Are you a Global Exchange supporter? Yes? Well then, you are pretty incredible, it’s true.

Throughout our near-25 years we’ve been proud to share the esteemed company of thousands of passionate, bold, and dedicated people, like you.

Your volunteering, your steady contributions, your protesting (at home and on the streets), your consideration for socially responsible travel, your Fair Trade shopping and your faith in justice – all of these actions mean the difference between dreaming a better world for people and the planet and actually making it happen.

To express our gratitude, some Global Exchange staff members gathered together recently to come up with a way to thank the people who make all of our work possible. 

The result is this short n sweet video filled with messages of thanks that come from the bottom of our hearts. We hope you enjoy it! (Oh, and keep an eye out for Abad’s cameo – Global Exchange’s friendly Labrador – who got caught with his tongue out!)

Does the gratitude train stop here?

Not at all!

This week, we’re also sharing stories of a few (five, to be exact) of the amazing individuals, like you, who make our work possible:

• Matt Ramsden, member and supporter, who keeps buying prize drawing tickets even though he has not won yet, all to support the work he cares about.
• Jenny White, superstar volunteer, chocolate lover, and scourge to corporate lobbyists.
• Jennifer Carino, former employee turned Global Exchange Monthly Supporter.
• Lea Murray, took a Reality Tour to Venezuela and came home inspired to share what she’d seen.
• and Lyla Seo, puts her values first when she shops Fair Trade at our San Francisco store.

There you have it, two different mediums, one important message, to say:

Thank you.

P.S. If you want to see all of the thank you pictures from the video (plus a few extras!), you can check them out at your leisure on our Facebook page.

Cuban School Children

Since 1989, Global Exchange has played a leading role in the national campaign to normalize relations with Cuba our Caribbean neighbor. Our primary goals are:

-End the U.S. blockade of Cuba

-End travel restrictions between the U.S. and Cuba

-Get Cuba removed from the U.S. list of “potential terrorist countries”

-Support and learn from Cuba’s struggles and successes in achieving sustainable development.

To this end Global Exchange organizes Reality Tours to Cuba. Learn more about how to travel to Cuba here.

Take action and support The International Committee for the Freedom of the Cuban 5’s call to solidarity organizations and friends in the United States to support ‘5 consecutive days of freedom for the Cuban 5′, April 17-21 in Washington DC. Action in DC will include a demonstration and lobbying efforts, and thousands of ‘Obama, Give Me Five’ posters will be placed throughout the city.

Obama... Give me five!

Background on the Cuban 5: They are Gerardo Hernández Nordelo, Ramón Labañino Salazar, Rene González Sehwerert, Antonio Guerrero Rodríguez and Fernando González Llort and in 1998, they were imprisoned in the United States. Danny Glover explains their case here in Danny Glover on the Five.

For a more detailed account of their case, read here. Also, check out the documentary called, ‘Will the Real Terrorist Please Stand Up?

Past Reality Tours participant Bill Patterson wrote this reflection on the changes that Fidel’s revolution brought to Cuba. For more information read here.

Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruiz

By Bill Patterson

Cuba, after half a century of our country’s less than benevolent despotism was a small, plundered shell of a nation controlled by bloody handed President-dictator Fulgencio Batista, United States financial interests and the Mafia gambling structure. Over one-half of the 6,500,000 population lived in slums without electricity or sanitation. There were over 600,000 workers unemployed. Over 70% of the children had no teachers. Illiteracy was 37.5%. United States financial interests owned or controlled 80% of farm land, power generating companies, telephone services and banking interests, In the 1950-1960 decade the balance of payments favored U.S. interests by one billion dollars!

Cuban Doctor

When Fidel’s revolution triumphed in 1959 other militant rebel groups faded, including the Communist Party with which he later united. Victorious Fidel fit the classic description of a multi-talented Renaissance Man. Famed as a military conqueror, he was a skilled head of state, athlete, educator and humanitarian. While traditional Western governments might scoff at the unconventional Latin leader, none duplicated his generosity in nationalizing his family’s 25,000 acre ranch property!

Smarting financially from U.S. industries’ financial losses our government chose to militarily reverse Cuba’s political independence. Cubans defeated the counter-revolutionary army at the Bay of Pigs with surprising ease, capturing thousands of mercenaries.

