Minneapolis, United States.- The annual conference of the National Network of Solidarity with Cuba (NNOC) will open on Friday with the participation of members of US organizations seeking the normalization of the bilateral relations and the end to the blockade. Organized by the NNOC and the Minnesota-Cuba Committee, the three-day event will take place at the University of Augsburg, in Minneapolis, the city that is hosting the meeting for the first time and whose previous edition took place a year ago in Seattle, Washington.

People from these two cities and others like Boston, Massachusetts; Chicago, Illinois; Detroit, Michigan; New York, in the homonymous state; and San Jose, San Rafael, Oakland and Richmond, in California, will take part in this new meeting of solidarity with Cuba.

On Friday night, representatives of the University of Augsburg, the NNOC and the state committee will welcome participants at a reception at the Hagfors Center of the higher education institution.

Debates will be held over the weekend at the Center, in the University of Augsburg, where participants will discuss the preparation for upcoming projects and events in support of the Cuban cause.

The meeting, which will have Miguel Fraga, the first secretary of the Cuban Embassy in the United States, as a special guest and keynote speaker, will also discuss the Venceremos Brigade, an initiative to support the Caribbean island that will celebrate its 50th anniversary next year.

A forum dedicated to the actions against the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed on Cuba by the United States for more than 55 years, and against which the entire international community will speak out again on October 31 at the United Nations General Assembly, will also be on the meeting’s agenda.

Panels will discuss other issues related to the ties between the two nations and on race.

Meanwhile, when Cuba celebrates the National Culture Day on October 20, the event ‘One night of Music and Dance in Solidarity with Cuba’ will take place, during which participants, including students from the higher education center, will take salsa classes and will enjoy a concert by the band Charanga Tropical.

The NNOC is an umbrella organization that represents more than 50 groups throughout the United States that oppose the blockade and defend the normalization of relations. They also reject the prohibitions that prevent US citizens from traveling freely to Cuba, and recognize Cuba’s achievements.