Fighting Racism, U.S. Policy Toward Cuba, and Hunger in America

From Pacific Radio in San Francisco, this is Flashpoint. I'm Dennis Bernstein with Miguel Gavila Molina. Today on the show, blacks and Latinos in Texas fighting back against a fierce surge of racism. They plan many organizing drives for upcoming elections. Also, a frontline update on the U.S. destabilization program against Cuba. That's moving along very quickly. And hunger in America is soaring. We'll talk to author and Food Not Bombs founder Keith McHenry about what's going on and who's not getting to eat these days. All this and more coming up straight ahead on flashpoints. Stay tuned. Okay, let's do it. And you are listening to FlashPoints on Pacifica Radio. My name is Dennis Burrnstein. I'm here with Miguel Gavillom Malina, and we're going to take a look at... What's been going on in Texas recently? We're joined by Juan Jose Gutierrez. He's just back from, I guess you could call it an organizing tour. He's the executive director of Vamos Unitos USA and Director of Latino Movement USA. He served as executive director of One Stop Immigration in the late 1990s. He has led and participated in many organizations and programs for immigrants in Los Angeles. the state of California and the United States. He appears regularly in the media as an advocate for the rights of immigrants. Well, Juan Jose Gutierrez, it's good to have you back with us. Miguel and I wanted to hear a lot about what's been going on in Texas. There's a lot happening at the political ground level. So please join us. And maybe you can give us an opening salvo on what happened in Texas and then Gavilan wants to come in and he's got some questions for you. Welcome. Thank you, Dennis, and thank you, Miguel, for inviting me again to be with you on FlashPoint. Well, yes, I'll begin by saying that I was in Texas for several days. And I used the opportunity to stop by at the national convention of a national Latino organization that now calls itself Unidos, Us, United Us. That's the organization that was founded back in 1968. and operated for many years under the name that a lot of us knew about, you know, going back decades. It was called the National Council of La Rasha, and it was founded by Raulis Aguirre, who's now passed, and now is directed by its executive director, Janet Mugia. It was impressive to be there with about a thousand people.

and many very important candidates buying for office, you know, in the upcoming November 3rd elections. But, you know, the main point of the conference was that given all the violence that has been unleashed by ICE agents and other federal agents, The FBI for one jumps to mind under FBI director Kash Patel. And, you know, and this deadly result that has come, you know, from this increase of, you know, this massive persecution with the loss of, you know, Mr. Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, who was. shot and killed by ice agents on july 7th of this year who lost their lives while in ICE or detention center facilities supervised by ICE or private contractors. And then, of course, other individuals that lost their lives while trying to run away during raids or what they perceive to be an immigration raid, like a man that lost his life, as we commented before, in the state of Florida, himself, a tourist with a valid U.S. visa. issued by a U.S. embassy in Mexico. And, you know, this thing has just gotten out of control, you know, about eight people last their lives, maybe nine. We're still trying to figure that out. And so these thousands of heads of Latino community-based organizations that gather in, in, in, in Austin, Texas for two days. You know, they were really upset and they were calling, you know, to do something about it. I was an observant, not a full-fledged participant. But I was impressed by the energy of the people there. And I came away surprised that as of yet, we don't have as a community under siege more of an organizational strategy other than to call on people to do everything that we can to make sure that we bring out as many voters. as possible to vote on November 3rd to try and take the majority in Congress, in both houses of Congress, right? The Senate and the House of Representatives. Nonetheless, Dennis and Miguel, it goes without saying that this is part of the, in my view, at least, part of the natural evolution where people are coming together and saying we must do something. And of course,