Our CIA attempted eight highly imaginative attempts to assassinate Fidel. It’s efforts to destabilize fragile Cuba included 5,780 acts of sabotage, terrorism and subversion between January and August in 1962. The Cuban Olympic fencing team was destroyed when the CIA downed their aircraft in 1976.

That the world’s strongest nation would label tiny Cuba a terrorist state and impose decades of cruel sanctions is shameful. One wonders if freedom and independence of small Latin countries is tolerable only if financial bondage is demanded and granted.

Sources: First paragraph statistics are from Fidel’s address to the United Nations September 26,1960, reported by Julio Garcia Luis, Dean, U. of Havana, Cuban Revolution Reader. Third paragraph statistics are fromFabian Escalante Font: The Secret War: Covert Operations Against Cuba 1959-62.

Join us for a webinar on March 1st at Noon (PST) to learn about what the recent changes to US travel restrictions to Cuba mean for you. We’ll explore the opportunities ahead and what the ongoing constraints still are without normalized diplomatic relations between our countries.

Global Exchange Reality Tours Cuba experts will discuss these topics with a policy analyst and a Cuba-expert lawyer. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn.

There will be a Q&A session after the presentation and you can ask your question via chat-room or phone. Please, join us and help us out by forwarding this message to your friends.

To participate register today at: http://www.globalexchange.org/travelcuba

Suggested donation: $5-$20 sliding scale
If you cannot attend you will receive a recording of the webinar audio.

What people said about past Global Exchange webinars:
“A force multiplier”
“An excellent webinar filled with useful information”
“Nice job. Well worth the $10.”
“It was indeed informative.”
“Very well run.”
“Thanks so much. That was awesome.”
“Gracias to you all….very informative, very helpful!”

We need your help this week!

On January 14, President Obama announced that some restrictions would be lifted on Cuba travel for certain sectors of US citizens:  college students and travelers sponsored by a religious organization will be able to travel to Cuba more freely. Freelance journalists can also apply for a license.

In addition, it appears that non profit organizations like Global Exchange will again be able to apply for a license to organize “people to people” Cuba Reality Tours, as we did for 15 years, prior to the onerous restrictions imposed by the Bush Administration in 2003.

We applaud the Obama Administration for taking this democratic step!

But as with many things, the devil is in the details.  At this time, staff from the Departments of State and Treasury are writing up the “guidelines” for these new categories of legal travel, determining which regulations will be interpreted liberally, allowing more US citizens to travel freely to Cuba, and which will be interpreted in a more rigid way, denying or obstructing the right to travel for US citizens.

The best way to ensure that the guidelines reflect a more liberal Cuba travel policy, especially for the “people to people” license, is for you, our Global Exchange members and supporters, to contact your Congressional delegation and ask them to contact the appropriate staff at the State and Treasury Departments and convey the wishes of their constituents to travel freely to Cuba.

Contact your Congressional delegate today in order to help regain People to People travel to Cuba.

Telephoning your Representative and Senators can be especially effective!
U.S. Capitol Switchboard: 202-224-3121

Thank you for all your help to push to lift the travel restrictions to Cuba. We will keep you informed of our progress on the Global Exchange People-to-People blog.

Just added (2/1/11) to this post: Scroll below to learn about a petition you can sign to take action.

—

So can I travel to Cuba or not? That’s what many Americans are wondering since the Obama administration’s January 14th announcement that it is lifting some government-imposed restrictions on travel to Cuba for several categories of U.S. citizens. Once the regulations are public and finalized, certain types of travelers, with proper licenses,  in these categories will potentially be able to visit the country:

• College students
• People engaged in journalism
• Those sponsored by religious organizations

So if you fall into one of these categories, your chances of traveling to Cuba just improved!

Under the new policy, which is still being finalized, students from accredited colleges and universities may now travel to Cuba on what is known as a “general” license, meaning they don’t have to seek individual permission from the government as long as they meet certain criteria. This also applies to Americans traveling there for “journalistic activities” or under the auspices of religious groups.

In addition, non-profit organizations (including Global Exchange) will once again be able to apply to the Treasury Department for a license to arrange “people to people” travel to Cuba, which we did through our Reality Tours program from 2000 to 2004.

