{"article":{"id":173456,"heading":"Benicio del Toro calls for respect for Cuban sovereignty","author":"Heileen Mart\u00ednez","created":"2006-08-11 11:02:20","modified":"2026-10-25 17:02:53","last_modified":"Mon, 26 Oct 2026 01:02:53","article":"<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\">\n<html><body><p>Hollywood actor, Benicio del Toro, winner of an Oscar for best supporting actor in Traffic, by Steven Soderbergh, has called for respect for Cuban sovereignty.  <br>  <br> Del Toro, an actor of Puerto Rican nationality, added his voice to the 3,780-plus intellectuals and artists from more than 50 countries who are condemning the aggressive and interventionist tone of the George W. Bush government toward Cuba. <br>  <br> The movie star, a man dedicated to bringing art to the masses, through which he came to identify with Cuba, visited Havana a few years ago with director Soderbergh and the producers of Traffic to premiere that film on the island. <br>  <br> In this way he joins a prestigious gathering of actors and artists who are defending Cuba&rsquo;s sovereignty in the face of the powerful forces that are threatening it.  <br>  <br> Danny Glover, Harry Belafonte, Leticia Spiller, Mar&iacute;a Rojo, Gael Garc&iacute;a Bernal, Rodrigo de la Serna and Santiago Garc&iacute;a can also be found in this sizeable group. <br>  <br> Other signatories are Nobel Prize winners Nadine Gordimer, Jos&eacute; Saramago, Wole Soyinka, Dar&iacute;o Fo, Adolfo P&eacute;rez Esquivel, Rigoberta Mench&uacute;, Desmond Tutu and Zhores Alfiorov. <br>  <br> In addition Brazilian musician Egberto Gismonti, for many the new Heitor Villa Lobos due to his vast experimental work, has spoken out in favor of Cuba&rsquo;s defense in the face of threats from the United States.  <br>  <br> Gismonti, just before leaving Havana where he offered an unforgettable recital with the Camerata Romeu, expressed his sentiments of solidarity on this issue in a letter.  <br>  <br> The renowned director of Reed: Insurgent Mexico, currently retired, added his name to the document which calls on the U.S. to respect of Cuba&rsquo;s sovereignty. <br>  <br> In other news, Catalan writer Rosa Reg&aacute;s, 2001 Planeta Award winner for the &ldquo;Dorothy&rsquo;s Song&rdquo; yesterday alerted the world regarding about a possible U.S. aggression against Cuba.  <br>  <br>   <br><br> <\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","contact":"heileen2651@yahoo.es","link":"","address":"","phone":"","parent_id":0,"mime_type":"text\/plain","summary":"Hollywood actor, Benicio del Toro, winner of an Oscar for best supporting actor in Traffic, by Steven Soderbergh, has called for respect for Cuban sovereignty","numcomment":4,"fileurl":"\/uploads\/","filesize":null,"article_url":"\/news\/2006\/08\/173456.php"},"attachments":[],"comments":[{"id":173529,"heading":"The sovereignty of CUBA must be respected","article":"The sovereignty of CUBA must be respected \r\n\r\nThe sovereignty of CUBA must be respected \r\n\r\n\r\nAs a result of the communication of Fidel Castro on his state of health and the provisional delegation of his responsibilities, high ranking U.S officials have formulated more and more explicit declarations about the immediate future of Cuba. The Secretary of Commerce Carlos Guti\u00e9rrez said that \u201cthis is the moment for a true transition towards a true democracy\u201d and the spokesman of the White House Tony Snow said that his government is \u201cready and eager to grant humanitarian and economic assistance and of any other nature to the people of Cuba\u201d, which has been already being stated by President Bush. \r\nThe \u201cCommission for a free Cuba\u201d, presided over by the Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, had already pointed out in a report issued on June, \u201cthe urgency to work today to guarantee that the strategy of succession of the regime of Castro does not succeed\u201d and President Bush indicated that this document \u201cdemonstrates we are working actively towards a change in Cuba, not just waiting for it to happen\u201d. The Department of State has emphasized that the plan includes measures that will remain secret \u201cfor reasons of national security\u201d and to assure its \u201ceffective accomplishment\u201d. \r\nIt is not hard to imagine the character of such measures and the \u201cannounced assistance\u201d, considering the militarization of the foreign policy of the present American administration and its performance in Iraq. \r\nGiven the increasing threat against the integrity of a nation, the peace and security of Latin America and the world we, the signatories listed below, demand that the government of the United States respect the sovereignty of Cuba. We must prevent a new aggression at all cost.