Cuba has been under attack from the United States seemingly forever. Why should we care? This seminar, organized by Manitoba-Cuba Solidarity, answers this question with useful information and thoughtful insights. I recorded it at Winnipeg’s iconic Ukrainian Labour Temple on May 23, 2026. Please share widely.
Archive for the ‘In Solidarity’ Category
Why should we care about Cuba?
Posted: May 27, 2026 in In Solidarity, Nibbling on The EmpireTags: Canada-Cuba, Cuba, US imperialism
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Elbows up for Cuba, Canada!
Posted: February 11, 2026 in Act Locally, In Solidarity, Nibbling on The EmpireTags: Canada-Cuba, donald-trump, news, politics, Trump, us oil embargo on cuba, Venezuela
The United States has ramped up its decades-long campaign to smash its tiny Caribbean neighbour. While the country has been plagued with shortages of essential goods since the end of the Covid-19 pandemic, recent US measures to starve the country of fuel have made a bad situation much worse. The US oil blockade amounts to a state of war and the American government has threatened dire consequences for any country that comes to Cuba’s aid.
So, what’s a freedom loving human to do in the face of Yankee aggression? Here are some suggestions.
Tell Carney to “Elbows Up” for Cuba
Canada’s relationship with Cuba has been mixed. On one hand, we’ve had diplomatic relations with Cuba since 1945 and trade relations since the 18th century. Canadians account for one-third of Cuba’s tourists and we’ve held that number one spot for many years. On the other, there are documented instances of Canada spying on Cuba for the United States.
Canada has long claimed its generally friendly relations with Cuba in the context of Yankee hostility as evidence of Canada’s independent foreign policy. One way we can help Cuba is to compel our government to provide real support Cuba in the face of US aggression.
There is an online petition to the House of Commons calling for the Canadian Government to assist the people of Cuba in resisting United States aggression. Specifically, the petition calls on our government to:
- Publicly condemn U.S. aggressions as violations of international law;
- Refuse to participate in, support, or legitimize military, economic, or political aggressions against Venezuela and other countries;
- Reaffirm and actively support the Caribbean as a Zone of Peace, free from external military intervention;
- Actively reject any and all interventions and military aggressions against Cuba, Colombia and Mexico;
- Firmly oppose U.S. economic and other coercive measures against Cuba and vigorously advocate for their removal;
- Deepen economic ties, trade and assistance to Cuba; and
- Unequivocally uphold and promote the right of self-determination of the peoples and countries of Latin America and the Caribbean.
If you wish to sign this petition, do so, here, before April 20, 2026.
Additionally, the Canadian Foreign Policy Institute and Just Peace Advocates are conducting an online email campaign that calls on our federal government to sell oil, food and medicine to Cuba. You can join in here.
Finally, you can contact for MP directly (and senator(s) as well). All of their contact information is available here.
There is even a Canada-Cuba Parliamentary Friendship group . It is time to remind our Parliamentarians of its existence.
Get your own “elbows up!”
On a more individual, person-to-person basis, you can plug into local activities with your nearest Canada-Cuba friendship committee, of which there are many across Canada. The umbrella organization for most if not all of there groups is the Canadian Network on Cuba. The CNC is an excellent source of information about Cuba solidarity and the many groups across Canada that you can work with.
Many peace groups are actively supporting Cuba and other countries struggling against imperialism. The Canada-Wide Peace and Justice Network is a good place to find local groups and national news.
If you belong to a union, it may have a social justice or international solidarity committee or program. Many churches have social justice and/or international development programs.
Information is Power
You have to keep informed. There is so much contradictory information, disinformation and outright bullshit, it is often difficult to know what is going on. With regard to Latin America and the Caribbean, here are some sources that I have found to be helpful:
Winnipeggers say “HANDS OFF VENEZUELA!”
Posted: November 24, 2025 in In Solidarity, Nibbling on The EmpireTags: Venezuela
The United States has been meddling in Venezuelan affairs since the election of Hugo Chávez in 1999. Despite American backed coup attempts, assassination plots, and economic sanctions, the people of Venezuela have stood firm and continued to elect Chávez, and following his death in 2013, Nicolás Maduro. More recently, under the pretext of combatting drug smugglers, the US military has been murdering unarmed fishers (more than 80 to date) and amassing a naval force off the coast of Venezuela. An invasion could come at any moment.
