Preparations in Ecuador for Solidarity- with- Cuba Assembly

Ecuadorians from Cuba friendship movements are putting the final touches to the 14th National Assembly in Solidarity with Cuba, to be held on Saturday in Quevedo, Los Ríos province.

The meeting, to be held at the "Palacio de Cristal" of Quevedo, expects attendance of some 1,000 delegates of solidarity groups from 24 provinces of this Andean nation, said Fidel Chiriboga, president of the National Coordinating Committee of Friendship with the Caribbean island.

The assembly will evaluate activities carried out in the last 12 months, and coordinate actions to demand the end of the US economic, trade, financial and information blockade on the island, Chiriboga stressed. "This cruel policy, impugned several times by over 180 nations in the UN General Assembly, has to be eliminated and we are going to reinforce actions to request its end," he noted.

Also on the list are measures to demand the release of Fernando Gonzalez, Gerardo Hernandez, Rene Gonzalez, Ramon Labanino and Antonio Guerrero, condemned to harsh sentences ranging from 15 years to double life terms.

The Five, as they are universally known, need international support to end the silence of the US press and the White House, and the people of that northern country must learn of the barbarity that nation's justice has committed against them, he stated.

The event will conclude Saturday afternoon with the approval of the Final Declaration. This document will support the government, the Revolution, socialism and peoples power in the Caribbean nation, Chiriboga indicated.

The 14th Assembly of Solidarity will also take place in the year of the 200th anniversary of the first Declaration of Independence, and the 50th anniversary of the triumph of the Cuban Revolution. / PL