Professional exile bandwagon alert: Actor Andy Garcia to lead Cuba solidarity march

[Mika]

Actor Andy Garcia to lead Cuba solidarity march
http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/03/27/1550567/actor-andy-garcia-to-lead-cuba.html

MIAMI -- Actor Andy Garcia is expected to lead a march in Los Angeles on Sunday in support of Cuban dissidents, three days after a similar event drew tens of thousands in Miami.
Garcia says demonstrators will walk in silence, dressed in white, in solidarity with the Cuban people and especially the Ladies in White, a group of Cuban mothers and wives of the 75 political opposition leaders, activists and independent journalists arrested in 2003 and sentenced to lengthy prison terms.

I wonder if they'll fly Orlando Bosch out for the event. :puke:

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[Judi Lynn]

1. Orlando Bosch probably would prefer to take a ride on the Santrina,

going through the Panama Canal to get to Los Angeles.

He may be afraid some dirtball bomber will blow up a plane HE'S on, for crying out loud!

Remember that Cuban loon in California they discovered had his entire house filled with artillery and ammunition? His claim was that he was preparing for an invasion of Cuba, but he had a history of illegal gun sales in California.

He just might join Andy Garcia in his little parade, if he's out of prison already.

[Judi Lynn]

2. Another aspect of Andy Garcia's decision to attend a Cuban American imitation

of the Argentinian real ladies with white scarves who lost their children, and their grandchildren, to the fascist military right-winger regime would have to be that it gives him a chance to get his face in front of a camera again.

Lord knows he's not getting any movie contracts which would inform the American public he's a living actor. Maybe he should stop telling people that when he was born there was an actual twin brother growing out of his shoulder which the doctors removed. Maybe that story has jinxed his career.

He should have waited until he was really famous before he started telling that one!

From Wiki:

Andy García, actor (parasitic twin brother removed from Andy's shoulder; died soon after)

http://74.125.113.132/search?q=cache:BpjjfdZqiiQJ:en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_twins+Andy+Garcia+twin+head+growing+from+shoulder+at+birth&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us

[EFerrari]

3. People actually interested in social justice should join the march

with names of Gitmo prisoners on their signs. :shrug:

[bemildred]

4. That's what we need, a Gitmo solidarity march.

Shrouds, stately marching, dirges playing in the background.

[EFerrari]

6. On Andy Garcia's dime. World Can't Wait used to do that here.

They were the great people who started wearing orange jumpsuits and doing street theater to keep putting the issue in faces.

[protocol rv]

5. I believe the demonstration is part of an anti Castro campaign

They're not going to dilute the effort bringing up the Guantanamo jail. There seems to be an evolving movement, triggered by the hunger strikers, to put pressure on Raul Castro to put Fidel into true retirement, and begin the changes all Cubans thought were coming when Fidel started croaking and Raul started talking about change.

I sure hope they get this change started. It's better if it's done under control, with good planning. They need to abandon communism and allow freedom of the press, get real elections to take place, and they will be fine. I may even go to Cuba to help them out, free of charge - but they have to change first.

[flamingdem]

7. This is from the Facebook page for the march

* My guestimate is that about 200 people will show up. It's L.A. and the Cuban Americans don't hyperventilate as much. (Apart from Andy). If they marched to end travel restrictions there would have been many improvements by now, but that's not their point or their goal.

They wanna be right goshdarnit. They want to make a hero of a Tamayo, with his behavioral problems that landed him in jail, and who was not a dissident.

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=102574439781503

--------------------------------------------------
IT’S NOT A CUBAN ISSUE…IT’S A HUMAN ISSUE

A week has passed marking the 7TH anniversary of the Cuban government's imprisonment of 75 peaceful human rights advocates and independent journalists known as Cuba's Black Spring. 7 years later, over 50 prisoners of conscience remain in jail.