you know, mainstream organizations like Unido, US, you know, the only avenue, the only path open to us is to mobilize the vote and to vote massively on November the third to ensure Democrats, you know, take over or get the majority in both houses of Congress. So we're still lacking in terms of. you know, developing a strategy that involves the grassroots that really demands that all other organizations that are part of the Civil Rights Coalition, named the organized labor and the like, you know, make a more direct and a more convinced commitment. to engage in with our community and with other communities that are basically on the same boat as us, you know, to deal with this very, very dangerous situation that we're descending into. So that was one of the things I went to do over there. Of course, we spoke at other locations in. Well, people from Houston itself, from San Antonio. and from Dallas. And then I mentioned Austin already. And let me tell you, Dennis and Miguel, the situation is really dire. You know, you spoke to cab drivers like I did. And they would tell you, you know, they're living in fear. There's a very close collaboration between local police departments, sheriffs, and the like. With ICE, any person. that have the misfortune of being pulled over for whatever reason, insignificant reasons most of the time who speaks Spanish has problems speaking the English language. Immediately, you know, ISIS called get involved with these individuals and the end result typically is that they get arrested and detained by immigration authorities. And so, you know, this is going on. The presence of ICE and other federal agents at airports is very noticeable in the state of Texas. And this is just part of a whole list of other things that I'm prepared to comment with it today. But I just wanted to give you a sense that in Texas there's fear, collective fear. people know that there needs to be something done about it. But so far, the only option that's being presented to the people are to get their family members that are citizens and able to vote to make sure that they vote on November. You know, we have to fight that fight, but I think that at the organizational level, we're still lacking.

That is the voice of Juan Jose Gutierrez. Juan Jose Gutierrez has worked on immigration issues in many ways, on many levels for decades. I want to bring Gavilan in, but just one more follow-up on that. I am hearing that as bad as Texas has been, and it's definitely got its reputation and earned it as a racist state, the... It's almost as if at this point Trump has taken off the cuffs and people are feeling their oats to not even, you know, wait until nobody's looking. Yeah, well, you know, just to give an idea about what's going on in places like Texas, you know, July was a month when on average, the numbers of people arrested on a daily basis went up dramatically. On average, as we closed the month of July, it was reported in official circles that about 1,500... individuals were arrested by ICE on a daily basis. And that's before they started tracking individuals at airports, you know, using domestic flight and passenger data, you know, across at least nine states, you know, to locate and arrest non-citizens. who are being flagged for visa over states. So Dennis, the situation, as I said, is dire. You know, announcements have been made in July as well, you know, that there are going to be coordinated denaturalization processes initiated by the Department of Justice, right, in a coordinated push. you know, they're going to be filing complaints or are already doing it. I don't know, you know, to strip U.S. citizenship from naturalized individuals. Of course, they're being accused of concealing serious crimes or committing fraud during their naturalization process. And then on top of it, there are about 530,540,000 people. They have temporary protected status. That's only involving people of Haitian nationality, as well as El Salvadorans, you know, 330 to 350 from Haiti alone. You know, I'm talking about thousands, 330 to 350,000 to 350,000. So the situation is really, really not looking. good. I believe that things are going to continue to get worse before they get better. You know, Kash Patel, the FBI director, who were commenting this issue with Miguel earlier.