International solidarity in opposition to America’s plans for Venezuela is building. In coordination with the Canada Wide Peace and Justice Network call to action for a week of emergency protests, Winnipeg peace activists held an information picket on November 23, 2025. The action was organized by Peace Alliance Winnipeg, The Manitoba Cuba Solidarity Network, United in Action, the Communist Party of Canada-Manitoba and Araucaria.
Africa’s New Revolutions
Posted: August 30, 2025 in In Solidarity, Nibbling on The EmpireTags: Alliance des États du Sahel, anticolonialism, Burkina Faso, Ibrahim Traoré, Mali, Niger
The Alliance of Sahel States (French: Alliance des États du Sahel), or AES is a confederation formed between Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso, located in the Sahel region of Africa. The AES has been actively breaking colonial ties and its anti-imperialist stance has placed it in conflict with many of its African neighbours (as well as France, the former colonial master). Peace Alliance Winnipeg held a public forum on August 19, 2025 to explore this topic.
The forum was moderated by Canadian Dimension magazine columnist Owen Schalk and featured Professor Amina Mire of Carlton University and Prudence Iticka, an organizer with Black People United Calgary.
Canada’s ongoing betrayal of Haiti
Posted: November 13, 2021 in In Solidarity, Nibbling on The EmpireTags: Canada, colonialism, Haiti, imperialism
In this webinar, viewers discuss the film Haiti Betrayed with director, Elaine Brière, and the current Haitian situation with activist Jennie-Laure Sully. The webinar was hosted by Peace Alliance Winnipeg on Nov. 13, 2021.
Background
In 2004, Canada collaborated with the U.S. and France to overthrow Haiti’s elected president, Jean Bertrand Aristide, who enjoyed widespread support among the poorest Haitians. Since then, with Canada’s support, a series of right-wing governments have overturned Aristide’s reforms and violently repressed his supporters.
Released in 2019, Elaine Brière’s documentary, Haiti Betrayed, exposes the role Canada played in the 2004 coup. You can watch it here, in English or French.
Biographies
Elaine Brière is a Canadian filmmaker and photojournalist. Her first documentary, Bitter Paradise: The Sell-out of East Timor, won Best Political Documentary at the l997 HOT DOCS! festival and Production Excellence award at Seattle Women in Film in l998. Bitter Paradise aired on TVO, CBC Radio-Canada, CFCF-12 Montreal, BC Knowledge Network, SCN, WTN, PBS and Swedish National Television.
The Story of Canadian Merchant Seamen, released in 2006, aired on SCN and Knowledge Network and toured extensively in New Zealand, the UK and Australia.
Elaine’s photographs have been collected by the visual arts section of the National Archives of Canada. Her work has appeared in The Globe & Mail, the New York Review, Canadian Geographic, Carte-Blanche, and the Family of Women. East Timor, Testimony, was published in 2004. She is the founder of the East Timor Alert Network and received the Order of Timor-Leste in 2016 for her contribution towards the liberation of East Timor from Indonesian occupation.
Her current feature documentary, Haiti Betrayed, on the role of Canada in the 2004 coup d’état in Haiti, was released in late 2019. It was translated into French in the summer of 2020 and aired on TV5 in Québec and France.
Jennie-Laure Sully is a researcher at the Socioeconomic Research Institute (IRIS) and a community organizer at CLES, a center for sexually exploited women.
She studied anthropology and public health and has a master’s degree in biomedical sciences from the University of Montreal. She has worked as a research coordinator in hospitals and as a psycho-social caseworker in rape crisis centers.
Jennie is very active in the women’s movement and in the movement for the human rights of migrants. She was born in Haiti and moved to Quèbec with her family when she was 2 years old. Among the many causes she cares about, the fight against imperialism and for the sovereignty of Haiti is among her top priorities.
Stop the Canada-US hybrid war against Venezuela!
Posted: September 12, 2021 in In Solidarity, Nibbling on The Empire, SocialismTags: Canada, imperialism, Venezuela
The lack of any discussion of Canadian foreign policy during this election is shocking and shameful — almost as shameful as Canada’s foreign policy itself. Take the case of Venezuela. For the past two decades the United States has been waging a war of sanctions and other dirty tricks to overthrow the democratically elected socialist governments of Hugo Chávez and Nicolás Maduro. Ever Washington’s poodle, Ottawa has joined in with disgusting enthusiasm. Liberal governments or Conservative ones — it has made no difference.
