An Afternoon of Chess, Art, Prizes & Fun Celebrating Che Guevara's 95th Birthday!
Saturday, June 10
1:00 - 3:00pm
Grandview Park
1255 Commercial Drive, Vancouver
Across Cuba today, chess is a popular activity in public squares, clubs, schools and competitive tournaments. This is one of the many legacies we can attribute to revolutionary leader Che Guevara! From Che Guevara’s youth as a competitive player in Argentina, to his work to promote and organize chess across Cuba in the years following the Cuban Revolution, chess was an activity that Che valued and enjoyed. In honor of Che’s birthday, the Che Guevara Studies Center in Cuba is holding chess tournaments in Cuba, and calling upon Cuba supporters and solidarity groups globally to join in playing chess to commemorate Che!
Today Cuba is facing over 6 decades of a brutal U.S. travel and trade blockade, made even more difficult with U.S. President Biden’s refusal to remove Cuba from the U.S. State Department’s List of State Sponsors of Terrorism. Historically chess has also faced the malicious maneuverings of the U.S. blockade against Cuba. During Cuba’s 1965 International Chess Tournament, the U.S. State Department denied U.S. Chess Grandmaster Bobby Fischer a visa to travel to Cuba, but he still joined the tournament by transmitting his chess moves by telex (electronic messages) from New York! In 1988, Cuban Grandmaster Guillermo Garcia Gonzales took second place in the New York Open Chess Tournament, but the U.S. Treasury Department used the “Trading with the Enemy Act” to confiscate his $10,000 prize. The U.S. blockade impacts essential trade including food, medicine and fuel, and tries to keep U.S. citizens and institutions from advancing friendly relations with Cuba. The U.S. government’s 60 year immoral and criminal blockade is up against Cuba’s commitment to advancing their revolution, and spreading humanity through international solidarity.
Join Vancouver Communities in Solidarity with Cuba (VCSC) for an afternoon of friendly chess matches, art, prizes and fun celebrating Che Guevara’s 95th birthday! Don't forget to bring your chess set if you have one!
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We acknowledge that this event will take place on the unceded and traditional territories of the x?m??k??y??m (Musqueam), S?wx?wú7mesh (Squamish), and s?lilw?ta? (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. As we defend Cuba's right to self-determination, we also stand with Indigenous nations and defend their right to self-determination.
Organized by: Vancouver Communities in Solidarity with Cuba (VCSC)
Endorsed by: Friends of Cuba Against the US Blockade - Vancouver
778-882-5223 |
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