COSATU passes motion on Cuba
News from Cuba | Saturday, 10 October 2009
Confederation of South African Trade Unions pass motion in support of Cuba and the Miami Five at national conference
A Resolution on Cuba passed in the 10th COSATU Conference, South Africa, September 21st - 24th, 2009.
4.61.5. CUBA: NEHAWU, NUMSA, SADTU, CEPPWAWU
Noting that:
a) This year marks the 50th anniversary of the triumph of the Cuban revolution and that the Cuban people have remain steadfast despite the on-going blockade by the United States of America.
b) Cuba remains a key international ally of the South African working class in the struggle for socialism.
c) The Cuban revolution continues to provide inspiration to oppressed peoples the world over, and its developmental path and social programs create the conditions for human dignity and social progress.
d) The World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU) has always strongly supported Cuba’s right to sovereignty and pursuit of a developmental path that prioritises social programs that are beneficial to the working class.
e) The international Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) has historically viewed the Castro government as a dictatorship, which has wittingly or unwittingly legitimized the US embargo that has caused untold suffering to the people of Cuba.
f) The continuing illegal imprisonment of the Cuban Five by the United States of America since 1998.
g) The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detentions (Human Rights Commission) declaration on may 27th, 2005 that ·the deprivation of liberty of Antonio Guerrero Rodríguez, Fernando González Llort. Gerardo Hernández Nordelo, Ramón Labañino Salazar Y René González Sehwerert is arbitrary, being in contravention of article 14 of the International Covenant of Civil Political Rights.”
h) The continued illegal detention of the Cuban Five heroes, whose crime was to defend the territorial integrity of Cuba in the US, with the trial run by forces hostile to the Cuban revolution and its achievements.
i) The illegal and violent sponsoring of counter-revolution to undermine the Cuban revolution by the U S, including the embargo to force Cuba to submit its sovereignty.
Believing that:
a) Cuba is a sovereign state that has a right under international law to use all the necessary means at its disposal to defend its sovereignty and to choose its own development path.
b) International solidarity and defence of the Cuban revolution is an integral component in the fight against imperialism.
c) The embargo against Cuba is illegal and a violation of the right of Cuba to choose its path of development.
d) Our solidarity and support for the Cuban revolution must no be compromised by any political line from our affiliated international federations or Global Trade Union Federations (GUF’s).
e) The five Cuban heroes are behind bars in the US prisons for fighting terrorism against Cuba, in which case, the US has been exposed for its double standards in their so-called war against terror, which in actual fact, is meant to target enemies of the empire. Even if it means sponsoring terrorists, like Posada Carriles who bombed the Cuban airlines and is safely protected from prosecution by the US.
f) The trial of the Cuban Five did not take place in a climate of objectivity and impartiality which are cornerstones of a just judicial process.
g) That the on-going harassment of the Cuban people is an attempt to undermine their resolve and commitment to live as a sovereign people.
Therefore resolve to:
a) Do much more concrete work to defend the struggles of Cuban people for national independence and socialism.
b) Challenge the logic of capitalist development and the imperialist domination by a small number of developed states that hamper Cuba’s choice for a developmental path that is beneficial to the working class.
c) To challenge the ITUC’s bias against Cuba, as well as ensure the mobilization of the global trade union movement in defence of the achievements of Cuban anti-imperialism.
d) Strengthen the WFTU’s support for the Cuban sovereignty and its right to choose its own development path.
e) Engage the ANC and government to decisively support and defend the Cuban revolution, including by strengthening ties with the Cuban government and its people.
f) Demand the immediate and unconditional release of the five Cuban patriots and participate in local and international campaigns, including the motion adopted at the 2009 Cuban May Day international Conference for an international day of action for their release.
g) Support the WFTU’s demand for the right of Cuba and other sovereign nation states to pursue their own developmental path.
h) Demand that the United States government immediate grant humanitarian visas to the two Cuban women (Olga Salanueva y Adriana Pérez) to visit their husbands in US prisons.
i) Call on the government to through the Minister of International Relations and Cooperation engage and demand that the US Administration release the Cuban Five given UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detentions (Human Rights Commission) declaration of May 27th, 2005.
j) Based on the principle that “Justice delayed is justice denied” to through COSATU demand for the immediate release of the Cuban Five from US prisons by engaging in demonstrations, pickets and protests and marches targeting US Embassies / High Commission Offices, US Officials visiting South Africa, and other US interest sites in SA.
k) Through COSATU strengthen the solidarity with FOCUS, and other 200 committees formed in 75 countries, including the United States, and in every continent, lobbing for the freedom of the Cuban Five.
l) The work with other organisations in spreading as extensively as possible the truth about the scandalous case of the Cuban Five in the USA.
m) That COSATU must continue to demand the release of the Cuban 5 and the end of the US blockade or sanctions against Cuba, including those by the EU.