To gain a deeper understanding of Canada’s foreign policy, Peace Alliance Winnipeg (of which I am a member) has organized a series of webinars that, so far, have looked at Canada’s international mining industry, Canada’s military deployments since 1867 and Canada’s policies with regard to Palestine.
Yesterday, Peace Alliance Winnipeg turned its attention to Venezuela by hosting a webinar with Venezuelan-born, Canadian scholar and activist María Páez Victor. Dr. Victor is a sociologist, educated in Caracas, New York, Mexico City, and Canada who taught the sociology of health and medicine as well as health and environmental policies at the University of Toronto for many years. Now retired from teaching, she writes and is a frequent commentator on Latin American history and politics. As well, she has her own weekly radio program about Venezuela in the Spanish language community radio of Toronto.
Here is video of the webinar.
UPDATE, Sept. 16, 2021: In an article published on Sept. 16, 2021 by Peace Alliance Winnipeg, María Páez Victor reports on positive developments in the peace negotiations being held in Mexico between the Venezuelan government and the major opposition parties. The opposition has agreed recognize the Venezuelan State, political institutions, and the legitimacy of President Nicolás Maduro and to work with the government to have the United States rescind the devastating economic sanctions that have caused such misery throughout the country.
The Nakba Continues – Palestine and Turtle Island
Posted: July 15, 2021 in Aboriginal Peoples, Human Rights, In SolidarityTags: Canada, Human Rights, indigenous rights, Palestine
There are many parallels between the struggles of Palestinians and the indigenous peoples of the Americas. Chandni Desai and Ali Abunimah reflect on some of these in this presentation.
Chandni Desai teaches at the University of Toronto. Her research and writing focus on Palestinian resistance culture and the politics of internationalism. A community organizer who works for justice in Palestine, she hosts the Liberation Pedagogy Podcast.
Ali Abunimah is director of The Electronic Intifada, an independent nonprofit publication focusing on Palestine. He is the author of “One Country, A Bold Proposal to End the Israeli-Palestinian Impasse” and “The Battle for Justice in Palestine.”
This presentation is part of a longer discussion in a webinar sponsored by the International Manifesto Group entitled “Palestine, Unifier of All Struggles” that was held July 11, 2021. Video of the entire webinar will be available at the YouTube channel of the Geopolitical Economy Research Group.
Pond Inlet Testimony
Posted: February 5, 2021 in Aboriginal Peoples, Environment, In SolidarityTags: Baffin Island, Environment, mining, Pond Inlet
“Personal message from Norman Cohn, president and co-founder with Zacharias Kunuk of Kunuk Cohn Productions, co-founder of Isuma Distribution International and IDI’s website IsumaTV.”
This Saturday, one day before 120 million viewers will watch the SuperBowl live from Tampa, another live television event will unfold in Pond Inlet in the Canadian arctic that maybe a few thousand people worldwide will be lucky enough to watch.
All day, from 9 in the morning until 9 at night, with short breaks for coffee, lunch and dinner, a continuous stream of Inuit men and women, elders and youth, unilingual and bilingual, will step up to a microphone to say what they think and feel about being bulldozed – by the gigantic multinational Baffinland Iron Mines Corporation, their own Canadian government, their own Nunavut government and their own Inuit Organizations – to surrender their land, wildlife, culture and human rights in order that those bulldozers make an uncountable profit at their personal expense.
I have seen something like this before and can tell you, without hyperbole, that you should not miss it. Unforgettable testimonies at similar hearings in 2012 are among the most astounding scenes in a film we made in 2014 called Ataatama Nunanga (My Father’s Land), another show only a few thousand people worldwide ever have seen. This film is on iTunes in thirty countries subtitled in six different languages if you want to preview Saturday’s show in a ‘historical context.’
But this Saturday’s show WILL BE LIVE, happening while and if you watch, from a hamlet in the arctic wilderness to wherever you are; and on Live Television as dramatic and compelling as the Senate Watergate Hearings were live in 1973, as other-worldly and surreal as the Moon Landing live in 1969 and as hypnotically horrifying as the Twin Towers hit, burning and finally collapsing Live on Television the morning of September 11, 2001.