You know, they're known to have diverted over 2,500 FBI personnel, including specialized domestic terrorism and child exploitation units, you know, to go after undocumented workers, you know, with no... criminal background all the while defending the position of the president, President Donald Trump, that most of the people that they're tracking, that they're going after, that they're terrorizing and so on, are dangerous criminals. So that's, you know, that's the scene on the streets across the U.S. and Texas, believe me, it's at the forefront. of what's going on, you know, all these agents have been unleashed with the full assistance and support of the governor in Texas. And that's why, I mean, you couldn't miss, but healing, you know, the fear that has gripped Latino communities across Texas. Gavilan wants to get in here, and he has a bunch of questions for you, Miguel. Yes, I do. Thank you, Dennis. And thank you, Juan Luis for joining us. But, you know, you keep mentioning Texas. The interesting thing about Texas has a massive, you know, brown Latino population, indigenous population. And also a huge African-American, you know, communities, you know, in the state. And there's been a lot of talk that if the brown and the black communities were to come together, they could sweep the state. So there's a lot of efforts to stop that. But right now, politically, I believe that Greg Abbott, you know, the racist governor of Texas, is being challenged, you know, by a Democratic candidate. And I know also that James Talarico, you know, is rising up. I believe he's, you know, in the racist Democrat. So two Democratic candidates are challenging, you know, Texas. And, you know, it could swing. And, you know, people realize who Greg Abbott is and communities are beginning to organize themselves. And what we hope to see, and there's a lot of talk about the black and brown communities coming together to stop this racism and this hatred. But that said, the other thing, you know, you mentioned, and it's something that is interesting, the FBI, I believe a week or so, two weeks ago. that, you know, made a statement, you know, Kash Patel, the criminally corrupt director of the FBI, made a statement that there's going to be no investigations of ICE or prosecution. Have you heard that, God will say? Is there something that's true about that, which is unbelievable if it is?

I've heard of it, Miguel. I'm going to research it to confirm it because that would be a serious, serious development. I haven't confirmed it, but backtracking a little bit, you know, I got the opportunity at this UNILUS convention. of seeing a Senate candidate on the Democratic side, James Talarico. You know, he went and he gave a very moving speech. He came across as a very sensitive individual. He's a teacher, an educator. He's dealt with. a lot of children, disadvantaged children of Latino origin, and you can feel his sensitivity. And he's, you know, dealing on the other side, you know, with a candidate who used to be the Attorney General, Attorney Ken Paxton, a reactionary, you know, really, really extreme right winger who thinks he deserves to win. He's been endorsed. by President Donald Trump. I think that James Talarico, who by the way, is very a man of deep faith, and at least that's how he came across to me. But more importantly, he's young and he has a lot of energy. And from what I heard, a lot of good policy ideas. And I think the community would be way better off with him as senator. And of course, something that didn't escape my notice. is that they made some serious arguments about why who results the winner, either Ken Paxton or Mr. James Talarico, that's going to determine who controls Congress for a long time going forward. So I think we need to feel vested on what happens in elections like this one in Texas and of course in other states. But I think that given that no Democrat has won a national state election in quite a long time, it would be very, very important to see someone like Mr. James Talarico win because he's committed. to supporting the causes and the hopes and expectations of all people in Texas, but primarily those communities that are disadvantaged. you know, Latinos, you mentioned African Americans, and ultimately all working people, because at this point in time, I think we have to broaden our thinking and start realizing that we're all in this boat together and that if we're going to be overcoming these modern-day fascists in America, we're going to have to figure ways of weaving a net.

you know, where most people they want to fight for justice and believe in justice and restoring, you know, what we want in the Constitution, you know, we're going to have to figure out a way to do it, you know. with as many people as possible, no matter who they are, as long as they believe basically in the same thing that we all believe, which is justice, you know, equality before the law and so on and so forth. So I came away with a feeling that, you know, they were moving in the right direction. I also had an opportunity to visit with former... U.S. ambassador to Mexico, Ambassador Ken Salazar himself, a former U.S. Senator, Attorney General of the state of Colorado, and so on and so forth, right? And, you know, he had a very, very interesting set of ideas. He's just written a book named Borderlands, you know, the fight for an inclusive America. You know, it's nice to see that there are voices that are starting to realize, you know, that we're going to have to, like, go deeper than we've ever had if we're going to overcome the challenges that we have right now, namely. right now as we talk about immigrants, but ultimately the agenda has to be much broader than that because we need to include many, many more people if we're going to turn things around in this nation. You're absolutely correct, Juan Jose. And one of the things that I've heard, and, you know, especially folks that I know in Texas and, you know, New Mexico, Arizona, California, Colorado, and it keeps coming up that at some point the working class, you know, the middle class, you know, the poor working class, you know, regardless of race. has to come together. And there's been the idea at some point, you know, calling for a national general strike, you know, to shut down the country. And because at the end, these corporations that now, you know, control the White House through the corrupt, you know, chronic liar, sexual predator, convicted felon, you know, in the Oval Office. And that is, you know, their wallet. That's the only thing they understand. And a general strike would send, you know, shocks, you know, shockwaves across the country to that corporate class of people that now, you know, like I said, control the White House. Do you see that? Did you hear anything, you know, on that level about, you know, calling for a national genocide either before the elections in November or, you know, in the next six months to a year?

