Democracies

This afternoon at 15h00 there will be a press conference for the SACP Gauteng Province signature campaign for better public transport . The venue is the National Rail Commuter Corporation Board Room at Park Station, Johannesburg. See the linked notice, below. The Cuban Foreign Minister, H. E. Felipe Pérez Roque, addressed the Ministerial session of the African Union on June 30th at the Banjul AU meeting. His main purpose was to brief African ministers about the XIVth Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement due to take place in Havana from 11th to 16th September, of which Cuba will be the chair (taking over from Malaysia). This is a very profound and exciting development. See linked document for all the details. The US web site Counterpunch continues to carry reports on the Cuban Five. The one linked below went up yesterday. The worldwide Campaign for the Five starts on September 12 and goes on until October 6. The purpose of this campaign is to mobilise US public opinion in favour of justice for the Five. The Cubans especially want letters and e-mails to go from South African organisations to their sister organisations in the USA. You can’t just send a form letter. You must write a real letter. Therefore you have to read about the Five, so that your knowledge comes through in your letter, even if it is short. The Friends of Cuba Society (FOCUS) will hold a campaign planning meeting on 10th floor, COSATU House, 1 Leyds Street, Braamfontein tomorrow at 14h00. FOCUS Gauteng is going to have its constitutional AGM at 14h00 on Saturday July 29 at the Ekhurhuleni Civic Centre, cnr Pretoria and C. R. Swart, Kempton Park. This will be followed by the “Cuba Café” from 18h00, for which there is an entrance fee of R30. In Mexico there has been an election for President. The US and British financial papers are this morning announcing the victory of the right-wing candidate. For some more background about Mexico, see the linked article from the US on-line publication The Nation. PUDEMO of Swaziland has had a meeting at Mlumati College in Mpumalanga, South Africa, and has issued a detailed statement. See link below. The ANC Youth League comments on the appointment of new Youth Commissioners in South Africa and uses the occasion to give a general run-down on this subject. See link. Click on these links: Cuban Foreign Minister Perez Roque to African Union Ministerial (1450 words) A Mockery of Justice, Counterpunch (738 words) Mexico's labour rebels, David Bacon, The Nation (1718 words) PUDEMO Mlumati Declaration, 1st July 2006 (969 words) ANCYL on appointment of National Youth Commissioners (808 words) SACP Gauteng to launch a public transport signature campaign (Notice)