The areas in question pertain to pockets of Northern Syria in which various US-NATO supported jihadist groups including the Islamic State (ISIS) and Al Nusrah are fighting Syrian government forces (SAA) and their allies. These terrorist pockets are protected by the US-led coalition and Turkey:

The Pentagon has asked Russia to stay away from parts of northern Syria where US special operations troops are training local fighters [i.e. terrorists including the Islamic State ] to combat the Islamic State group [the opposition rebels are allies of ISIS, ISIS is supported by the US and has special forces within its ranks], military officials said Thursday. The acknowledgement is significant because the Pentagon has repeatedly stressed it is not cooperating with Moscow as the two powers lead separate air campaigns in war-ravaged Syria…

The advisory acknowledges US military presence inside Syria. Washington confirms that US Special Forces and CIA are operating within the ranks of the “Moderate Opposition”.

Washington’s objective is twofold. First, “officially” it wants to avoid direct military confrontation with Russia as well prevent US casualties. That’s the substance of the official advisory. It is not the main objective.

Second: it is using the pretext of avoiding military confrontation with Russia (and US casualties) as a means to restraining Russia’s bombing campaign: Washington’s main objective is to protect remaining US sponsored terrorist positions in Northern Syria including those of the ISIS from Russian airstrikes.

The advisory is tantamount to asking Russia not to bomb the “moderate terrorists” who are supported by US forces. In fact this was the initial position adopted by Washington at the outset of the Russian bombing campaign against the Islamic State in late September 2015. The Obama administration blamed Vladimir Putin of “deliberately targeting US backed forces” in Syria (i.e. moderate terrorists) rather than US Special Forces.

Washington’s concern (from a strategic standpoint) is to protect the terrorists’ positions rather than their own forces.

In fact, what was at stake in mid October 2015 was that Russia was killing the “good guys” namely “CIA trained rebels” whom Moscow had “mistakenly” categorized as terrorists.

According to a US official in an interview with Fox News:

“Putin is deliberately targeting our forces. Our guys are fighting for their lives.”

Source: October 14, 2015, FoxNews.com

Officially, America now has “boots on the ground” operating within the ranks of various Al Qaeda affiliated “opposition” groups as well as within the ISIS in violation of Syrian sovereignty.

The special forces are in permanent liaison with US-NATO.

The Pentagon advisory requests Russia not to target US Special Forces in “broad areas” of Northern Syria, which is tantamount to restraining Russia airstrikes against the terrorists supported by the US-led coalition:

Lieutenant General Charles Brown, who commands the US air forces in the Middle East, said US officials had asked Moscow to avoid “broad areas” in northern Syria [still under control of the terrorists] “to maintain a level of safety for our forces that are on the ground.”

Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook said Russia had honored the request, and stressed the Pentagon only provided broad geographic descriptions of where the US troops are, not their precise location.

[The Russian military knows where US forces are operating, i.e. in the ranks of various "opposition" groups fighting government forces]

The Pentagon last year said it was sending about 50 special operations forces to work with anti-IS fighters in Syria though officials have said next to nothing about their whereabouts and progress since.

[The number of US forces on the ground is larger, these Pentagon figures do not include mercenary forces hired by private contractors operating within terrorist ranks]

The United States has since August 2014 led an international coalition against the IS group in Iraq and Syria. [This is a lie; amply documented the US and its allies including Turkey and Saudi Arabia are protecting the Islamic State]

Russia entered the Syria conflict in September, when it began bombing rebels opposed to President Bashar al-Assad. Russia says it is attacking the IS group and other “terrorists.”

… The Pentagon has held a series of “deconfliction” talks with Russian counterparts to outline procedures in case of a mishap (Al Monitor, AFP Report, emphasis added)

It is worth noting that in mid-January in response to Russia’s airstrikes and the defeat of the US-NATO sponsored terrorist opposition forces, the Pentagon announced a new plan to train up to 7,000 new rebels inside Syria “as part of an effort to secure Turkey’s southern border”. This plan coordinated with Turkey would consist in creating a so-called safe-zone in Northern Syria. (WSJ, January 15, 2016 ).