No, not in Texas, you know, but as I was explaining to you in California, I've spoken to a number of people in organized labor. One of them is David Werta, who was arrested and mishandled by ICE agents last year in charge with felonius. crimes and so on. And then they got reduced to misdemeanors. And just last week, all charges were dropped, right? Against them, I guess they figured they couldn't prove their case. You know, he was incarcerated for a few days before being let out and bond and so on. But now he's overcome that problem. I know that he's told me that he's very committed to a national general strike. led by organized labor, or at least by its most progressive unions in the overall organized labor movement in the U.S., but they're proposing to do it sometime before the next presidential election. And I think that like you, Miguel, I'm more concerned about what happens between now and the November elections. So I think there's a lot of pulling in every direction with some people sticking to their guns and thinking that the best tactic to pursue at this point is not to rock the boat too much and wait until the next presidential elections. But there's a growing wave of activists, of organizers, of heads of organizations that believe that it would be wise. to reconsider the 2028 general strike is, you know, and just because they're talking about it doesn't mean that it's a done deal and there's already a date for when in 2028, there would be a general strike. But like I said, there are people that are pushing so that we do it much earlier than that. heading into the November elections, but there's nothing definitive yet. But at least it's part of the conversation. And with every day the passes, more and more people are adding their voices, their opinions about when we need to do this thing. It remains to be seen how organized labor, you know, who has, you know, their own agenda and so on. How are they going to react? you know, to, you know, to the community based, you know, to the grassroots that are not necessarily in unions and so on, but there are concerned about what's going on and are demanding, you know, that they take more forceful action. It remains to be seeing what they're going to do, what they're going to do about that. But I, for one, will tell you the minute we know something that it would be important for your listening audience in the Bay Area and so on, you know, to learn about, we will certainly let you know. Beautiful. Beautiful. We appreciate it. Miguel and I always count on you on Jose Gutierrez for the deep stuff, the good information, forward thinking, transformational in nature. Before we let you go, we just, we're out of time. But I just want to get your gut take.

on what the United States is trying to do. We're about to talk about Cuba. I just wanted to get your gut reaction what the United States is trying to do here and how they're essentially torturing of people. Your response to this. Well, they want to get rid of the government that runs Cuba today, and they want to get rid of all the mass organizations that have been created over 16 some odd years of unbelievable struggle and sacrifice. They don't want anything of what the Cuban Revolution has meant, not just for the Americas, but for the world. They want to crush it. And they want to make sure that there are nothing remains. And they want to bring back the old corrupt capitalist system with a vengeance to that beautiful land. Now, you know, I know that, you know, that Cuba, many people think, you know, is not going to make it. It's not going to be able to resist. this grueling and I mean overwhelming pressure that the United States with President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio have unleashed on the island. But you know, many times over the life of the revolution to this day, people have basically written out Cuba. But, you know, in Cuba, you have a population that by and large, is very politically conscientious, is very politicized, and is very organized. And I have conviction that no matter what the United States tries short of an all-out invasion that will be, as the Cuban leadership has already expressed many times, will be... bloody and not something that's going to be done in over in a few days. And so I have hope that somehow, you know, that will not happen. Things will take a different course and the Cuban Revolution will survive and go on with changes and everything as we know that they have already been announced. They're allowing more of a private market system, you know, to develop there as never before. You know, but that reminds me of Lenin's economic plan, you know, when 14 nations had invited, you know, invaded, excuse me, you know, the new Soviet Union. and the country was devastated there was civil war ranging there was no food you know the the peasants were hoarding a lot of the food they didn't want to and they were selling it in the black market people were starving and lenin said look uh you know we need to do something about that so we're going to allow for some privatization and they did and that saved uh the revolution for decades to come i think that cuba's

