A Caravan of Cuban Americans Are Marching 1,300 Miles to Transform U.S.-Cuba Policy
To gain support against the U.S. blockade of Cuba, the group—led by a charismatic high school teacher—is trekking from Miami to Washington, D.C.
BY MEDEA BENJAMIN JULY 9, 2021 12:00 PM
Carlos Lazo getting ready to start his march from Miami to Washington, D.C.
Carlos Lazo, a teacher and veteran of the Iraq War, and a small band of Cuban Americans are on a 1,300-mile pilgrimage from Miami, Florida, to Washington, D.C., in protest of the U.S. blockade of Cuba. Despite the blistering summer heat and occasional death threats (including a trucker who tried to run them off the road), the marchers persist. Lazo’s group is called Puentes de Amor, or Bridges of Love, and this grueling walkathon is certainly a labor of love.
While rightwing Cubans in Miami call him “comunista,” Lazo has no time for ideology. He is neither for nor against the Cuban government; he is for the Cuban people, the Cuban families. And he is disgusted by the cruelty of the U.S. blockade and by politicians who use the Cuban people as a political football—especially during the pandemic.
Lazo portrays Cuba and the United States as his parents—Cuba is his mother, the United States his father. He sees his job as trying to stop them from fighting and instead to embrace each other.
“We try to unite people, whatever their ideology, religion, race, or nationality,” Lazo tells me. “The important thing is to take down the walls that separate us and build bridges between our people.”
More:
https://progressive.org/latest/cuban-americans-transform-cuba-policy-benjamin-210709/