According to a Secret Pentagon document, the ultimate objective “was” to create an Islamic State Caliphate (Salafist Principality) in Northern Syria.

(www.globalresearch.ca)

Organizers announced that appointments with 44 House of Representatives and Senate members have been confirmed.

In addition to participants from the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico, speaking at the event will be writers Stephen Kimber, John Kirk and Arnold August; Puerto Rican patriot Rafael Cancel Miranda and Jan Susler, lawyer for Oscar López Rivera, who has been imprisoned 34 years for his efforts to win Puerto Rican independence, as well as recent graduates from the Latin American School of Medicine in Havana (ELAM).

More than 60 organizations around the world have joined the call for activities this weekend demanding an end to the blockade which has been imposed on the country for more than 50 years, in an unsuccessful effort to force the Cuban people to surrender, causing incalculable damage.

(Diario Granma)

Labeled historical, the State visit of Abe- who was received last Tuesday by president Barack Obama- seeks to strengthen the political alliance between Japan and United States and in that sense the agreement on cooperation in security seems to be key.

During this week, the foreign leader will pass through Boston, San Francisco and Los Angeles, while his agenda in Washington also includes a meeting with Obama in the Oval-house, a lunch at the State Department and a supper at the White House.

Furthermore, Abe will be this Wednesday the first head of the Japanese government to speak in a joint session of the US Congress.

Early in April, the US Secretary of Defense, Ashton Carter, traveled to Tokyo and there announced that the new bilateral security agreement will expand cooperation in areas such as space and cyberspace.

Carter then said that Washington supports the efforts of the Abe administration to launch the so-called policy of “collective self-defense ‘, according to which Japanese troops could fight outside the country in support of its allies, something forbidden by the current Constitution.

This Monday is expected that the Defense and foreign ministers of the two nations report on the review of bilateral state Treaty on Mutual Cooperation and Security.

About the ATT (acronym) whose scope reaches 10 other nations, Abe and Obama will not make any formal announcement: ‘We’re not even ready for a final agreement. More work is needed ‘, noted Caroline Atkinson, economic adviser to the National Security Council at the White House.

Progress at this point will be for later although when the Finance Committee of the US Senate endorsed last week a legislation proposal -a fast track – that would accelerate commercial moves of government: both the TTP as Transatlantic Treaty for trade and Investment with Europe.

Obama faces criticisms even within his party, such as Senator Elizabeth Warren, which point out his commercial policy, as they argue that those agreement will damage the US working class.

Another issue that would be on the table these days are the fight against climate change as well as the relationships within the Asian region and the framework agreement between the Group 5 + 1 (USA, France, UK, Russia, China, plus Germany) and Iran over its nuclear program.

Analysts noted that in this time Washington intends to significantly increase its influence in Asia, an area much closer to its larger competitors, Beijing and Moscow.

(Prensa Latina)

I had become gravely ill on July 26, 2006, a month and a half prior to the summit, and could barely sit up in bed. Many of the most distinguished leaders who participated in the event were kind enough to visit me. Chavez and Evo visited me several times. One afternoon four visitors came by whom I will always remember: UN Secretary General Kofi Annan; an old friend, Abdelaziz Buteflika, the president of Algeria; Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the president of Iran; and the vice minister of Foreign Affairs and current Foreign Minister of China, Yang Jiechi, on behalf of the leader of the Communist Party and the president of China, Hu Jintao. It was really an important time for me; I was in the midst of intense physiotherapy on my right hand that I had seriously injured when I fell in Santa Clara.

With all four I spoke about some of the difficulties facing the world at the time; problems that have become progressively more complex.

During our meeting yesterday, I noted that the Iranian president was absolutely calm and tranquil, completely unconcerned about the Yankee threats and, fully confident in the capacity of his people to confront any aggression and in the effectiveness of their arms —which, in large part, they produce themselves— to inflict an unpayable price on its aggressors.