is in a similar situation. Of course, there's no comparison between Cuba and what the Soviet Union was, you know, back in the 19, you know, in the, you know, in the 1920s. But nonetheless, I think the, the analogy is valid. And, you know, all I can say, Dennis and Miguel, is that the Cuban revolution has resisted for a long time that they're not going to go down. It's not going to be, exactly. That's already clear. Well, we thank you for taking the time out to be with us on flashpoints again. We are always honored to have your presence and the information that you share, particularly coming out of Texas, incredibly important. Thank you. Be safe, and please come back and enlighten us again real soon. Thank you for inviting me, Dennis and Miguel. I'll talk to you soon. Absolutely. And you're listening to FlashPoint on Pacific Radio. We are going to take a short break. When we come back, we're going to be back with Gloria Lariva. She's about to lead another group of a couple of dozen people bringing lifesaving supplies to Cuba, which the United States government is trying to destroy and while in the midst of torturing the people. Stay with us. We will return.

Let's go to Keith and come back to Gloria. How about that? Thank you. Okay, let's, okay, so we'll continue with some music and then we'll see which one of these folks we can track down. Can we put me some music on? Are you able to style Keith now?

That's with Keith. That's the problem, Keith. Okay, let's, we have some music coverage here. What is the phone number if we want to take live phone calls? Can you do live calls or no? And Keith wasn't supposed to be on until 45, so maybe that's why we're not able to get to him. Because I did speak to him just before we went on the air, so I'm not sure what the situation is there. I don't know what's happening with Glory. I tried to call her too. That's amazing. And you can keep trying Keith. You could try Keith because he may show up at 5.45 would. Thank you. Are we back? We are live. We are back. You're listening to FlashPoint on Pacific Radio. We're not able to make contact. to both of our guests. So we're going to keep trying Keith as well, but maybe you want to become our guests here on KPFA. We have some time, and our listeners are incredibly intelligent. So if you want to give us a call, 510-48-4425. 510-848425. What do you think about what's going on in Texas? You heard our interview with Juan Jose. It's an extraordinary situation. Maybe you have something that you want to jump in there. Maybe you're just back from Texas. Maybe you're just following it very closely in terms of the deportation machine that's been created by Trump. And in the event, 510-848-4425. 510848-4425. If you want to jump in and join us, as we have a few... Who do we have? Pete? Keith, we have. All right. Well, what an incredible moment. Keith, Big Henry, Food, Not Bombs. Are you there? I am here. Yes, I am. Thank you. Keith, we wanted to check in with you because the situation is obviously getting worse in the country more and more. folks are having trouble finding enough food to eat, being able to afford the food. There are all kinds of struggles happening across the country. Food Not Bombs has always been our barometer of what's going on in the country. What happens there with you in Santa Cruz and in your connections to Food Not Bombs all around the world, we get a sense of what the situation is. So, Keith, why don't you take a shot at sort of giving us your