Instead of being hyped like Sunday’s Super Bowl by weeks of advertising before being televised by networks around the globe, this Saturday’s Pond Inlet Testimony will appear on Uvagut TV, the world’s newest, smallest and most obscure TV network, launched just two weeks ago with no outside funding by a small Inuit non-profit, Nunavut Independent Television Network (NITV), and the Inuit media arts collective ISUMA, both operating out of Igloolik, Nunavut for the past thirty years. And no advertising. The only way people will know they can watch this is if we tell them. I’m telling you now so you can pass it on.
Uvagut TV is Live on Shaw Direct satellite channel 267 nationally; Co-op cable channel 240 in Nunavut and NWT; FCNQ cable channel 308 in Nunavut, northern Quebec; and online with English or Inuktitut audio feeds.
Links
www.uvagut.tv
www.isuma.tv
www.isuma.tv/nirb-audio-feed
http://www.isuma.tv/uvagut-tv-media-info
2018 in review at youtube.com/redriverpete
Posted: December 30, 2018 in Aboriginal Peoples, Act Locally, Environment, Human Rights, In Solidarity, Nibbling on The Empire, Peace, WinnipegTags: video
2018 was not my most prolific year in terms of video output, but it provided, nonetheless, some interesting and useful insights into the struggle for peace and human rights in various parts of the world. Here is a rundown of the past 12 months and as we like to say in YouTubeLand, if you enjoy any of these, please click the “like” icon and subscribe.
Steve Ellner: What is really happening in Venezuela: The Winnipeg Venezuela Peace Committee held a public forum on Friday, Oct. 19, 2018 entitled “What is really happening in Venezuela?” The forum featured Steve Ellner, professor of economics at the University of Oriente in Puerto La Cruz, Venezuela. Watch.
Yves Engler on Canada’s Left & its Foreign Policy Failures: Yves Engler discusses his latest book, “Left, Right — Marching to the Beat of Imperial Canada.” The book details the failure of Canada’s Left parties, institutions and intellectuals to confront Canada’s support of empire and promotion of corporate interests abroad. Watch.
Niranjan Takle: Journalism under Hindutav Fascist India: Indian journalist Niranjan Takle recounts how the mainstream media in India ignored or refused to publish his report on the suspicious death of Judge Brijgopal Harkishan Loya. Watch.
Israel Palestine International Law Symposium: An impressive line-up of experts on human rights and international law gathered in Winnipeg for a weekend to explore various legal aspects of the Israel-Palestine situation. I recorded all of the sessions.
- Introduction: Symposium coordinator David Kattenburg explains the origins and purpose of the symposium.
- Human rights: Rhetoric vs Reality: Lawyer and journalist Dimitri Lascaris describes the failure of western governments to uphold the human rights of Palestinians.
- Keynote Address: Michael Lynk, who is the United Nations Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, explains how international law has largely been ignored or broken by Israel over the past several decades of its occupation of the Palestinian Territory.
- Israeli Rights and Obligations: Michael Lynk and Dimitri Lascaris explore different aspects of Israeli’s legal rights and obligations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
- One State or Two?: Professors Michael Lynk and Virginia Tilley speak to this issue.
- Palestinian Rights & Obligations: In this clip, we hear from human rights advocates Suha Jarrar and Jonathan Kuttab.
- Palestinian Rights to Resources: Suha Jarrar, a Palestinian human rights researcher and advocate, and currently the Environmental and Gender Policy Researcher at Al-Haq human rights organization in Ramallah, Palestine explains how Israeli companies illegally exploit resources in the Occupied Territories.
- Is Israel an Apartheid State?: In this clip, Virginia Tilley argues that Israel meets the legal definition of an apartheid state.
- Dueling Perspectives: In this clip, David Matas defends Israeli practices and policies with regard to the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT). Michael Lynk argues that Matas’s arguments are not supported by international law.
- Canada’s Rights and Obligations: Dimitri Lascaris explains how Canada has not lived up to its obligations under international law.
- Concluding Remarks: In this final clip from the symposium, we hear from David Kattenburg, Mark Golden and Dean Peachey, key organizers of the event. The symposium was sponsored by (alphabetical order): Independent Jewish Voices Canada, Mennonite Church Manitoba Working Group on Palestine-Israel, Palestinian Canadian Congress, Peace Alliance Winnipeg, United Jewish People’s Order (Winnipeg) and the Winnipeg Centre Federal Green Party Association. Additional information, including Power Point presentations and other documents will be made available at the conference web site.
