2015 Viva Politica!

Sunday 22^nd November

At the Kirkgate Centre, Shipley, BD18 3EH

51 people attended our latest event at the Kirkgate Centre, with the Nicaraguan Ambassador, reports from Cuba, Venezuela and Ecuador, and a film of the Cuban internationalist health brigades. There were many suggestions for further activity and events which we will be following up

Programme:

13.30 Registration, refreshments

14.00 – 14.35 Welcome followed by Guisell Morales-Echaverry, Nicaraguan Ambassador to the UK

14.40 – 15.35 Workshop 1:

Room 1 Cuba’s health solidarity in Pakistan

Room 3 Nicaragua under the Sandinista Front

Room 4 Cuba, Venezuela and Ecuador

15.40 – 16.00 Break, refreshments

16.00 – 16.55 Workshop 2:

Room 1 Cuba’s health solidarity in Pakistan

Room 3 Nicaragua under the Sandinista Front

Room 4 Cuba, Venezuela and Ecuador

17.00 – 18.10 Politics of the possible – what’s to learn from Latin America? Richard Burgon MP

18.10 – 18.15 Conclusion

18.30 Food

19.30 Bar and Salsa Disco with DJ Dave from Noche Latina.

All day Craft from Cuba and Venezuela, books, and campaign information.

Workshop details:

Cuba’s health solidarity in Pakistan. Cuban international health brigades were the first in Sierra Leone tackling Ebola, and have been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize. We will show the film ‘On the slopes of the Himalayas’ reporting from Cuba’s emergency field hospitals in Pakistan after the Kashmir earthquake.

Nicaragua under the Sandinista Front. Guisell Morales-Echaverry will highlight the history and politics of Nicaragua. The Sandinista National Liberation Front was elected again in 2007, joined the Bolivarian Alliance for the peoples of Latin America (ALBA), and instituted many pro-poor reforms.

Cuba, Venezuela and Ecuador. What do recent changes in Cuba and its relations with the USA mean for its people? Do they threaten its independence or strengthen it? Venezuela, Ecuador and Cuba all inspire for their commitments to universal services and national sovereignty. But what’s special about each country’s politics? How do they mobilise their people, who decides what happens next? Dave Cartwright and Ludi Simpson.