07/20/15 07/20/15 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from pacifica, this is democracy now!, broadcasting from outside the newly opened cuban embassy in washington, d.c. >> more than 54 years ago at the height of the cold war, the united states closed its embassy in havana. today, i can announce the united states has agreed to formally reestablish diplomatic relations with the republic of cuba and reopened embassies and our respective countries. amy: it's a historic day in

washington and havana as the united states and cuba officially restore diplomatic relations and reopen their embassies. as we broadcast from outside the cuban embassy in washington, we will speak with cuban attorney jose pertierra, the actor and activist danny glover, and the journalist and historian peter kornbluh. along with medea benjamin. >> this is a historic moment in an extraordinary change of events in the whole history of u.s. foreign-policy. amy: all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. at least eight afghan soldiers have died in a so-called

friendly fire incident after two u.s. helicopters attacked a checkpoint in broad daylight earlier today. general abdul raziq, a senior afghan national army commander said -- "it seems the attack was carried out mistakenly on army forces, and an investigation is ongoing to find its reason." while the united states has claimed to have ended its combat mission in afghanistan, the military carried out 106 air strikes last month, more than double the number carried out in may. greek banks have reopened for the first time in three weeks, just days after the greek parliament approved harsh austerity measures in exchange for a new bailout. the greek stock market remains closed. meanwhile, greece's prime minister alexis tsipras has replaced nearly a dozen cabinet members and syriza party officials who voted against last week's bailout deal. on friday, tsipras ousted the energy minister, labor minister

, and former government spokesperson, as well as at least eight additional ministers or deputy ministers. u.s.-cuban diplomatic relations have officially been restored after five decades. in a historic gesture, the cuban flag was raised at the state department earlier today. events are being held this morning to mark the opening of the cuban embassy in washington and the u.s. embassy in havana. we will have more on this story after headlines. as we broadcast from outside the cuban embassy here in the nation's capital. the death toll from last week's mass shooting at military sites in chattanooga, tennessee, has risen to five. the victims include four marines and one sailor. on friday night, more than 1000 people attended a memorial service. the fbi is continuing to investigate the possible motive of the suspected gunman, muhammad youssef abdulazeez, who died in a firefight following the mass shooting. abc news is reporting that fbi interviews with his parents and

a diary belonging to abdulazeez paint a picture of a disturbed suicidal young man who used drugs and was preparing for bankruptcy. in yemen, dozens of people have been killed in the ongoing battle over control of the southern city of aden. on sunday, houthi fighters fired rockets into one of the city's residential neighborhoods, killing at least 43 people. sunday's assault came two days after the saudi-backed forces loyal to the exiled government declared they had taken control of aden. meanwhile, another 24 people were killed in saudi-led airstrikes in the ibb district of yemen over the weekend. twelve of the bombings' victims were members of the same family. in eastern iraq, the self-proclaimed islamic state has claimed responsibility for a marketplace bombing that killed 100 people, with dozens more missing or wounded. the attack was carried out on friday in the shiite town of

dust north of baghdad. it struck as the market was filled with people shopping for the celebration of eid-al-fitr a major muslim holiday that marks the end of ramadan. in turkey, 27 have been killed and more than 100 more wounded in a bombing earlier today the turkish border town in what appears to be a targeted attack against youth activists. the bombing carried out in the garden of a cultural center were hundreds of activists were staying. the youth activists were living -- were hoping the rebuilding of the nearby syrian town which had been the site of intense fighting between the supper claimed islamic state and kurdish forces. in campaign news, republican presidential candidate donald trump has come under intense criticism from within his own party after he spoke disparagingly about the war record of republican senator john mccain, who was held as a prisoner of war in vietnam for over five years. during an event in iowa on saturday, trump said he did not

view senator mccain as a war hero. >> is not a war hero. >> he is a war hero. he is a war hero because he was captured. i like people who weren't captured, i hate to say. >> do you agree with that? amy: trump has refused to apologize for his comment, like mccain trump did not serve in vietnam. he received four student to -- deferments. in campaign news, members of the black lives movement staged a protest inside the netroots nation conference in phoenix by repeatedly interrupting democratic presidential candidates senator bernie sanders and former maryland governor martin o'malley. members of the black lives movement interrupted o'malley's portion of the event and took to the stage. >> let's be clear every single day folks are dying.

not being able to take another breath. we're in a state of emergency. we are in a state of emergency. and if you don't feel that emergency, you're not human. amy: after the interruption, o'malley responded by saying "black lives matter. white lives matter. all lives matter." he later apologized for the comment. senator sanders threatened to leave the stage after protesters repeatedly interrupted his remarks. meanwhile, sanders continues to draw record crowds on the campaign trail. on saturday night, more than 11,000 people showed up for his -- attended his speech in phoenix, his largest ever. and by far the largest crowd in either the republican or democratic presidential campaign rallies. the family of sandra bland, who died in police custody in texas

last week, has ordered an independent autopsy to be conducted. bland died in a texas jail cell three days after being pulled over for a traffic violation as she drove to a job interview at her alma mater, the historically black college prairie view a&m university. county officials say bland committed suicide in jail, but family members and friends have questioned the cause of her death. video from the traffic stop show a police officer slammed her head into the ground. on saturday, hundreds of people gathered outside brooklyn's federal courthouse to mark the first anniversary of eric garner's death and to call for the arrest and prosecution of police officer daniel pantaleo, who placed eric garner in a fatal police chokehold one year ago. >> we stand together today by the hundreds saying we don't care how long it takes, we want