Beginning in 2004, however, the Bush administration restricted the number of Americans allowed to travel to Cuba to a handful of specific professions, such as full-time journalists and academics. Despite various government restrictions, more than 15,000 people have traveled to Cuba as part of a Reality Tour in the past 22 years.

Global Exchange Director of Reality Tours Malia Everette explains:

About half of the roughly 90 trips we arrange each year are to Cuba, including our most popular series called ‘Cuba at the Crossroads’, which allowed Americans who wouldn’t have qualified to travel there under a ‘professional’ license to see the country for themselves. Those trips enabled them to experience everyday life in Cuba under the effects of the U.S. embargo, and see how it is transitioning into a more dynamic and sustainable society.

Guess how many nations in the world deny its citizens the right to travel freely to Cuba? One. In fact, the U.S. remains the only nation in the world that denies its citizens the right to travel freely to Cuba. It has no similar restrictions on travel to any other countries — including Iran and North Korea, members of President Bush’s so-called “axis of evil” to which Reality Tours also organizes delegations.

Walter Turner, president of Global Exchange’s board of directors and host of the popular Pacifica Radio program “Africa Today “ warns that these recent changes in Cuba travel policy should not stop here:

The new regulations give our Reality Tours participants new options for much-needed exchange between the people of the U.S. and Cuba, but while we appreciate this opening, it still doesn’t fully recognize the right of ordinary U.S. citizens to travel to Cuba freely, as they can do to any other nation, to learn about the world. If we’re going to promote human rights abroad, we need to respect the rights of our own citizens here at home.”

For more information about traveling to Cuba, updates on the forthcoming regulations, including the resumption of the popular “Cuba at the Crossroads” series, or trips to more than 30 other countries around the world, visit www.realitytours.org.

Take Action!
And now, a few words from our friends The LAWG (Latin America Working Group) Cuba Team:

Clearly there  is more work to be done to change U.S. policy toward Cuba, but we think a “thank you” to the President and encouragement to do more is appropriate. By clicking here, you can send an email to the White House with a message of thanks and a request for more. You will be able to edit the letter to the President to add your own comments (it is best to be brief).

Climate Change

People's World Conference on Climate Change

This year, Global Exchange attended the People’s World Conference on Climate Change in Cochabamba, Bolivia, where 35,000+ people  called for a dramatic rethinking of our place on this planet.  When it came time for the COP 16 climate talks in Mexico, we knew we would have our work cut out for us.  At the end of the day, the progress we made in Mexico was minimal, and we knew the best bet for real climate change solutions was a renewed organizing effort at home and around the world.  

Shannon Biggs published this on December 12th to Commondreams.org: “It is time to deliver the message of Cochabamba to the people who are capable of creating change, of creating 1,000 Cochabambas…If we want to be heard at the U.N., then we need to go home and build the revolution of change in the places where we live.”

Want to read the rest?  Click here.

Peace

Medea Benjamin speaking out

Is it crazy to act a little crazy to stop something you think is crazy?  We think not.  When Jon Stewart announced his rally to restore sanity, we had to say something. This piece written by Medea Benjamin appeared on the Huffington Post on October 27th, 2010.

“CODEPINK has been proposing solutions since the day we started.  Whether under Bush or Obama, our voices of sanity have been drowned out by a war machine that makes billions selling weapons and hiring mercenaries.”

Read the entire article here, then read how Medea was invited to appear on The Daily Show.

Antonia appearing on Democracy NOW! with Amy Goodman

Getting Tough on Big Oil

The oil spill in April opened up a lot of people’s eyes about the horrific dangers of the oil industry.  The lives lost, the ecosystems and livelihoods destroyed, plus the billions of dollars in damage were all testaments to the magnitude of the threat posed by this dirty industry.  When it came time to hear from the experts, our in-house authority on oil Antonia Juhasz weighed in on the debate. She shared her views on Democracy NOW! and in The Guardian, May 24, 2010 article entitled How Far Should We Let Big Oil Go? where she had this to say:

“The communities most directly harmed by oil’s abuse are organized, networked, and ready.  The public is roused, angered, and ready to act.  The oil corporations are on notice: the true cost of their operations is simply too great to bear.”

