**Call for an end to the Blockade at the 31st National Meeting of the Cuba Solidarity Association in Australia.**
Adelaide, March 29, 2025. From March 28 to 30, the 31st edition of the National Consultation of the Australian Cuba Solidarity Association (ACFS) is being held in the city of Adelaide, capital of the state of South Australia.
Delegates from all cities of the Australian territory are participating in the event, representing the members of the different branches of the Movement. The Cuban Ambassador to Australia also participated, updating the friends of Cuba on the work during 2024, as well as on the impact of the Economic, Commercial and Financial Blockade imposed by the United States against the Cuban people.
A message from the president of the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the People (ICAP) was presented at the event. Fernando Gonzalez, on behalf of the Cuban people, thanked the work of the solidarity movement in Australia and the expressions of affection and friendship towards our people.
During the three days of discussions, more than 7 motions and a final declaration were presented, where friends of solidarity demanded the exclusion of Cuba from the spurious list of countries sponsoring terrorism, as well as expressed a strong condemnation against the blockade.
Other issues included in the final declaration were the demand for the return of the territory illegally occupied by the United States in Guantanamo, as well as the immediate cessation of the manipulation and measures of the U.S. administration against Cuban medical cooperation.
The delegates also agreed to support the “From Australia to Cuba with Love” Campaign, an initiative that will take place in 2025 for the fourth time, and that seeks to travel the distance between Australia and Cuba promoting solidarity with the island in the Australian territory.
The participants strongly reaffirmed their support for the Cuban Revolution and pledged to continue working on initiatives such as the Southern Cross Brigade that for more than 40 years has traveled to Cuba uninterruptedly supporting different social projects and sharing with the Cuban people.
The final statement is attached below:
**Final Declaration of the 40th National Consultation Of The Australia-Cuba Friendship Society**
This meeting of participating delegates to the 40th National Consultation of the Australia-Cuba Friendship Society meeting in Adelaide, South Australia:
_Focused_ on the constant struggle against the unjust economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed for more than 60 years by successive US administrations, against the heroic people of Cuba, and,
_Inspired_ by the legacy of Jose Martí, Fidel Castro, leader of the Cuban Revolution, and the unwavering and determined struggle of the Cuban people to maintain their sovereignty, and a socialist state firmly based on principles of social justice and equality, makes the following declaration:
**We declare**
1. We reaffirm our commitment to continue defending and supporting the Cuban Revolution and its people.
2. We denounce the total, the economic, financial and commercial blockade that the United States has unjustly and illegally imposed on Cuba for more than 60 years, despite having been almost unanimously rejected by the United Nations General Assembly on more than 30 consecutive occasions. We demand the total, unconditional and complete lifting of such unilateral coercive measures.
3. We demand that Cuba be removed from the list of US state sponsors of terrorism, which, as part of the US blockade, penalises individuals or organisations financially dealing with Cuba and strangles trade and travel, causing direct and continuing harm to the Cuban people.
4. We demand the return to Cuban sovereignty of the territory illegitimately occupied by the US in Guantanamo, and used as a detention and torture centre. The US should bear the cost of the environmental remediation, including the removal of all land mines, of the land surrounding Guantanamo Bay as well as the cost to remove its facilities from Cuban territory.
5. We demand the payment of fair economic compensation by the US Government to the Cuban people for the economic and human damages caused by the criminal practice of the blockade and other aggressions for more than six decades, which currently amounts to more than $1.3 trillion.
6. We demand an end to the financing of programmes of political interference aimed at destabilising Cuba, and to the funding of all groups recognized as politically and economically dependent on the US government or other foreign powers, that are falsely promoted by the media as ‘dissidents’.
7. We denounce the falsification and manipulation of information which is directed by the mainstream media, against the Cuban Revolution. We condemn the double standards of such policies, and the silence of the mainstream media on the social achievements and examples of international solidarity that Cuba offers to the world. In particular, we denounce and demand the immediate cessation of media manipulation and measures against the selfless participation of Cuban doctors whose noble contributions have saved thousands of lives in situations of natural disaster, epidemics and other crisis situations on all continents.
**We agree**
1. To work, in coordination with Cuban institutions and Cuban mass organizations, to take Cuba’s example of emancipation, social justice, equity, social development, international solidarity and human rights to the world.
2. To work with and mobilize all the forces which express genuine solidarity with Cuba, including trade unions, parliamentarians and Australian society in general.
3. To continue to develop practical solidarity by sending donations, and by implementing cooperative projects with the Cuban people, and by participation in the events of the Movement of Solidarity with Cuba at the international level.
4. To continue working to combat false narratives about Cuba promoted by mainstream media and linked to major political and economic powers. We will continue to fight for and demand public access to information about Cuba and its people that is accurate, unbiased and truthful.
5. To continue defending and disseminating the ideals of the Cuban Revolution, led by Fidel Castro, his political contributions and the ethical and political example that is his legacy to the peoples of the world. We will support the fundamental contribution made by the Fidel Castro Ruz Centre in Havana.
6. To continue to support the Southern Cross Brigade, which for more than 40 years has built bridges between the peoples of Cuba and Australia, and to consolidate in unity the work of the ACFS as a sign of solidarity and affection towards the people of Cuba.
Adelaide, March 30, 2025.
_(Cubaminrex - Embacuba Australia)_