sense of where we are now in terms of hunger and the rising number of hungry people that aren't able to feed themselves? Yeah, well, you know, this morning, Sacramento Bee published a report that 16 million or roughly 40% of the state's residents are unable to afford enough to live. That was in a study that was done by California Food Bank. And that we are seen because this weekend, which theoretically the first and second of the month... because people get the, you know, what funding they do get usually before the weekend starts. We had the largest numbers ever. We were up to about a little over 200 people this both Saturday and Sunday coming to eat. And that is really shocking at this early in the month. The other thing is happening is people are starting to, you know, we see the police sweeps are getting more vicious here in Santa Cruz. One woman who just recently lost her housing had neatly packed all of her belongings on two carts that she made out of pallets with wheels. And she was trying to escape the homeless sweep outside of the homeless shelter, housing matters. The police wouldn't let us help her move out of the way and threatened to arrest the volunteers that were trying to support her. And so they just calmly wheeled all of her belongings up to the back of a garbage truck and took apart the blue tarps and ropes that were holding it all together and just threw all of her household belongings into the garbage truck, leaving her with nothing. And so, you know, things are getting more and more dire. The other thing is I have a number of her friends. who thought they had traditional Section 8 HUD housing. And they got the turns out over 200 families in Santa Cruz County received notice that their subsidies are up in December and that they will be out on the streets. And so I have one close friend who has a disabled husband and two or three elementary school kids. And she used to live in an RV, but she sold her RV when she thought she had stable.

hud housing and now she is uh fearful that she will be moving her whole family into a tent somewhere along the san lorenzo river or something and this is the kind of tension i have many friends actually that are in the same boat from this section eight cuts And Section 8, HUD itself is the budget for 2027 is being reduced by 13%. So already a dire situation where there needs to be more help, not less, is getting cut. So, you know, food stamps are getting reduced. So the hunger crisis is crazy. And one of the things that we've been doing is that there's a subsidized housing in Santa Cruz. And when the Second Harvest delivers the food to the families there, usually there's some leftovers, you know, stuff that people didn't really want. And every Thursday, we picked that up and we take it to another low-income area and hand it out. And the last three, four weeks, we've not received anything. It's basically, they can't even, you know, meet the needs of the people in their own communities. So we're not getting the surplus there either. So it's a disaster. And the fact that, you know, this morning, you're just seeing, you know, dozens of unhoused people with all their belongings, like... all along River Street fleeing this morning's police sweep that, you know, as a constant, used to be like it twice a week, and now it's like, you know, so you can't even tell when people are going to be swept. And I showed up with a bunch of food yesterday after we had a memorial service for Gail Page, who, when she was housed, when she had an adequate housing, she ended up passing away. this month and she had to downsize into a very tiny apartment. But she used to let the homeless live at her property on Spring Street. And that's the memorial service yesterday. It was so amazing how many homeless people. you know, talked about how Gail had saved them, and if it wasn't for her, you know, they don't know what they would have done when they, you know, lost their homes. And one man who's very famous here in Santa Cruz named Curtis Rumfield, he spoke about the fact that he grew up in an all-black community in Louisiana. He became clean and sober and to stay away from the environment that he grown up in, he came to Santa Cruz, and he'd never lived in a white community, and Gail had welcomed him and, you know, brought him into his house, and he's been here ever since, and now he's an icon of our community. He does a regular trip to the Hopi in Arizona and brings them the surplus clothing and supplies from Santa Cruz. So it's really, really touching.

You know, how regular people, not that Gail's all that regular. She was an amazing woman, a very important member of the political movements here in Santa Cruz, and my proofreader for my substack and one of my closest friends. You know, she, you know, she, just by having a memorial, I learned so much about the unhoused people that she helped over the last, like. 15, 20 years, you know, just really remarkable. But we're in a dire situation, and the fact that we're going to waste all this money, you got he upset, you know, Secretary of War demanding billions more to fight Iran while the people in our country are suffering really badly, which is, of course, why our name is Food Not Bombs. And I write a lot about the local homeless people in my, uh, My book, my new memoirs, Soup Street. Soup Street. Memoir by Food Not Bombs by co-founder Keith McHenry. Keith, we're running out of time. I do think we have... found Gloria Lariva. But I want to ask you one question. You're in Santa Cruz, which is a city like many, the size of many cities across the country. What can, what could, if Santa Cruz really wanted to do something? good for the homeless that they could afford. What would you want a town to do, a small city to do in terms of dealing with an obviously overwhelming homeless problem, a hunger problem, really? Well, you know, Santa Cruz was just, you know, announced that it was the most expensive rental market in the country. And so the, you know, and they're building all these luxury condos here. We have 38 major luxury condo high-rise projects happening here. But instead of spending all this money in investment properties for hedge funds, if they did things like actually did. provide real housing for people, which they obviously have the money for, but a studio apartment here is $4,000 a month. And so we have a situation where they're spending, you know, they spend more than that per month for homeless person in shelters. And they actually could, you know, use that money to place people in real housing. That would be a huge thing. There's also a lot of laws in every city that make it more difficult for homeless people to access housing, even if they have resources. I have one friend that works at UPS and also a sampler at Costco, and she has enough money to rent an apartment.