In reality, we hardly spoke about the topic of war. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was focused on the ideas he had presented at the Main Hall of the University of Havana during his conference on the struggle of humankind: “Moving towards reaching and achieving peace, security, respect and human dignity as a fundamental desire of all human beings throughout history.”

I am convinced that Iran will not commit any rash actions that might contribute to setting off a war. If a war were to be unleashed, it would inevitably be completely as a result of the recklessness and congenital irresponsibility of the Yankee Empire.

I believe that the political situation surrounding Iran and the associated risks of a nuclear war that involves us all —regardless of whether one possess nuclear weapons— are extremely delicate because they threaten the very existence of our species. The Middle East has become the most troubled region on the planet, the same region that produces the energy resources vital for the world’s economy.

The destructive power and the mass sufferings caused by some of the weapons used in World War Two led to a strong movement to ban weapons such as asphyxiating gas and others. Nevertheless, conflicting interests and the huge profits made by arms manufacturers led to the production of crueler and more destructive weapons; modern technology has now added the means and material to build weapons that if used in a world war would lead to extinction.

I support the opinion, undoubtedly shared by all those with a basic sense of responsibility, that no country big or small has the right to possess nuclear weapons.

They never should have been used to attack two defenseless cities such as Hiroshima and Nagasaki, killing and irradiating with horrible and long-lasting effects hundreds of thousands of men, women and children, in a country that had already been militarily defeated.

If fascism indeed forced the allied nations against Nazism to compete with this enemy of humanity in the production of such weapons, once the war ended and the United Nations was created, the first duty of this organization should have been to prohibit nuclear weapons without exception.

However, the United States, the strongest and richest power, forced the rest of the world to follow its lead. Today, they have hundreds of satellites that spy and monitor the entire world from outer space. Their naval, air and land forces are equipped with thousands of nuclear weapons; and they control the world’s finances and investments at their whim via the International Monetary Fund.

Analyzing the history of each Latin American nation, from Mexico to Patagonia, by way of Santo Domingo and Haiti, one can observe that each and every country, without exception, have suffered for 200 years, from the beginning of the 19th century up until today. And, in one way or another, they are increasingly suffering the worst crimes that power and force can commit against the rights of a people. Brilliant Latin American writers are emerging in an increasing number. One of them, Eduardo Galeano, author of the book Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent that describes the aforementioned, has just been invited to open the prestigious Casa de Las Americas Awards as a recognition to his outstanding body of work.

Events happen incredibly fast; but technologies report them to the public even faster. On any given day, like today, important news comes out a dizzying pace. A cable report dated from January 11 states: “The Danish presidency of the European Union confirmed on Wednesday that a new series of more severe European sanctions against Iran, because of its nuclear program, will be discussed on January 23. The new sanctions will not only target the oil industry but also the Central Bank.”

During a meeting with international journalists, Danish Foreign Minister Villy Soevndal said that “We will increase sanctions against the oil industry in addition to sanctions against financial structures.” This clearly demonstrates that, in order to impede nuclear proliferation, Israel can go on accumulating hundreds of nuclear warheads while Iran is not allowed to produce 20% enriched uranium.

Another article, from a respected British news agency, states that “China gave no hint on Wednesday of giving ground to U.S. demands to curb Iran’s oil revenues, rejecting Washington’s sanctions on Tehran as overstepping …”

The sheer tranquility with which the United States and civilized Europe carry out this campaign with incredible and systematic acts of terrorism is enough to shock anybody. Just look at these lines reported by another important European news agency: “The murder on Wednesday of Iranian nuclear specialist Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan [a scientist at the Natanz nuclear plant] was the fourth attack to kill a leading scientist in the country in almost exactly two years.”

