Washington, United States.- Musicians and poets from Cuba, the United States and Canada will join on Friday in a virtual concert to demand an end to Washington’s economic, commercial and financial blockade against the Caribbean island.

The initiative is sponsored by the Organizing Committee for the International Conference for the Normalization of Relation between the United States and Cuba, an event that will take place virtually over the weekend, with the participation of speakers from the three countries. Tamara Hansen, an executive member of the Canadian Network on Cuba (CNC) and one of the spokespeople for the conference, noted that among the artists in Friday’s concert are Septeto Santiaguero, which has won two Grammy Awards, and Pablo Menendez and Mezcla.

Participants in Cuba will be the Moncada group, trump player and singer Alexander Abreu, rap singer Telmary and poetess Nancy Morejon.

Other performers will be poets Jack Hirschman (United States) and El Jones (Canada), jazz musician Jane Bunnett (Canada), the hip hop duo Rebel Diaz (United States), and pianist and composer Arturo O’Farrill (United States).

The two-hour concert will start in Washington at 20:00 hours, local time, as a prelude to the above-mentioned conference, which has been organized by the CNC, the National Network on Cuba (NNOC) and the Quebec-Cuba Solidarity Roundtable.

NNOC Co-president Cheryl LaBash told Prensa Latina that the event on relations between Cuba and the United States will open on Saturday morning and will be attended by Cuban Ambassadors Jose Ramon Cabañas (United States) and Josefina Vidal (Canada).

Other participants will be Canadian Lawmaker Nikki Ashton, Minnesota State Senator Sandra Pappas (US), and Erik Sperling, member of Alliance for Cuba Engagement and Respect (Acere).

According to LaBash, the conference will be broadcast on the NNOC webpage on Facebook and YouTube.