But she can't because she has no FICA score because she's been living on the street for years. So there could be systems, like for instance in Santa Cruz, many properties won't rent to you, even if you have the money because, say, for instance, you have a misdemeanor conviction, that automatically keeps you from renting properties in many, many of the locations available here in Santa Cruz. So they could change all these laws like this and make access to housing. more attainable. So there's a lot of changes that could happen. And this idea of, you know, like Scott Wiener's program, the senator from California, building, building, building will reduce the rent. That's not happening. And Santa Cruz says we've added 30, you know, roughly 30,000 more people can live in our town with all the luxury condos that are being built. But they're just sitting mostly empty because they're... their investment properties. So a city could make a law. that says, no, you can't be just building condos for, you know, for collateral for other future projects of the hedge funds that are owning them. So there should be a possibility where people, you know, hedge funds should be banned from buying up all the rental property and so that it's too expensive. So these are just some of the things that could happen to make it possible for people to live. That's it. And this is an important dialogue to have. We're out of time, Keith, and we did manage, I believe we have Gloria Lariva on the other line. So we want to get to her now. We've been speaking with Keith McHenry. He is a regular contributor to this show. He is the co-founder of Food Not Bombs. His most recent book is called Soup Street. A memoir by Food Not Bombs co-founder, Keith McHenry. Keith, thanks for taking the time out. We appreciate it. Important information and the great work. You're welcome. And I think if we still have it, we've got Gloria Lariva. Gloria, Gloria, welcome. Surprise, surprise, meeting you here. We have to stop meeting like this. But tell us about the trip that you're organizing for. Please share the information, share what that's like in the context of how bad it is and what the U.S. government is sort of doing at this point to disrupt the lives of Cubans.

Sure. First, I want to say, I hope he's still listening. I'm happy to hear Keith McHenry's voice. We work way, way back when, with food not bombs in the city of San Francisco. And I'll never forget the time that the police absolutely brutalized him, bending his hand all the way back. I couldn't believe it wasn't broken. But he's really a very gentle man who, you know, doesn't deserve any of that kind of mistreatment by the cops. So I salute him. The situation in Cuba continues to be very, very difficult. The country is in complete blackout right now. They're trying very hard to restore it. It's like, it's not news. It's happening every day. You hear from people, my friends, and this is Havana, which has more electricity than the rest of the country. you know, 24 hours and then one hour on so that you can charge things quickly and then back down again. This is the drops of oil that the country has to keep the system from completely failing where they can't bring it back up again. And just to give people a touch of electricity, because even though you read stories of people with solar panels, Hospitals are getting them. Some clinics are. China's helping with that. But the vast majority, maybe 95% of the people do not have any access to that. And the country's overall objective is to try to provide this essential element that all societies need, electricity, light, heat, you know, cooking, refrigeration. And it's very, very, very hard. But the country is continuing to struggle. I say again, it sounds repetitive. It's not a basket case. The government is meeting constantly on updating this new economic policy of widening the incentives of corporations while at the same time the Trump administration, along with Marco Rubio, are issuing new orders. that are forcing almost all the corporations that are there now, foreign corporations, to leave. So even though Cuba's opening up, the U.S. is trying to keep it locked down. And the first secretary, which is the president of the republic, the Escanal, he said the path is difficult in this meeting that they had on the 30th of July. He said, the path is difficult. The situation is complex, but our will to overcome is unwavering. And that was actually stated in the New York Times a few days ago, a remarkable article, although most of their coverage has been just, you know, it's hopeless. But this time they said the Cubans are very resilient, and they haven't fallen like it was predicted that they would. And I don't believe they'll fall in. Neither do a lot of people who are helping. So... On Wednesday, I'm flying with many, many other people. There are, I would say, at least 200 people leaving from the Bay Area and New York, from IFCO Passes for Peace, from Code Pink, Global Exchange, and our group, the Hot Tway Project, were taking tens of thousands of dollars of medical aid, cancer meds, and antibiotics, third, fourth generation medicines, lifesavers, in order to help the people.

