ANSWER on government repression of the People's Summit for Democracy, June 8 - 10 in LA

Below are some statements and notices sent out by the ANSWER Coalition ( www.answercoalition.org ) on government acts against the People's Summit for Democracy, to be held next weekend as the popular answer to the 9th Summit of the Americas, June 6 - 10th, which so far will exclude Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela, and is being competely or partially boycotted by Mexico and several other countries, many as a protest of Biden's bans, supposedly over "democracy."  Apparently these summits of OAS member countries usually exclude Cuba, though it was part of the last two meetings, in 2015 and 2018.     

May 30, 2022 – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

LAPD refuses to grant permit for march against the Summit of the Americas

Organizers from the People’s Summit for Democracy have raised the alarms in response to the move by the US government to block permit for mobilization

Los Angeles - The Los Angeles Police Department has refused to grant a permit for a legal mass march scheduled to coincide with the Summit of the Americas on Friday, June 10, 2022. Organizers for the People’s Summit for Democracy say that, “the LAPD conduct constitutes an illegal denial of constitutional rights for those engaged in first amendment protected activity.” They vow to demonstrate regardless on June 10.

Organizers of the People’s Summit filed a permit request on February 25 for a free speech protected activity. 95 days have passed, and the LAPD has dragged its feet and not responded with any concrete steps to move forward in the application process. The LAPD has attempted to shift the blame about the delay in issuing the permit to the Secret Service and the Federal Government, but we know this is a stalling tactic.

This egregious violation of free speech and the infringement on our democratic right to protest goes against the very values that Joe Biden and the US government claim to uphold in the Summit of the Americas. Further, the maneuver threatens to undermine a principal avenue for progressive people in this country to advocate for social justice.

Angelica Salas, Executive Director of CHIRLA expressed, “The People's Summit will lift up all those issues important to our people but left out of that other presidential summit across town: the rights of immigrants, women and workers, the rebuilding and protection of democratic norms, the security of families. We will present a different vision of the Western Hemisphere as a place of peace, freedom and prosperity for all that excludes no country, no faith, no race, and no gender."

Regardless of the outcome regarding the permit request, the people of the Americas will march on the streets of Los Angeles on June 10 to Biden’s Summit of Exclusion and make our voices heard. We will see you at Los Angeles Technical Trade College from June 8-10 and in the streets on June 10!

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Let Them In! Stop the Exclusion of Cuban Artists & Academics

The ANSWER coalition, alongside many other organizations, is helping to convene the People's Summit for Democracy 2022 in Los Angeles (June 8,9,10). You can register for the people's summit here!

The People’s Summit for Democracy is outraged by the decision of the United States government to deny visas to a 23 person delegation from Cuban civil society. The denial of their visas is an affront to the same democratic values that the US government and its “Summit of the Americas” pretends to uphold. With this decision and Cuba’s exclusion from Biden’s official Summit, Cuba has been denied a voice in vital discussions about democracy, integration, and regional cooperation.

Sign the petition calling on the US to reverse their decision

Among the 23 people set to travel to Los Angeles to participate in the People’s Summit for Democracy were renowned Cuban scientist and medical doctor Tania Crombet Ramos a member of the World Academy of Sciences who contributed to the development of several life-saving vaccines, Reineris Salas Pérez an Olympic wrestler who won the Bronze medal in Tokyo, Jorge González Nuñez a queer Christian student leader, and many others including journalists, artists, trade unionists, and community leaders.

The participation of these diverse representatives of Cuban society would have given people in the US, particularly young people, an important opportunity to learn more about the island and build people to people relationships. It is an affront to the very necessary dialogue and normalization of relations between the people of the United States with the Cuban people who have been unjustly separated by the six-decade illegal US blockade. 

Manolo De Los Santos, one of the organizers of the People’s Summit said: “The US government’s policy is cruel towards the Cuban people, but also towards the people of the United States who are being denied the right to not only relate with the people on the Island, but also to be able to speak and dialogue directly with them.”

We call on the US government and its Embassy in Havana, to reverse the decision to deny their visas.

Introducing the first ever People's Summit for Democracy—this summer in LA!

The ANSWER coalition is proud to be a convening organization of the People's Summit for Democracy 2022 in Los Angeles!

In June, the Biden Administration is hosting the 9th Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles, California. The Summit of the Americas, convened by the Organization of American States (OAS), has long been an arena to push U.S. economic and political interests in Latin America and the Caribbean, without regard for the peoples of our shared continent. The Biden administration has stated that this ninth summit looks to “further advance this administration’s agenda in Latin America and the Caribbean.”

The Biden administration explicitly disinvited the governments of Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua from the Summit of the Americas. In protest of the exclusion of these governments, nearly two dozen invited countries across Latin America and the Caribbean have announced that they will not send their head of state or will not participate altogether. Recently Mexico joined this list, and the list of boycotting countries continues to grow. Currently only five countries have committed to attending, including the United States.

In the tradition of each Summit of the Americas since the 2005 Mar Del Plata Summit [the 4th meeting], we unionists, activists, grassroots organizations, and progressive people of the Americas are calling for a People’s Summit on June 8th, 9th, and 10th to counter the Summit of the Americas.

The People’s Summit will host three days of art, music, speakers, debates, workshops, panel discussions, performances—all which uplift the voices of the people and imagine a new world; one that puts people’s democracy first.

At this time, you can support this historic effort to convene the first ever People's Summit for Democracy in 2022 by making a donation today.

Register to join us in Los Angeles for the People's Summit here!