Click here to read more.

Reality Tours

Agriculture in Cuba

This year,  National Geographic decided to list Global Exchange Reality Tours as one of their 2010 Tours of a Lifetime.  Our Cuba trips, and the unique opportunities they afford travelers to cut through the misinformation and discover things for themselves, caught the attention of this esteemed travel magazine.

National Geographic praised our Cuba trip’s “commitment to authenticity, immersion, sustainability, and connection.”

Click here to read more.

Fair Trade

Hershey’s refuses to go Fair Trade.  Despite years of promises, despite the massive evidence of child slavery and other abuses on West African plantations, Hershey’s still won’t budge.  So, Global Exchange partners with other organizations to apply some pressure.  The result?  A CNBC news story covered far and wide, in which Adrienne Fitch-Frankel, Global Exchange Fair Trade Cocoa Campaign Director, shared:

“Hershey’s demonstrates a commitment to children in the U.S. by funding the Milton Hershey School.  They can demonstrate the same concern for children and families in the African communities that farm their cocoa by using Fair Trade Certified cocoa for their chocolates.”

Want to read the rest?  The article is still cross-posted here.

Speaking Out About Violence in Mexico

Most of us have become all too aware of the gruesome violence that has gripped Mexico over the past year.  What is not as well known is the role played by the U.S. government and its allies in the Mexican government in the problems associated with narco-trafficking and arms smuggling.  Ted Lewis, director of our Human Rights Program, spoke out in the Seattle Times in September:

“…Any effective prescription to pull Mexico back from the abyss will require cooperation as well as introspection and substantive policy changes from the U.S.”

Read more by clicking here.

What’s Next?

Hosting a peace activist in residence, more Reverse Trick-or-Treating, elections monitoring in Mexico, Reality Tours to over thirty countries, Green Solutionaries, Green Festivals, renewable power payments…there isn’t enough room to include everything we’ve got planned for 2011.  But I can tell you this for sure: we’ve got big plans.

Yesterday afternoon the much-awaited mark-up and vote on HR 4645 in the House Committee on Foreign Affairs was postponed. Here is the statement from Chairman Howard Berman, upon announcing the postponement:

Statement of Chairman Howard L. Berman on H.R. 4645

Washington, DC – Congressman Howard L. Berman (D-CA), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, released the following statement regarding the markup of H.R. 4645, the Travel Restriction Reform and Export Enhancement Act:

“For a very long time, I have either led or supported efforts to repeal restrictions on the freedom of Americans to travel. The current prohibition on Americans traveling to Cuba is the last obstacle to the full enjoyment of this right. I strongly support H.R.4645, the Travel Restriction Reform and Export Enhancement Act, which would eliminate the Cuba travel restrictions.

“The Committee had been scheduled to consider this legislation tomorrow, but it now appears that Wednesday will be the last day that Congress is in session before an extended district work period. That makes it increasingly likely that our discussion of the bill will be disrupted or cut short by votes or other activity on the House floor. Accordingly, I am postponing consideration of H.R. 4645 until a time when the Committee will be able to hold the robust and uninterrupted debate this important issue deserves. I firmly believe that when we debate and vote on the merits of this legislation, and I intend for it to be soon, the right to travel will be restored to all Americans.”

We’d be kidding you if we said we were only a little disappointed that the committee postponed consideration of HR 4645, which, if passed, would have allowed all of us to travel to Cuba whenever we want. We are disappointed big time. Big time.

We felt so good about the direction in which the committee’s vote commitments were going, and we were so impressed and grateful for the tremendous effort you all put into this campaign. Democracy was really working; citizens were expressing their views to their elected officials; members of Congress were listening. While only the Chairman knew the hard-clad, private commitments he had received, we expected to win. But the reality of action on the last day of the session before recess for campaigning took its toll. Members wanted to leave town; we needed ALL of them to show up to cast their votes in order to be successful.

The bottom line right now is:  you did GREAT and valiant work on this campaign to restore our right to travel to Cuba. You made significant progress, and we feel very good about that. Neither Congress nor the President has responded to this opportunity; nor have they reacted appropriately to what is currently happening in Cuba.

