Report Back Cuba Today Which Way Forward? Jorge F. Soberon Luis Cuban Consul General in Toronto Vancouver Speaking Tour with Cuban Consul General in Toronto Jorge Soberón Luis a Great Success! On November 19th and 20th, Cuban Consul General Jorge Soberón Luis toured Vancouver, reaching thousands of people with up-to-date news and information about Cuba as well as sharing the gains of the Cuban Revolution. The tour was organized by Vancouver Communities in Solidarity with Cuba (VCSC) and was endorsed by 16 different Latin American and other organizations from Vancouver and Victoria. Upon arriving in Vancouver, the Consul General was brought to Fairchild Radio Station where he was interviewed for thirty minutes on BC’s biggest Latin American radio show, Latino Soy. Immediately after the radio interview, Jorge was swept away to Capilano University for an event organized by the Capilano Students’ Union and Social Justice Committee. The event was opened with a welcoming to Coast Salish Indigenous territory by a song and drumming led by Elders Phil and Gisele L'Hirondelle, Clay Little, First Nations Liaison Officer for Capilano University and Linda Epp, former Capilano Students’ Union Aboriginal Liaison. The event was MC’d by Linda Epp who again welcomed Jorge to Capilano. Jorge spoke about Cuba’s work in the field of sustainability and highlighted the struggle that Cubans endured throughout the Special Period when the Soviet Union collapsed. In question period, Jorge was given the chance to answer questions about Cuba’s literacy campaign and other fundamental issues such as health care, education, economy and tourism in Cuba. Over 40 students participated in the Capilano University event. The next morning started out early with a radio interview on Wake up with Co-op 102.7fm with radio host Charles Boylan talking with Jorge about Cuba today for thirty minutes. Jorge then visited a high school in Vancouver and spoke to a classroom of 25 students about the damaging effects of the blockade on Cuba and developing Cuba-Canada relations. The discussion period was very warm and friendly and participants asked many questions regarding Cuba and the topic of the talk. Move mouse over photo: In the afternoon CBC Radio’s “On the Coast” program did an interview with Jorge, which was listened to by thousands across BC on their way home from work. Jorge answered many questions about Canadian travel to Cuba, the US blockade of Cuba and the recent condemnation of this blockade by the United Nations General Assembly, and on the subject of democracy and human rights in Cuba. The CBC interviewer also announced the Vancouver citywide event taking place that night featuring Jorge, the Cuban Consul General in Toronto. In the evening, over 110 people gathered at the SFU Harbour center in downtown Vancouver to participate in the citywide event, “Cuba Today, Which Way Forward?” The event was MC’d by Colleen Glynn, President of the Richmond New Democratic Party. Tamara Hansen, Co-Chair of the Canadian Network on Cuba (CNC) and coordinator of the VCSC opened the forum noting the important place that Cuba plays on the world scale and especially in Latin America. She also spoke about the need for more education and information about Cuba in Canada. The first speaker of the night was Wendy Holm, Professor of UBC’s International Field Studies in Sustainable Agriculture (Cuba). Wendy explained with a power point presentation Cuba’s very successful work in sustainability and the environment. After Wendy, Cuban Consul General Jorge F. Soberón Luis spoke about developments taking place in Cuba right now. He also spoke about the recent UN vote to end the blockade on Cuba, which took place on October 26th, 2009. He explained that this was the 18th consecutive vote against the blockade at the UN, in which 187 countries voted to condemn the US blockade while only three voted in support of it, including the US. After the talk, many people in the audience had questions and for more than 45 minutes a lively and very warm and informative discussion continued. The entire tour was a great success, bringing attention to the struggle of Cuban people against the blockade and for a better world. Thousands of people were introduced or learned more about Cuba through the events held as well as through the extensive media coverage.