On Sunday the gusanos (wealthy Cubans who left when the ’59 revolution kicked them out of their mansions- and their descendents) organized an anti-Castro rally in Echo Park. I find it interesting that it was not in McArthur Park where many of the former FMLN and Cuban Revolution defenders frequent. Instead they went to the slowly gentrifying Echo Park where they would not be so strongly opposed.
Six of us organized this protest oppositional protest. The person leading the organizing is an organizer against the cops who shot Oscar Grant in Oakland and Former Recording Secretary of the Roofers Union Local 713. We broke up into groups. A comrade and Facts for Working People blogger was the get away driver, my sister our media liaison, a camera man (check the link) and three of us- the roofer, an LAUSD teacher and activist member of Union Del Barrio and myself a member of Labors Militant Voice and writer for Facts for Working People. The whole thing lasted 10-15 minutes.
My sister ran up to the press and alerted them there would be a counter demonstration to defend the gains of the Cuban Revolution on the hill across the street from the protest. She told them we would begin at 3:45pm. On the dot we started. I had a 3x4 ft Che Guevara Flag which read “Hasta La Victoria Al Siempre” his famous slogan. The roofer next to me had a Cuban flag which Che’s face instead of the star on an 8ft pole. The teacher had a Mexican Flag. A Black woman and a Latino and White Man stood in the face of 400 people chanting “ Viva La Revolution”, “ Viva Che Guevara” and ( my favorite) “ Viva Socialismo”.
The angry horde came running. Some were too elderly to climb up the hill. They instead just flipped us off as angrily as they could. The police came up the hill and so did a cameraman from Univision the Spanish corporate media. Someone who tried to get up the hill and apparently stumbled a couple of times made it. He marched straight for me and tore the flag from my hands. Interesting how he went for the woman first. Well after arguing with him for a minute he ran back down the hill. Then a few more came up. The camera guy from Univision started to shove the Latino brother. He apparently was a gusano too. We filed a police report against this dude and since an LAPD Sgt (police badge number 4333) was present and a witness our Latino brother may pursue charges.
We wrestled for the pole and my sister came to join us chanting all the while with our fists in the air. Our Latino brother forgot something. He took off his white guayabera (a Mexican style shirt) to reveal a red shirt with Fidel Castro’s face on it. The fist shaking grew more intense! Hundreds still tried to get up to the hill off of Glendale and Clinton to us.
After all our flags were torn away we went down the hill with our getaway car already turned on. Hundreds of angry rich Cubans tried to follow. Shaking their fists that they could not get to us. I kept chanting and saying whatever I could but we had to go! In the end we got what we wanted. We were there for 10 minutes and got air time on Univision, Miami Herald Newspaper and other stations. Perhaps Cubans in Cuba will see that there are people in the US who are willing to stand with the revolution no matter how outnumbered.
Hasta La Victoria.
p.s. This protest was in some ways personal to me. A close family member of mine is very sick. She has a nice doctor but I do not trust him or most doctors. The profit motive is a wall between patient care and has probably killed numerous people without the doctors intent. If I could I would take her to Cuba and have her be treated like a human being for free. How sick is it that this fucking system with all its money and power chooses to bomb people and a country with so little money chooses to cure and treat them. We can have that here in the US if we make a revolution and learn from the Cuban people. We must defend Cuba against capitalism. Viva La Revolution
Six of us organized this protest oppositional protest. The person leading the organizing is an organizer against the cops who shot Oscar Grant in Oakland and Former Recording Secretary of the Roofers Union Local 713. We broke up into groups. A comrade and Facts for Working People blogger was the get away driver, my sister our media liaison, a camera man (check the link) and three of us- the roofer, an LAUSD teacher and activist member of Union Del Barrio and myself a member of Labors Militant Voice and writer for Facts for Working People. The whole thing lasted 10-15 minutes.
My sister ran up to the press and alerted them there would be a counter demonstration to defend the gains of the Cuban Revolution on the hill across the street from the protest. She told them we would begin at 3:45pm. On the dot we started. I had a 3x4 ft Che Guevara Flag which read “Hasta La Victoria Al Siempre” his famous slogan. The roofer next to me had a Cuban flag which Che’s face instead of the star on an 8ft pole. The teacher had a Mexican Flag. A Black woman and a Latino and White Man stood in the face of 400 people chanting “ Viva La Revolution”, “ Viva Che Guevara” and ( my favorite) “ Viva Socialismo”.
The angry horde came running. Some were too elderly to climb up the hill. They instead just flipped us off as angrily as they could. The police came up the hill and so did a cameraman from Univision the Spanish corporate media. Someone who tried to get up the hill and apparently stumbled a couple of times made it. He marched straight for me and tore the flag from my hands. Interesting how he went for the woman first. Well after arguing with him for a minute he ran back down the hill. Then a few more came up. The camera guy from Univision started to shove the Latino brother. He apparently was a gusano too. We filed a police report against this dude and since an LAPD Sgt (police badge number 4333) was present and a witness our Latino brother may pursue charges.
We wrestled for the pole and my sister came to join us chanting all the while with our fists in the air. Our Latino brother forgot something. He took off his white guayabera (a Mexican style shirt) to reveal a red shirt with Fidel Castro’s face on it. The fist shaking grew more intense! Hundreds still tried to get up to the hill off of Glendale and Clinton to us.
After all our flags were torn away we went down the hill with our getaway car already turned on. Hundreds of angry rich Cubans tried to follow. Shaking their fists that they could not get to us. I kept chanting and saying whatever I could but we had to go! In the end we got what we wanted. We were there for 10 minutes and got air time on Univision, Miami Herald Newspaper and other stations. Perhaps Cubans in Cuba will see that there are people in the US who are willing to stand with the revolution no matter how outnumbered.
Hasta La Victoria.
p.s. This protest was in some ways personal to me. A close family member of mine is very sick. She has a nice doctor but I do not trust him or most doctors. The profit motive is a wall between patient care and has probably killed numerous people without the doctors intent. If I could I would take her to Cuba and have her be treated like a human being for free. How sick is it that this fucking system with all its money and power chooses to bomb people and a country with so little money chooses to cure and treat them. We can have that here in the US if we make a revolution and learn from the Cuban people. We must defend Cuba against capitalism. Viva La Revolution
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