The U.S. is trying very hard before Fidel Castro's 100th anniversary next Thursday to really threaten anybody who tries to go. But our will is also unwavering, and we will meet the Cuban people and deliver medicine to the hospitals we have. commerce license for export. Otherwise, we wouldn't be able to do it. We have to, you know, go along with some rules so that we can make sure that we can help the doctors save lives. Wow. So, again, tell us, there's a couple hundred people going from the Bay Area. Yeah. Just say a little bit more of what it's been like to organize and work with people. What's the spirit like? We have a minute or two. Oh, you know, the spirit right now is a real unity of people. The groups that we, you know, we'll march alongside with them, but now we're working actively, concretely together to bring aid to Cuba. For example, this coming Thursday, August 13, is a really wonderful celebration for Fidel's life. on Harrison Street in Oakland. That's Thursday night when he turns 100, you know, it's 100th anniversary, and it's Code Pink sponsoring in with other organizations, Bay Area of Cuba Solidarity Network, and they're doing it on behalf of the Hattwe Project. It's at Chamarack, 1501 Harrison, 6 to 10.30 p.m. It's going to be a fantastic collection of groups. the wonderful Cuban folk music, El Wahido, solo effectiva, legroom quartet. It's going to be a real, real session of music and love for Cuba. I think a lot of money is going to be raised here, so we welcome people to come. Again, 1501 Harrison. And, for example, we're going to be having lots of actions together. We do have, I don't look, I mean, I don't know. We can't predict what Trump is going to do anywhere. But the U.S. is ready for a military attack if they decide they're going to do that. We hope it doesn't. But there will be a united Bay Area action if military attack takes place against Cuba. We want everyone to keep that in your mind. The traditional 5 p.m. at Palin Market. And you can call the answer coalition or any other group in the Bay Area that's aware of this. We have to work to prevent war. And how do people, we're just about out of time, how do people do it, how to call answer, more information? Okay, they can call us at 415-821-65-45 or they can check out the... Hot T-A-P-T-A-T-I-T-I-T-I-P-E-Y-P-P-E-Y-Pproject.org. We are taking this medicine. We've been working for weeks now, packing, packing luggage for all these young people, dedicated people.

Thank you. Gloria Lariva doing extraordinary work, standing against the U.S. embargo that's killing, meant to kill Cuba, kill Cubans. It's already killing Cubans. It's a tragic situation, but Gloria, you're amazing. You're listening to FlashPoint on Pacifica Radio. That's it for us. And that does it for another episode of FlashPoints. Our executive producer is Dennis Bernstein. Senior producers, Miguel Gabelon Malina and Kevin Pina. Technical producer, Rod Akil. Our theme music written and produced by Charlie Lang. For questions and comments, email Dennis Bernstein at Dennis at KPFA.org. Thank you for listening. Mondays at 7 p.m. to Africa Today with your host, Walter Turner. Africa Today is your source for being up to date on Africa and African. Mondays at 7 p.m. Africa Today on your Pacifica radio station, KPFA 94.1 FM.

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