Only 2 weeks ago, one of these - ORLANDO ZAPATA TAMAYO – recognized by Amnesty International as a prisoner of conscience, died after an 85 day hunger strike. Last week, family members of the 75 – known as LAS DAMAS DE BLANCO (Ladies in White) – organized a 7 day rally on the streets of Havana calling for their release. Many were hauled off violently by force while staging a peaceful protest on 3/17.

Cuban in LA writes to ask for your support and solidarity with them and youth who struggle for peaceful nonviolent change on the island. This Sunday, we’ll be joining events taking place nationally led by Gloria Estefan and Raices de Esperanza.

WHAT YOU CAN DO:
1) Sign the online petition (link below)
2) Pledge to fast 12 hours beginning Sunday 3/28 at 6am.
3) Attend the Hunger for Change demonstration, Sunday 3/28 from 2-5pm @ Echo Park. Procession begins at 4pm.
**Meet at Jose Marti statue in Echo Park. Please wear white & bring a flower.**
4) Change your Facebook profile picture & tweet about your actions (see images of the Damas below)
5) Email to inform your friends and families, especially non-Cubans.


Petition
Join Oscar-winning director Pedro Almódovar and legendary Peruvian writer Mario Vargas Llosa in calling for the immediate release of all Cuban prisoners of conscience. Sign here: http://firmasjamaylibertad.com/ozt/

12 Hour Fast
Amnesty International prisoner of conscience Orlando Zapata Tamayo, an Afro-Cuban human rights activist, died two weeks ago in a Cuban jail after enduring an 80+ day hunger strike. In response, multiple prisoners of conscience – including Guillermo Farinas - have initiated hunger strikes that have received international attention. Fast for 12 hours to demonstrate true solidarity.

Hunger for Change Demonstration
On March 17th, in the midst of seven days of commemorations marking the 7th anniversary of the Black Spring that summarily imprisoned 75 of their relatives, the Ladies in White were forcibly dragged and carried on to buses by state security to prevent their march. To mark the end of our 12 hour fast, we’ll march around Echo Park, echoing the Ladies in White by wearing white, and carrying flowers and images of the 75. The march will begin and end at the Jose Marti Statue.

Facebook & Twitter
Viral messages are the fastest way to spread information. Change your profile picture on Sunday 3/28 to that of Orlando Zapata Tamayo or the Ladies in White. Update your Facebook status & Twitter feeds with this message: "Today, I'm fasting in solidarity with the Cuban people who hunger for change."

Spread the Word
The power of Hunger for Change lies in spreading information about what’s happened and demonstrating solidarity with those involved. The more people know, the less willing the Cuban government is to continue repressing those in Cuba who dare to speak their own beliefs.

For more info please contact [e-mail]

[flamingdem]

8. List of "intellectual" who signed the petition

I don't see Almodovar's name.

1 Reina Luisa Tamayo Danger Holguín Cuba
2 Vladimiro Roca Antúnez La Habana Cuba
3 Yoani Sánchez Cordero La Habana Cuba
4 Carlos Alberto Montaner Madrid España
5 Antonio José Ponte Madrid España
6 Martha Beatriz Roque Cabello La Habana Cuba
7 Reinaldo Escobar La Habana Cuba
8 Rafael Rojas Ciudad México México
9 Carles Llorens Catalunya España
10 Lourdes M. Cobiella Reguera Florida EE.UU.
11 Joan Antoni Guerrero Vall Andorra la Vella Andorra
12 Zurama L. Johnston California EE.UU.
13 Alexis Romay New Jersey EE.UU.
14 Ernesto Hernández Busto Barcelona España
15 Carmen Peláez New York EE.UU.
16 Dagmar Monett Berlín Alemania
17 Valerie Block New Jersey EE.UU.
18 Patricia Arancibia New York EE.UU.
19 Veronica Cervera Florida EE.UU.
20 Felix Luis Viera Ciudad México México
21 Raúl Ciro Hernández Gómez Granada España
22 María Eugenia Arencibia La Coruña España
23 Jorge Eduardo Benavides Madrid España
24 Silvia Garza Ciudad México México
25 Jorge Ferrer Barcelona España