TransAfrica Forum Event

Cuba Celebrates its 50th Anniversary
January 30, 2009

This year Cuba celebrates the 50th year of their revolution; for 47 of those years the U.S. has imposed a comprehensive trade embargo against the tiny island nation, located 90 miles off the shore of Florida. While U.S. relations have been hostile, the rest of the world has a vastly different view of and relationship with Cuba. For more than a decade the UN General Assembly has passed resolutions opposing the embargo.

Join TransAfrica Forum on Friday, January 30, 2009 for a look at the differing perspectives and to explore the possibilities for normalized relations under the new Obama Administration.
Both events will be held in the Arthur R. Ashe, Jr., Library, 1629 K Street, N.W., Suite 1100, Washington, DC.

Cuba and the U.S. -- Prospects for Normalization

3:00 pm – 5:00 pm
A Panel Presentation Featuring:

James Early—Director, Cultural Heritage Policy, Smithsonian Institution Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage; andNnenna Ozobia—Policy Director, Latin America and the Caribbean, TransAfrica Forum

Followed by an exclusive showing of:
Canganma A recently released Cuban feature film
5:30 pm – 7:30 pm

Canganma, a tiny village of 8,000 inhabitants in Angola, has become a historic milestone for Cuban-Angolan ties. In the summer of 1983, a little over a hundred Cuban military advisers and Angolan soldiers put up for a week with a no-quarter surprise siege by the Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), supported by apartheid South Africa's forces. Cangamba is the story of the resistance of a small group of Cubans before thousands of UNITA troops, but also the story of their rescue by Cuban and Angolan forces.

For some, Canganma is a metaphor for the on-going "struggle of Cubans, who are rescuing the country from the devastation of hurricanes Gustav and Ike." Join us in this untold story about a battle that changed the course of history in Southern Africa.

Both Events are Free and Open to the Public!

Refreshments will be served RSVP: 202-223-1960, ext. 137

TransAfrica Forum 1629 K Street, NW, Suite 1100 Washington, DC 20006 Phone: 202.223.1960 Fax: 202.223.1966 info@transafricaforum.org
Visit http://www.transafricaforum.org/donate-taf to donate.