CUBA, Aug 24, 2009.- Sao Paulo Forum’s 15th conference, recently held in Mexico, proposed a meeting with US President Barack Obama to discuss the lifting of the economic blockade against Cuba, among other issues. The forum is also planning to demand the end of the Cuban Adjustment Act, which they described as discriminatory; the release of the five Cuban antiterrorist fighters unfairly imprisoned in the US, known as the Cuban Five; and the return of Guantanamo Bay, which is illegally occupied, reported Prensa Latina news agency. Among participants in the meeting was Jorge Marti, head of International Relations of the Cuban Communist Party’s Central Committee, who was leading the Cuban delegation to the forum. Marti called the conference to face Washington’s maneuvers to halt the progress of leftist movements in Latin America and highlighted the need to take appropriate actions to face the most important events that have been taking place recently like the creation of the 4th US Fleet, the establishment of seven American military bases in Colombia and the coup d’état in Honduras. As positive changes in the continent in the past few months, Marti mentioned Cuba's integration into the Group of Rio and the lifting of the 1962 sanctions against the island by the Organization of American States, for which he thanked leftist forces in Latin America and the Caribbean for their contribution. Likewise, he thanked the participation of the forces that are part of the Sao Paulo Forum in the ongoing international campaign for the release of the Cuban Five. Finally, Marti emphasized that Cuba will continue actively participating in the Sao Paolo Forum based on the internationalist principles passed by Fidel and Raul Castro and Che Guevara. (Cubaminrex-AIN)
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