop there. Thank you so much use the licenses use the licenses. But at the same time, I think we should not lose the the perspective of that the main target is to remove the sanctions and remove the sanctions and remove Cuba from state sponsor of terrorism list thank you so much Dr or Toro Lopez Levy and Manolo are there any final words you want to add. None just thank you so much for the invite and sorry I have to run. Thank you I'm going to ask everybody to unmute and thank our guests Dr or Toro Lopez Levy, and Manolo de los Santos de los Santos for joining us tonight we hear from everybody.