On January 12, 2010: “Massoud Ali Mohammadi, a particle physics professor at Tehran University is killed when a booby-trapped motorcycle explodes outside his home in the capital. “

On November 29, 2010: “Two attacks target leading Iranian nuclear scientists on the same day. Majid Shahriari, a key member of Iran’s Atomic Energy Agency, is killed in Tehran by a limpet bomb attached to his car. His colleague Fereydoon Abbasi Davani is also targeted by a bomb attached to his car, but escapes.” The car was parked in front of the Shahid Beheshti University in Tehran where both men worked as professors.

On July 23, 2011: “Gunmen shoot dead Dariush Rezaei-Nejad, a senior scientist who is reportedly associated with the defense ministry, and wound his wife as they waited for their child outside a Tehran kindergarten.”

On January 11, 2012 —the same day that Ahmadinejad travelled from Nicaragua to Cuba to give a conference at the University of Havana—, scientist Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan, “a deputy director at the Natanz nuclear enrichment facility, is killed in a car bomb blast outside the [Allameh Tabatabai] University in east Tehran.” As in previous years “Iran once again accused the United States and Israel.”

The killings represent a systematic and selective slaughter of brilliant Iranian scientists. I have read articles by known Israeli sympathizers who write about crimes carried out by Israeli intelligence services in cooperation with the United States and NATO as if they were the most normal occurrence.

At the same time, Moscow news agencies report that “Russia warned that in Syria a similar scenario is developing as to that in Libya, and added that this time the attack will be launched from neighboring Turkey.

“The secretary of the Russian Security Council, Nikolai Patrushev, said the West wants to ‘punish Damascus not as much for repressing the opposition, but because it is unwilling to sever ties with Tehran.’”

“…NATO members and some Persian Gulf states, operating according to the Libya scenario, intend to move from indirect intervention in Syrian affairs to direct military intervention…This time the main strikes forces will not be provided by France, the U.K. or Italy, but possibly by neighboring Turkey.”

“Washington and Ankara are now assumed to be negotiating a “no-fly” zone over Syria, where Syrian armed insurgents can be trained and concentrated, added Patrushev.”

News is not only coming out of Iran and the Middle East, but also from other parts of Central Asia near the Middle East. These reports show the great complexity of the problems that can arise from this dangerous region.

The United States has been led by its contradictory and absurd imperial policy to get involved in serious problems in countries such as Pakistan, whose borders with Afghanistan were drawn up by the colonialists without taking into account culture or ethnicities.

In Afghanistan, which defended its independence against English colonialism for centuries, drug production has multiplied in the wake of the Yankee invasion. Meanwhile, European soldiers, supported by drone airplanes and armed with sophisticated US weapons, carry out deplorable massacres that increase the people’s hatred and ward off any possibilities of peace. All this and other dirty actions are also reported by Western news agencies.

“WASHINGTON, January 12, 2012 – US Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta called the actions of four U.S. marines who urinated on corpses in Afghanistan “utterly deplorable” The video of the act was circulated in the Internet.

“’I have seen the footage, and I find the behavior depicted in it utterly deplorable…’

“’This conduct is entirely inappropriate for members of the United States military and does not reflect the standards of values our armed forces are sworn to uphold…’”

In reality, Panetta neither confirms nor denies the action, and anyone, including the Secretary of Defense himself, may harbor doubt.

But it is also extremely inhumane that men, women and children, or an Afghani combatant fighting against the foreign occupation, be murdered by bombs dropped by drone planes. Another very serious incident: dozens of Pakistani soldiers and officials who safeguarded the country’s borders have been killed by these bombs.

Afghani President Karzai stated that the outrage committed against the bodies was “simply inhumane.” He asked for the US government “to urgently investigate the video and apply the most severe punishment to anyone found guilty in this crime.”

Meanwhile Taliban spokespersons declared that “over the last ten years, hundreds of similar acts have been carried out that were not reported…”

One even feels sorry for those soldiers, thousands of kilometers away from their family, friends and country, sent to fight in countries that they might not have even heard of during their school days, where they are assigned the task of killing or dying to enrich transnational companies, arms manufacturers and unscrupulous politicians who each year squander funds needed to feed and educate the uncountable millions of hungry and illiterate people around the world.

