Special backgrounder on anniversary of July 11 Cuba protest
The Canada Files stands with Cuba against all attempts by the US and its allies to subvert the revolution.
Written by: Aidan Jonah
Given the importance of this event that took place one year ago on July 11, whose repercussions are still being felt today in foreign policy and international politics, TCF is reproducing articles and videos almost exclusively by our Contributing Editor Arnold August as a backgrounder.
The current 2021-22 attempt to foment regime change in Cuba, backed by the US, Europe and even Canada, began in 2018/2019. Many of the individual artists involved in the 2018/2019 protests against the Cuban government (especially its Ministry of Culture) served as the vanguard of the July 11 protests. They have very recently been tried and sentenced, provoking another backlash by their sponsors (the US and its allies) on the occasion of the July 11 anniversary, aimed to subvert the Revolution.
In this article written in April 2019, Arnold August outlines what the 2018/2019 incidents were all about. “There is a wide-open debate/polemic in Cuba regarding Decree 349 on culture and the drafting of the rules for its future application. The controversy is also stirring on the international scene, especially in North America, Europe and Latin America.”
Article: ▼
In this video our Contributing Editor expressed, from the point of view of a Canadian, that Cuba having a Ministry of Culture is actually very positive. ▼
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=fz3H293XwgU
Only several days after the 2021 July 11 protests, August was interviewed by TeleSur. Video here:▼
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ba_RHDSmssM&t=36s
On July 26, 2021, a webinar took place titled “What is Happening in Cuba?” Here is the video contribution by August on the role of US and its allies in fueling the protests. ▼
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3LkrXHp_hE&t=2s
On August 29, 2021, a webinar took place on the topic: Ending US aggression on Cuba is Key to World Peace. It was organized by the International Manifesto Group, the Black Alliance for Peace, No Cold War and Tricontinental Institute for Social Research. The Canada Files was the media sponsor. Among the speakers was Cuban journalist Iroel Sánchez, providing a valuable and not often heard about insight from the ground in Cuba. See the video here with English subtitles: ▼
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=30URo_EKlXE
TCF posted an expanded video version of the August 29, 2021 contribution by August to the webinar “Ending US Aggression on Cuba is Key to World Peace,” for which TCF was the media sponsor. The thrust of this video is: Canadian ‘left’ media & government support colour revolution narratives against Cuba.” ▼
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Plo22HdeqHI
On September 21, 2021, The Real News Network (TRNN) contributor Radhika Desai is joined by August to discuss the protests in Cuba, the media narratives about the protests, and the prospect that the Biden administration will succeed in exploiting Cuba’s current troubles to achieve its interventionist ends. Video here: ▼
https://therealnews.com/us-economic-war-on-cuba-continues-even-after-war-in-afghanistan-ends
More on the media manipulation on July 11 by August. Video July 28, 2018. ▼
https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=Ob8XCCsbxV0&t=115s
From the July 11 protests, the US-led regime change policy led to another attempt to provoke incidents, this time scheduled for November 15, 2021. In this article for TCF by our Contributing Editor, it is pointed out that “as a follow up to the July 11-12 protests, the same opposition figures and groups that participated in them, requested permission for marches to be simultaneously held in several cities across Cuba on November 15.” Read article here: ▼
Despite their request to demonstrate being refused, the regime-change activists went ahead with their plans for a “peaceful demonstration.” August’s article for TCF was unique, as he wrote: “On July 11, 2021, regime-change demonstrations of the ‘colour revolution’ type broke out in several cities across Cuba, turning violent in some instances. They were driven mainly by pro-US social media prompts, with some Cuban citizens joining in for legitimate reasons in the context of the current system and not against it. Since then, the same forces, operating under a new banner and a private, two-month-old Facebook group named Archipiélago, are gathering for a second round of demonstrations to take place on November 15. To delve into it, I applied to become a member and was eventually (and surprisingly) accepted.” Thus, while much has been written about the November 15 plans, this is the only one that deconstructs from the inside the false narrative of “peacefully artists” in their own words and images. The article, also serves as an anti-dote to the current US-led outcry regarding the trials and sentencing of “artists” involved in the July protests. Article here: ▼
The November 15 colour revolution attempt failed. Once again, the only article that unearthed the main reason for its failure is this one by Arnold August: “Archipiélago’s Cuban Protest Failure: Repression, Suppression, Intimidation, Detention – or Revolution? ” ▼
https://www.thecanadafiles.com/articles/archipielagos-cuban-protest-failure-repression-suppression-intimidation-detention-or-revolution
On June 30, 2022, Arnold was interviewed on By All Means Necessary (Radio Sputnik) by Jacquie Luqman to discuss the real story of the prosecution of the artists responsible for the song “Patria Y Vida” in Cuba, the US involvement in using these artists to undermine the Cuban revolution in an effort to overthrow the Cuban government, why the desecration of Cuban symbols and US involvement in this song matter so much to the Cuban government, and how the race card has been used by the US government to undermine Cuba under a veneer of progressivism. Interview here ▼
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxWxoycX2q0&fbclid=IwAR1tFdIi-f-djjae_b7CExcKIGNknwIgPeF75rTi_DIOcy9iIZJN_VJBqNQ
The Canada Files will carry follow up articles and videos on the Cuban “protest” issue.
Aidan Jonah is the Editor-in-Chief of The Canada Files, a socialist, anti-imperialist news outlet founded in 2019. Jonah has broken numerous stories, including how the Canadian Armed Forces trained neo-Nazi "journalist" Roman Protasevich while he was with the Azov Battalion, and how a CIA front group (the NED) funded the group (URAP) which drove the "Uyghur genocide" vote in parliament to pass this February. Jonah recently wrote a report for the 48th session of the UN Human Rights Council, held in September 2021.
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