We aren’t finished yet in calling them to act on our behalf!

We are delayed, but we are not defeated.

We’ll be back to you in October. Don’t hang up your hats yet.

Sincerely,
Kirsten, Malia, Drea, Leslie and Pam
The Global Exchange Cuba Team, San Francisco, CA
and
Mavis, Paulo, and Emily
The Latin America Working Group Cuba Team, Washington, DC

The House Committee on Foreign Affairs (HCFA) will vote on HR 4645 on Wednesday, September 29, at noon. This means that they will be considering whether to lift the travel ban on Cuba . . . or not.

Global Exchange has provided you with all the information you need to understand HR 4645 and what you can do to make it pass!

We can win this, just like we won in the House Committee on Agriculture, with your help! . . . but we do need YOU, again! TAKE ACTION TODAY.

We’ve asked, for months now, for you to contact your congressperson about HR 4645. Every time we’ve asked you’ve delivered, above our highest expectations.

At each step of this drawn-out process — to end this ridiculous travel ban — your persistence with Congress has proven fruitful. We’ve gotten hearings, we’ve broadened our spectrum of support, we’ve racked-up co-sponsors, and we passed HR 4645 through the Agriculture Committee. Now we come to you again, expressing the same sense of urgency, and asking you help us take the next BIG step on the path to end the travel ban.

If your member of Congress serves on the Foreign Affairs Committee, your voice is supremely important. Find out if your member is part of this committee.

Send another letter, make another phone call. Please.  Send another e-mail message. It works. It has gotten us this far.

We can’t make guarantees about this effort, but we can assure you that, day-in and day-out, dedicated progressive Cuba workers, who are part of our network, are on Capitol Hill doing everything they can to end the travel ban on Cuba. Partner with us, and we can win this.

So please click the link and send an email. It only takes a second, but that second can move mountains.

P.S.
We wish to thank our colleagues in Washington, DC at the Latin America Working Group (LAWG) who have done so much this year, and during the last decade, to keep us informed about upcoming legislation impacting U.S. Cuba Policy!

P.P.S. For those of you who live in four particular congressional districts, the “undecideds,” our sister organization Witness for Peace is arranging a group office visits with banners and press presence.  Here is the information for anyone who wants to join!  We strongly encourage your participation!

Brad Miller, Raleigh, North Carolina, District 13
Monday September 27 at 11 am
1300 St. Mary’s Street, Suite 504 Raleigh, NC 27605.
Contact: Gail Phares, gailphares@earthlink.net or phone 919-624-0646

Brad Sherman, Sherman Oaks California, District 27
Monday September  27 at 4 pm
5000 Van Nuys Blvd., Suite 420 Sherman Oaks, CA  91403
Contact: Tanya Cole, wfpsw@witnessforpeace.org or phone 805-421-9708

Gabby Giffords, Tucson, Arizona, District 8
Monday September  27 at 4 pm
1661 N. Swan, Suite 112 Tucson, AZ 85712
Contact: Tanya Cole, wfpsw@witnessforpeace.org or phone 805-421-9708

Elton Gallegly, Thousand Oaks, California, District 24
Tuesday September  28 at 4 pm
2829 Townsgate Road, Suite 315, Thousand Oaks, CA 91361-3018
Contact: Tanya Cole, wfpsw@witnessforpeace.org or phone 805-421-9708

In August, President Obama may decide to lift all restrictions on educational, cultural and humanitarian travel — the restrictions that Bush imposed in 2004.

In September, when Congress reconvenes after the Labor Day recess, HR 4645, the Freedom to Travel to Cuba and Agricultural Exports Act, will (hopefully) pass through the House Foreign Affairs Committee and on to the floor of the House of Representatives.

TAKE ACTION TODAY

• Send a message to President Obama that we want him to lift all restrictions on educational, cultural, humanitarian and “people to people” travel NOW!

It is widely believed that the Obama Administration must make some positive gesture toward Cuba now, in the wake of Cuba’s release of so many prisoners the US considers political.  Lifting the Bush-imposed restrictions on educational travel would be an easy move for him and an important sign to Cuba that the US is serious about restoring normal relations between our two countries.