Many of these soldiers, victims of the trauma suffered, end up taking their own lives.

Is it an exaggeration to say that world peace is hanging by a thread?

Fidel Castro Ruz
January 12, 2012
9:14 p.m.

Photos: Bill Hackwell, with captions from Alicia Jrapko

This Tuesday La Colmenita (The Little Beehive) set off early for the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington. It was a long day of rehearsal in preparation for the performance the following day at the prestigious school. Photo: Bill Hackwell

Today it was Ramón…We talked with another of the Cuban Five!

Topping off five days of one surprise after another, today, after having rehearsed tomorrow’s performance at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts, located in the upscale neighborhood of Georgetown, where many luminaries from the arts world in the United States have studied, we received another huge surprise. A call from Ramón! And for the first time (we’re hicks after all) we figured out the speakerphone and everyone could listen and talk at once.

The members of La Colmenita are preparing to leave Washington, carrying beautiful memories with them of having been able to speak daily with each of the Cuban Five. Photo: Bill Hackwell

First off, we heard the hearty laugh of this good, noble Cuban.  Afterwards we commented that anyone with a laugh like that could not possibly harbor any ill will. Immediately he told us that he was up to date with all that was happening on this tour, and we told him the many things we know about him, through our incessant questioning of everyone who knows him. For example, we know how much he loves cans of condensed milk, and his very special way of drinking them (once again, the hearty laugh)…

We also know about the time our Ambassador gave him a Three Musketeers bar and he waited for the Ambassador to get up and go to the restroom in order “to gobble it down, feeling like he could eat six or seven more Musketeers.” Another laugh, deeper still, and then the inevitable suspicion, “Hey, where did you learn so much?!” but said again with a laugh, as only he could.

His strong clear laughter is the kind that fills the soul.

One afternoon when we had a long talk with Ambassador Jorge Bolaños, he told us how much Ramón likes adventure stories and his fondness for Alexandre Dumas and “The Count of Montecristo.” Today he told us by phone: “How I’d like to be with La Colmenita in its adventures traveling the world, carrying love and truth!”

“You’re with us, Ramón, you’re with us!” the children reminded him, and Carolina sang to him, she sang softly and tenderly and this bear of a man let loose: “Look, you’re going to make me cry.” Later he told us that he knew that we’d invited Rene to see [the Cuban movie] “And yet…” at its debut soon, and he said “Don’t forget to save a seat for me!”

And just to tease this man who laughs so freely, we asked, “…well, ok, Ramón, how many seats should we save for you?”  He chuckled and said “Well, plenty” (and we laughed like crazy) and he explained:”Sure, because there’s my wife, my daughters (another laugh); I have a big family!”

Lilita recited the letter from his daughter, sent to him in prison when she was very young, with the poem “The Four.” Ramón, a large, strong man, the sports champion at Jessup Prison (in Georgia) just as he was at the prison in Texas and later in Kentucky, whom everyone respected and admired, said once again, “Come on, come on, you’ll make me cry…” And we, who every once in awhile were crying ourselves and could scarcely conceal it, passed the phone to our little Captain, Federico – the Argentinean, our Che on this Granma – and a beaming Federico told him how much we loved him, and how much he is loved in Cuba and all over the world, while Ramón whispered back: “Federico, I know you and I know all about you.  How wonderful it is to talk to you, my boy!” And at that point we begged him to save the few telephone minutes left to him for his loved ones, while we improvised a huge chorus that came straight from the heart: “Ramón, take very very great care of yourself!”

And when we were about to hang up, more than ever we felt that he is at our side all the time, that he is with his brothers, that they must return very soon to Cuba, that it is impossible that injustice could continue to deny us the ability to hear the laughter of these great and good men with whom we’ve spoken like fathers.

