Paris: The media marathon convened from the Europa channel by Cuba to condemn the US blockade against the island exceeded expectations due to the number of participants and the depth of its messages, the organizers said today.
In dialogue with Prensa Latina, José Antonio Toledo, Patricia Pérez and Haydeline Díaz highlighted the contribution of voices from the five continents to the denunciation, rejection and demand for the end of the criminal economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States on Cuba since more than 60 years ago.
For 24 uninterrupted hours, starting Saturday night in Europe and Sunday, traditional and alternative media, solidarity associations, political forces, unions, parliamentarians, intellectuals, Cubans living far from their homeland and individuals in dozens of countries their position of repudiation of the siege of Washington, they recalled.
According to the coordinators of Europe for Cuba, so many videos and messages arrived that it was necessary to make adjustments during the marathon, so that everyone had the opportunity to demand an end to the aggressive and extraterritorial politics, intensified by the last two administrations in the White House.
Many people, both in the name of organizations and individually, sought a way to contact us to place their message, and some participating media outlets assured us that yesterday, Monday, they continued to disclose information that they could not air over the weekend, they added.
The organizers insisted that the event against the blockade on the island represented an inclusive space on television, radio, the written press, YouTube and other social networks for those from anywhere on the planet who feel love for the Antillean nation and the resistance of his people, beyond political colors.
It was a great experience, and the enthusiasm and commitment of so many voices meant that the technical difficulties, sacrifices and challenges for a small channel without resources like ours were assumed with enormous motivation, and we would have continued for another 24 hours without any problem, Díaz, Pérez and Toledo agreed.
Exhausted, but happy, they thanked all the participants in the media marathon, which they coordinated with the Russian-language section of the Europe for Cuba platform.
When asked by Prensa Latina about what follows this initiative and if there will be a second version of the marathon, they pointed out that without ruling out activities already organized by the channel, such as the world caravans against the blockade and the event itself last weekend, the intention is to explore new ideas.
Our objective since we emerged in October 2020 is to mobilize all possible forces in the world to denounce and demand the lifting of the genocidal blockade against Cuba, and we intend to comply with it with original proposals, which include actions in the streets of the planet, they added.
Pérez, Toledo and Díaz advanced that the immediate way forward is to maintain contact with the participants in the media marathon, in order to outline new initiatives together.
The forum against the blockade attracted the networks Telesur, HispanTV, Al Mayadeen and Cubavisión Internacional; the Prensa Latina, SANA and Sputnik news agencies, the Venezuelan National Assembly channel ANTV and stations such as La Radio del Sur, Radio Patagonia, Radio Rebelde and Radio Habana Cuba, among many other media.
Communist and progressive parties from several countries, the Spanish MEP Manu Pineda, the intellectuals Fernando Buen Abad (Mexico) and Atilio Borón (Argentina), the French parliamentarian Francois-Michel Lambert, the Argentine activists Stella Calloni and Hebe de Bonafini and Cuban ambassadors also gave their input.
Regarding the organizations, the list of participants included the World Federation of Trade Unions, the Latin American Network of Solidarity with Cuba, the National and International Council of Popular Communication, the Pastors for Peace (United States), the Farabundo Martí Front for the National Liberation (FMLN) of El Salvador and the Party of the European Left.