Winnipeg Lanterns for Peace 2018: Every August, Winnipeggers commemorate the 1945 atomic bombings of Hiroshima (Aug. 6) and Nagasaki (Aug. 9) with a Lantern Ceremony in Memorial Park. We believe it is important to keep the memory of those horrible events alive so that current generations understand we must never allow nuclear weapons to be used again. Watch.
St. Boniface By-election 2018 – Elizabeth May and Françoise Therrien Vrignon: Françoise Therrien Vrignon was the Green Party of Manitoba candidate in the July 17th Manitoba by-election in St. Boniface. With her in this video is Green Party of Canada leader Elizabeth May. Their discussion took place at La Maison des artistes visuels. Watch.
Winnipeg Rally for Refuge: The Canadians Care Coalition in association with Amnesty International, Menno Simons Students Association and the Global College Students Association held a rally entitled “Rally for Refuge: Rescind the safe third country agreement.” The coalition demanded that the Canadian Government rescind the designation of ‘Safe Third Country’ that is applied to the United States because the US is demonstrably unsafe for refugees. The Safe Third Country Agreement denies refugee claimants access to the Canadian refugee determination system if they have come from the United States to the Canadian border. Watch.
Winnipeg Walk for Peace 2018: Winnipeggers held their 37th Annual Winnipeg Walk for Peace. Sponsors: Peace Alliance Winnipeg and the Winnipeg chapter of the Council of Canadians. Watch.
Michel Chossudovsky – The Globalization of War: The Regina Peace Council played host to Professor Michel Chossudovsky, who spoke on the growing dangers of world war and the need to revitalize the peace movement. Professor Chossudovsky is the founder and director of Global Research. Watch.
Al Nakba 70 in Winnipeg: Winnipeggers marked the 70th anniversary of the forcible expulsion of Palestinians from their land and expressed solidarity with the people of Gaza who are under Israeli siege. Watch.
Make Poverty History in Winnipeg: Make Poverty History Manitoba released a comprehensive report on the poverty that affects one in ten Winnipeggers and called on the city’s mayor, Brian Bowman, to take the lead in developing a poverty reduction strategy for the city. Watch.
MFL Day of Mourning 2018: Manitoba’s labour movement held its annual observance in memory of injured and killed workers. Hundreds attended the march from the Union Centre to Memorial Park and the future site of the Firefighters, Peace Officers and Workers Memorial. Watch.
7th Generation Walk for Mother Earth 2018: Winnipeggers marked 15 years of taking to the streets with grassroots land and water defenders.The 7th Generation Walk is alternative to Earth Day, recognizing the resistance and resilience of Indigenous community led campaigns for social and environmental justice. Watch.
Mobilize against the war: Just hours before the United States launched missile attacks on Damascus and Homs, peace activists rallied outside the building housing the US Consulate to speak out against the war and Trump’s declared plan to expand it. The picket was organized by the Manitoba Peace Council. Watch.
Democracy and Elections in Cuba: Two Cuban government representatives visited Winnipeg to discuss Cuba’s electoral system and other issues of interest. The forum was sponsored by the Manitoba-Cuba Solidarity Committee. Watch.
My Jerusalem – Responding to the U.S. Embassy Announcement: Panelists representing Judaism, Christianity and Islam, share their personal reflections on what Jerusalem means to them and the implications of the US announcement to move it’s embassy there. Watch.
Winnipeg Commemorates Quebec Mosque Massacre: Winnipeggers gathered at the Manitoba Legislature to honour the victims of the terrorist attack on the Centre Culturel Islamique de Québec. Watch.
Winnipeg Kurdish Solidarity: In Winnipeg, the Kurdish community rallied at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in defense of Kurds under Turkish attack in Afrin, Syria. Watch.
North Korea and The United States at a Dangerous Nuclear Crossroads: Michel Chossudovsky is professor emeritus at the University of Ottawa and founder of the Centre for Research on Globalization. He spoke at the University of Manitoba on the history of the United States’ conflict with North Korea and the prospects for nuclear war. Watch. As well, he spoke at the University of Winnipeg. Watch.
Arnold August – Cuba-US Relations from Obama to Trump: On a national tour to promote his book “Cuba-US Relations: Obama and Beyond,” Arnold August spoke at McNally Robinson Books on developments in the two countries relations since the election of Donald Trump. Watch.
That’s it for 2018. Happy New Year, all!
Paul S. Graham 