Before hanging up, he repeated the phrases that we’ve heard a million times, but that coming from his serene and emotionally charged voice seemed new to us: his desire that Fidel, Raúl and the Cuban Revolution live on, and then he shared with us a prediction that we carry deep within for the path ahead: “You, Cuba’s children, are the guarantee that the future of our homeland and Revolution will be much better than whatever we could have done.”

The members of La Colmenita are preparing to leave Washington, carrying beautiful memories with them of having been able to speak daily with each of the Cuban Five. Photo: Bill Hackwell

Iraida Malberti, video director and La Colmenita queen bee. Photo: Bill Hackwell

On Wednesday, the group heads to New York with its baggage filled with love...the tour continues. Photo: Bill Hackwell

Carlos Alberto Cremata refining details from the performance. Photo: Bill Hackwell

Rehearsal. Photo: Bill Hackwell

Photo: Bill Hackwell

The children from La Colmenita sing "El Mayor" by Silvio Rodríguez, to René González, who spoke with them by phone. Photo: Bill Hackwell

By Carlos Alberto Cremata,* Special to Cubadebate

On October 15, the first performance of Abracadabra by La Colmenita [The Little Beehive] was held at the Kay Chapel at American University in Washington DC.

It was a gorgeous performance, where the public was entertained by its beauty, and moved to tears (just as we’ve experienced in Cuba).  But the real surprise of the evening was a last minute phone call that came right at the end of the performance, and the cry went up:

“Everybody, hurry up, Tin is talking with Rene!!!”…

It was a call from Rene González, who was kind enough to call us and spend almost an hour speaking with the 22 children who make up the La Colmenita troupe that is touring the U.S. And every possible decibel of human emotion (as one would expect when a child’s authenticity meets up with the wisdom, security, and tenderness coming from the Cuban Five) was registered in the conversations.

The only comment from the children afterwards was that they “tried to lift Rene’s spirits, and they ended up having their spirits lifted and re-energized by him.”

But the most beautiful note of the evening came when a young member of the troupe named Olito was the last to have the privilege of speaking with Rene, after Robertico, Andy, Muma and Ernestico, the actors from Habanastation [a recently released Cuban movie] had their turns. Before putting him on, I explained to Rene that Olito who has the leading role in the upcoming Cuban film, debuts as Rudy Mora with La Colmenita. The film is titled And yet and all the music is by Silvio Rodríguez, sung by the children along with the songwriter in his debut as a supporting actor.

Rene asked lots of questions about the movie and Olito answered in an especially kind manner, especially when Rene asked Olito if he knew when the film would open in Cuba. The boy moved the phone away from his ear to ask me. I said “tell him that we still don’t know, but it might come out in December or January.” And Olito, quick as an arrow, spoke into the phone: “Listen, Rene. Tin says in December or January, so just in case, I’ll save you a seat at the Chaplin cinema, in the front row.”

*Carlos Alberto Crimata (Tin) is the director of the Cuban theatre company La Colmenita, which is on tour in the United States.

Photos: Bill Hackwell

La Colmenita‘s first performance in Washington DC was extraordinary. The audience began arriving at the Kay Chapel at American University at 5:30 p.m. even though the performance was not to begin until 7. People of all ages arrived along with plenty of children. The chapel filled up. Two young parents with their small children came from New Jersey, driving four hours to attend the event because they’d been unable to see the troupe when it was in New York.

Afterwards, La Colmenita received a standing ovation as a measure of the audience’s appreciation for such a beautiful performance. There were also plenty of tears in the eyes of the audience as the story of the Cuban Five and the injustice of their case was told.

Upon leaving, many people approached the information table asking, “But who are the Cuban Five?” taken totally by surprise after seeing a play about some heroes, without knowing who they were or having ever heard of them.

The evening ended with another surprise, a phone call from Rene González, that lasted almost an hour, and where he was able to talk with each of the children from La Colmenita as well as with the adults. The children passed the telephone to each other and if that were not excitement enough, they performed “El Mayor” [by Cuban songwriter Silvio Rodríguez] for René, accompanied by a guitar played by one of the troupe members.