• Send an E-mail to your congressperson, urging him or her to vote YES on HR 4645, in the Foreign Affairs Committee if your congressperson sits on that committee, and then on the floor of the House of Representatives.

We are very close to a YES vote in the House, only a few votes short of a majority at this point.  If your congressperson is “on the fence”, your email could be the one that pushes him/her over to the YES side!

Do let your voice be heard!

Adelante!

It’s not every day that we get to write you about a historic legislative victory for a more humane, sensible, and just U.S. policy towards Cuba; but today isn’t just any old day. In a thrilling “mark-up” session Wednesday in the House Committee on Agriculture, H.R. 4645, the “Travel Restriction Reform and Export Enhancement Act” was passed by 25 votes to 20, putting us one step closer to ending the travel ban this year, in this Congress.

Wednesday’s mark-up session was quite the roller-coaster ride. It lasted three gut-wrenching hours and it seemed like everything, including the kitchen sink, was thrown at this bill by freedom to travel’s opponents. Visit our blog to see a play-by-play of the action in the committee.

This news is cause to celebrate (the long weekend ahead is the perfect time, no?), but the celebration can’t last long. Wednesday’s victory demonstrates that our collective efforts are making an impact. The members of the Agriculture Committee were bombarded with messages encouraging them to show up to this mark-up and to support the Chairman in his effort to do away with an anachronistic and isolationist policy. Agriculture Committee Chairman Peterson should be applauded for moving this bill forward in the House, but doing so didn’t come without a cost. Since we can’t count on the members who voted to report the bill out of committee to vote with us on the House floor, we need to thank them for their support now (you can bet the opposition is contacting these members, too, but the message isn’t as friendly). In Washington, it often takes courage to do what is right and we should acknowledge it when it happens.

Agriculture Committee members who voted in favor of H.R. 4645 and U.S. citizens’ right to travel to Cuba:
(If your member is on this list, please call the office and thank her/him heartily. Capitol Switchboard – 202.224.3121):

Boccieri (D, OH-16) Kagen (D, WI-8) Boswell (D, IA-3) Kratovil (D, MD-1) Bright (D, AL-2) Lummis (R, WY-At large) Cardoza (D, CA-18) Markey (D, CO-4) Cassidy (R, LA-6) Minnick (D, ID-1) Childers (D, MS-1) Moran, Jerry (R, KS-1) Costa (D, CA-20) Murphy, Scott (D, NY-20) Cuellar (D, TX-28) Owens (D, NY-23) Ellsworth (D, IN-8) Peterson, Collin (D, MN-7) Halvorson (D, IL-11) Pomeroy (D, ND-At large) Herseth-Sandlin (D, SD-At large) Scott, David (D, GA-13) Holden (D, PA-17) Walz (D, MN-1) Johnson, Tim (R- IL-15)

We must also make clear to those members who voted against the majority of U.S. citizens, major human rights organizations, the religious community, the business community, U.S. farmers, Cuban Americans, academics, and countless others, that their decision will not go unnoticed. Please register your disappointment with your member’s office if she/he appears on the list below.

Agriculture Committee members who voted against H.R. 4645 and U.S. citizens’ right to travel to Cuba:

Baca (D, CA-43) Neugebauer (R, TX-19) Conaway (R, TX-11) Roe (R, TN-1) Dahlkemper (D, PA-3) Rogers, Michael (R, AL-3) Fortenberry (R, NE-1) Rooney (R, FL-16) Goodlatte (R, VA-6) Schauer (D, MI-7) Graves (R, MO-6) Schmidt (R, OH-2) King (R, IA-5) Schrader (D, OR-5) Lucas (R, OK-3) Smith, Adrian (R, NE-3) Luetkemeyer (R, MO-9) Thompson, Glenn (R, PA-5) Marshall (D, GA-8) McIntyre (D, NC-7)

Your efforts made this victory possible; but, although this vote was historic, the ban on travel to Cuba is not yet history. The next step is to get this bill to the House floor before election fever kicks into full gear–and to do that, we’ll need to redouble our efforts in the coming weeks.

Congress will be in recess all next week, many in their home districts.  Their first full day of work will begin around July 13.  There will be further updates, after the July 4th holiday weekend on which Congress people to focus our attention on.

Stay tuned!