\r\n\r\nTo sign:\r\n\r\nhttp:\/\/www.porcuba.org  \r\n             \r\nsoberania@porcuba.org\r\n\r\n \r\nSigned by, among others:\r\n  \r\nJos\u00e9 Saramago, Portugal \u2022 Wole Soyinka, Nigeria; \u2022 Adolfo P\u00e9rez Esquivel, Argentina \u2022 Dario Fo, Italy \u2022 Desmond Tutu, South Africa \u2022 Rigoberta Mench\u00fa, Guatemala \u2022 Nadine Gordimer, South Africa \u2022 Zhores Alfiorov, Russia \u2022 Noam Chomsky, USA \u2022 Oscar Niemeyer, Brazil \u2022 Harry Belafonte, USA \u2022 Mario Benedetti, Uruguay \u2022 Ignacio Ramonet, Spain-France \u2022 Danny Glover, USA \u2022 Samir Amin, Egypt \u2022 Alfonso Sastre, Spain \u2022 Francois Houtart, Belgium \u2022 Eduardo Galeano, Uruguay \u2022 Juan Gelman, Argentina \u2022 Frei Betto, Brazil \u2022 Pablo Gonz\u00e1lez Casanova, Mexico \u2022 Russell Banks, USA \u2022 Bernard Cassen, France \u2022 Ernesto Cardenal, Nicaragua \u2022 Angela Davis, USA \u2022 Ariel Dorfman, Chile \u2022 Tom Morello, USA \u2022 Walter Salles, Brazil \u2022 Manu Chao, France \u2022 Blanca Chancosa, Ecuador \u2022 Egberto Gismonti, Brazil \u2022 Alice Walker, USA \u2022 Istv\u00e1n M\u00e9sz\u00e1ros, Hungary \u2022 Fredric Jameson, USA \u2022 Jorge Enrique Adoum, Ecuador \u2022 Fernando Birri, Argentina \u2022 Leonardo Boff, Brazil \u2022 David Vi\u00f1as, Argentina \u2022 Emilio Carballido, Mexico \u2022 Jos\u00e9 Luiz del Roio, Italy \u2022 Hebe de Bonafini, Argentina \u2022 Thiago de Mello, Brazil \u2022 Boaventura de Sousa, Portugal \u2022 Armand Mattelart, Belgium \u2022 William Blum, USA \u2022 Miguel Bonasso, Argentina \u2022 Chico Whitaker, Brazil; Mar\u00eda Rojo, Mexico \u2022 Idea Vilari\u00f1o, Uruguay \u2022 Bel\u00e9n Gopegui, Spain \u2022 Diamela Eltit, Chile \u2022 Atilio Bor\u00f3n, Argentina \u2022 Luciana Castellina, Italy \u2022 Ramsey Clark, USA \u2022 Luis Britto Garc\u00eda, Venezuela \u2022 Stephen Rivers, USA \u2022 Miguel D\u2019Escoto, Nicaragua \u2022 Stella Calloni, Argentina \u2022 Emir Sader, Brazil \u2022 Daniel Viglietti, Uruguay \u2022 Lucius Walker, USA \u2022 Piero Gleijeses, Italy- USA \u2022 James D. Cockcroft, USA \u2022 An\u00edbal Quijano, Peru \u2022 Theotonio dos Santos, Brazil \u2022 Pablo Guayasam\u00edn, Ecuador \u2022 Leonard Weinglass, USA \u2022 Susu Pecoraro, Argentina \u2022 Francisco de Oliveira, Brazil \u2022 Graciela Duffau, Argentina \u2022 Fernando Rend\u00f3n, Colombia \u2022 Luis Sep\u00falveda, Chile \u2022 Fernando Pino Solanas, Argentina \u2022 Michael L\u00f6wy, Brazil \u2022 Pascual Serrano, Spain \u2022 Jorge Rufinelli, Uruguay \u2022 James Petras, USA; Keith Ellis, Jamaica- Canada \u2022 Trist\u00e1n Bauer, Argentina... \r\n\r\n","author":"F Espinoza","parent_id":173456,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","created":"2006-08-11 18:28:14","modified":"2013-11-11 00:43:32","fileurl":"\/usr\/local\/www-domains\/la.indymedia.org\/public\/uploads\/2006\/08\/imm015_16.jpg","image":{"original":"\/usr\/local\/www-domains\/la.indymedia.org\/public\/uploads\/2006\/08\/imm015_16.jpg"}},{"id":173643,"heading":"Free the Five!","article":"Esta tarde, Mesa Redonda Informativa:\r\n\r\nEl ignominioso fallo de Atlanta contra la justicia y los Cinco\r\n\r\nCorreo: digital@jrebelde.cip.cu\r\n\r\n10 de agosto de 2006 02:43:04 GMT\r\n\r\nEn bochornosa decisi\u00f3n, el Pleno del Tribunal de Apelaciones de Atlanta, con votaci\u00f3n 10-2, invalid\u00f3 el veredicto un\u00e1nime de un panel de tres experimentados jueces de ese Tribunal que, justo un a\u00f1o atr\u00e1s, hab\u00eda revocado las injustas condenas contra cinco luchadores antiterroristas cubanos. Sobre este importante tema debatir\u00e1 hoy, a las 6:30 p.m.(hora de CUBA), la Mesa Redonda Informativa El ignominioso fallo de Atlanta contra la justicia y los Cinco, la cual ser\u00e1 transmitida por Cubavisi\u00f3n, el Canal Educativo, Cubavisi\u00f3n Internacional, Radio Rebelde y Radio Habana Cuba.\r\nEl Canal Educativo retransmitir\u00e1 esta mesa redonda al final de su programaci\u00f3n y Radio Progreso lo har\u00e1 a la 1:00 a.m.\r\n\r\nSintonizarlas en:\r\n\r\nhttp:\/\/www.rrebelde.cu\r\n\r\nhttp:\/\/www.radioprogreso.cu\r\n\r\nhttp:\/\/www.radiohc.cu\r\n\r\nhttp:\/\/www.cubavision.cubaweb.cu\r\n\r\nhttp:\/\/www.mesaredonda.cu\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nVisitar tambi\u00e9n:\r\n\r\nhttp:\/\/www.antiterroristas.cu\r\n\r\nhttp:\/\/www.ain.cubaweb.cu\/patriotas\/principal.htm\r\n\r\nhttp:\/\/www.granma.cubaweb.cu\/miami5\/index.html\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n","author":"F Espinoza","parent_id":173456,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","created":"2006-08-12 05:44:43","modified":"2013-11-11 00:43:32","fileurl":"\/usr\/local\/www-domains\/la.indymedia.org\/public\/uploads\/2006\/08\/cinco.jpg","image":{"original":"\/usr\/local\/www-domains\/la.indymedia.org\/public\/uploads\/2006\/08\/cinco.jpg"}}]}