Today the children spent their free time as tourists in Washington, visiting museums, playing, enjoying themselves. On Monday they will visit a school and on Wednesday they will perform at the Duke Ellington school, in Washington. The tour goes on…

La Colmenita, performing "Abracadabra" at American University, Washington DC. Photo: Bill Hackwell

La Colmenita, performing "Abracadabra" at American University, Washington DC. Photo: Bill Hackwell

Federico. La Colmenita, performing "Abracadabra" at American University, Washington DC. Photo: Bill Hackwell

Federico. La Colmenita, performing "Abracadabra" at American University, Washington DC. Photo: Bill Hackwell

Carlos Alberto Cremata. La Colmenita, performing "Abracadabra" at American University, Washington DC. Photo: Bill Hackwell

Carolina. La Colmenita, performing "Abracadabra" at American University, Washington DC. Photo: Bill Hackwell

La Colmenita, performing "Abracadabra" at American University, Washington DC. Photo: Bill Hackwell

La Colmenita, performing "Abracadabra" at American University, Washington DC. Photo: Bill Hackwell

La Colmenita, performing "Abracadabra" at American University, Washington DC. Photo: Bill Hackwell

La Colmenita, performing "Abracadabra" at American University, Washington DC. Photo: Bill Hackwell

Singing "El Mayor" to Rene. Photo: Bill Hackwell

Thanks to the photos taken by Bill Hackwell and the commentary sent to Cubadebate by Alicia Jrapko, U.S. coordinator for the International Committee to Free the Cuban Five, incarcerated in the United States, we’ve been able to reconstruct the group’s first day in the U.S. capital. Laura Richardson invited the cihldren to accompany her to her seat for the moment when she cast her vote in favor of a bill to protect the environment.

The members of La Colmenita unexpectedly found themselves in a hallway with Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Chair of the House Foreign Relations Committee and one of Cuba’s most furious enemies.  She was being photgraphed, laughing and talking very loudly, until the moment in which she bumped into the children who were dressed in white t-shirts decorated with little bees playing music.  Instantly her face froze, bitter with hatred.

Carlos Alberto Cremata, the theatre company’s director, along with a number of the company’s members, spoke by telephone with Gerardo Hernández, one of the Cuban Five imprisoned in the United States.  The troupe also sang and performed at the Cuban Interests Section for the members of the diplomatic corps and their families.

In  Washington they will perform at American University, the Duke Ellington School of the Arts, and then will travel to New York where a performance is planned for October 21 at the Hostos Center for the Arts and Culture, and October 22 at the Harriet Tubman Learning Center in Harlem.  The last stop on the tour will be in San Francisco.

La Colmenita was founded in February of 1990 in Cuba and now has 21 “colmenitas” in different parts of the country, consisting of groups of between 40 and 80 children of all ages who act, dance or engage in visual arts or music after the school day is over.

Some 14,000 children are part of the project in Cuba, while other groups have formed in Spain, Colombia, Venezuela and the Dominican Republic, among other countries.

Designated a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador in 2007, the Cuban theatre company will give a private performance at U.N. Headquarters on October 24th, just a few hours before the international group casts its annual vote condemning the blockade imposed by the United States against Cuba for more than 50 years.

La Colmenita at the U.S. Congress. Photo: Bill Hackwell

With Representative Barbara Lee. Photo: Bill Hackwell

With Representative Laura Richardson. Photo: Bill Hackwell

The children re-enact their phone conversation with Gerardo, something that actually happened and was extraordinarily moving for them. Photo: Bill Hackwell

At the Cuban Interests Section in Washington. Children of the Cuban diplomats together with those of La Colmenita. Photo: Bill Hackwell

Carlos Alberto Cremata, La Colmenita Director, at the Cuban Interests Section in Washington. Photo: Bill Hackwell

At the Cuban Interests Section in Washington. Photo: Bill Hackwell

The children made even the chairs dance. Photo: Bill Hackwell

Photo: Bill Hackwell

Photo: Bill Hackwell