50 years of the Cuban Revolution was celebrated in Vancouver in a big way this New Years Eve! This was the fourth annual Cuba solidarity New Years Eve party celebrated in Vancouver, and the evening was organized by Vancouver Communities in Solidarity with Cuba (VCSC), the Free the Cuban Five Committee-Vancouver, and the Solidarity Coalition for a United Latin America (SCULA). Over 250 people packed the Welsh Hall throughout the night. All of the tickets were sold before the evening even began, and unfortunately due to the capacity of the hall, like last year, some New Years goers were turned away – we promise a larger hall next year! As people began pouring into the Hall they were greeted with Latin music, and walls covered with posters of Fidel, Che, the Cuban Five, and images from 50 years of the Cuban Revolution. With the number of party goers increasing the evening got started with a special montage of Cuban music videos, historical speeches, and documentaries from the 50 years of the Revolution. The official New Years Party welcoming came next, with a short story about the triumph of the revolution by the evening’s MCs, Gladys Uribe, an organizer with the SCULA and Tamara Hansen, co-chair of the Canadian Network on Cuba and the coordinator of VCSC. Tamara and Gladys welcomed the first speaker of the night all the way from Costa Rica! Via telephone, Alison Bodine, a Cuba solidarity activist fighting a two-year ban from Canada, spoke to the hundreds of people in the hall. Alison talked about her experience on the recent Pastors for Peace construction mini-brigade that worked with Cubans to rebuild Cuba after the devastating hurricanes that smashed Cuba this past summer and fall. She highlighted the revolutionary preparation and reaction to the hurricanes that Cuba has implemented as a norm ever since the revolution began in 1959. Noah Fine, the coordinator the Free the Cuban Five Committee-Vancouver, was the next to speak. Noah introduced the case of the Cuban Five, and how these five Cubans have been isolated in US prisons for ten years while the infamous anti-Cuban terrorist Luis Posada Carriles walks the streets of Miami freely. After chants of “VIVA CUBA” and “VIVA FIDEL” broke out, the crowd was greeted with the exciting and revolutionary music of Joaquin Ernesto. Joaquin performed songs from around the world and invited Noah back to the stage to perform the classic peace song “Imagine” by John Lennon. This was followed by the final speaker of the evening, Colleen Glynn, an organizer with VCSC. Colleen told the crowd about the work that VCSC does, the importance of organizing in solidarity with Cuba today and invited everyone to get involved. The evening’s MC Gladys then made a short announcement about the upcoming celebration for International Women’s Day being organized by the Solidarity Coalition for a United Latin America and invited everyone to come out and celebrate the struggle of women across Latin America. The beautiful poetry of Alejandro Mujica Olea followed. He spoke on the case of the Cuban Five, the struggles in Latin America and the worldwide struggle against inhumanity. And all this was just the first part of the night! Around 10:30 the chairs cleared and the people got on their feet to show their dance moves! DJ Su Commandante, the Vancouver Cuban New Years Eve DJ specialist, played track after track of dance music from around the world. The hundreds of New Years goers had some drinks, enjoyed Chorizo sandwiches, met new and exciting people, and danced the night away! DJ Su Commandante and co-MC Tamara stopped the music at 11:59 to get a special countdown video dedicated to 50 years of the Cuban Revolution going, and to get the countdown underway! “10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1- HAPPY NEW YEARS!” could be heard all the way to Cuba it was so loud! After this the music came back on everyone danced away! The excited crowd wrapped up a successful New Years Eve Party to celebrate 50 years of the Cuban Revolution as we look forward to another year in struggle and resistance in 2009. VIVA CUBA! VIVA FIDEL! VIVA LA REVOLUCION CUBANA!	Report Back VCSC 4th Annual New Years Eve Party In Celebration of 50 years of the Cuban Revolution! Click on photos to enlarge