justice for eric garner. we can't breathe. and we need to breathe. amy: saturday's rally was the bush came after an hours long march through manhattan friday evening. meanwhile, new york city announced earlier last week it had settled with the garner family for $5.9 million. following the announcement, eric garner's mother, gwen carr, said -- "don't congratulate us. this is not a victory. the victory will come when we get justice. in news from south carolina, thousands of people flooded the state house as the new black panther party and the klu klux klan held two separate protests saturday. at least five people were arrested as heavily armed police officers surrounded the area and stood guard on nearby rooftops. members of the klu klux klan and the loyal white knights performed nazi salutes and carried flags bearing swastikas and what was reportedly the first kkk rally outside the

south carolina state house in over a quarter of a century. saturday's opposing protests came eight days after the confederate flag was removed from the state house grounds. in news from africa, the trial of the former dictator of chad has begun in senegal. hissene habre is a former u.s. alley who has been described as "africa's pinochet." he is accused of killing as many as 40,000 people during his eight years in power in the 1980's in chad. habre is being tried in a special court established after 20 year long campaign led by his victims. attorney reed brody of human rights watch, who has worked with victims of habré's regime since 1999, praised the start of the trial. >> this is a chance to show that an african port -- court can deliver justice for african victims for crimes committed in africa. and it is one thing to complain

about having abusive african presidents and leaders sent to the hague, it is another thing to show they can be prosecuted and get a fair trial here in africa. amy: newly unsealed legal testimony shows comedian bill cosby admitted in a lengthy 2005 deposition that he used his fame and money to lure young women. in the testimony, he also admitted to giving young women sedatives. when asked about nonverbal consent, cosby said, "i think i'm a pretty decent reader of people and their emotions in their romantic sexual things, whatever you want to call them." more than 40 women have alleged that cosby sexually assaulted them in incidents dating back decades. many say they were drugged by cosby and then raped. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now! democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we're broadcasting from washington, d.c., where history is being made today.

in a major diplomatic thaw, cuba will raise its flag here and officially reopen its u.s. embassy after 54 years. hundreds are gathering for this historic moment, including u.s. and cuban lawmakers and diplomats, activists and artists, scholars and historians. cuban foreign minister bruno rodríguez is leading a delegation of over two dozen officials from havana, including cuba's chief negotiator josefina vidal. also among the attendees is cuban singer-songwriter silvio rodriguez and former parliament president ricardo alarcon. this afternoon, rodríguez will hold a joint news conference with secretary of state john kerry at the state department where cuba's flag was raised earlier this morning, joining the flags of more than 150 other countries that have diplomatic relations with the u.s. in havana, the u.s. embassy will also reopen its doors today. kerry is set to travel there

later this summer for the formal inauguration ceremony where a u.s. flag will be hoisted. cubans have welcomed the diplomatic rapprochement with jubilation. this is professor alberto matos. >> for us, this is significant. it is important. i think it is decisive step toward normalizing relations. in other words, as cubans, we celebrate this and are waiting to see what can happen and what you continue from this point on which we're optimistic will be things that are feasible for the cuban people and the people of the united states. amy: the cuban embassy behind me was built in 1917, becoming the first diplomatic building in this neighborhood and helping to establish this area as a diplomatic center.

fidel castro visited the embassy in 1959 after he overthrew cuban dictator fulgencio batista. two years later, in 1961, the united states unilaterally broke off relations with cuba. the last time the united states and cuba had diplomatic ties president dwight eisenhower was in office. today's opening of embassies is just the first step in normalizing relationships between the two countries. on wednesday, cuban president raul castro applauded the diplomatic renewal, but called on president obama to use his executive powers to remove the ongoing u.s. trade and financial embargo. >> the revolutionary government has the willingness to advance normalizing relation, convinced the both countries can cooperate and coexist in a civilized manner, for mutual and if it beyond differences that we have and that we will have an

contribute to peace. we hope the u.s. president continues to use his executive powers that he can use as president without congressional interference to dismantle aspects of this policy. that has damaged and caused hardship to our people. amy: that was cuban president raul castro. so far, the republican majority in congress has rejected obama's calls to lift the u.s. embargo on cuba. obama's congressional opponents have also vowed to block any ambassadorial nominee to cuba, have denounced the decision to formally remove cuba from the u.s. list of state sponsors of terrorism. today, three cuban-american lawmakers -- florida republican representatives mario diaz-balart, carlos curbelo, and ileana ros-lehtinen -- are holding a news conference in miami. ros-lehtinen told the wall street journal -- "allowing the opening of the cuban embassy in washington is

nothing but another indefensible capitulation by the obama administration to an avowed enemy of the u.s." meanwhile, white house spokesman josh earnest has dismissed such opponents as a vocal minority with entrenched partisan interests. speaking on friday, earnest said u.s. restoration of relations with cuba has strong support in congress. >> there is bipartisan support for advancing the policies the president announced to normalize our relations with cuba, that there have been some entrenched partisan interests that have try to block this in congress so far . fortunately, there are a number of steps the president can take using his executive authority to begin to make these changes. the president isn't in cementing these changes because he believes it is in a broader strategic interest of the united states. >> for more, we're joined by jose pertierra. he is a cuban attorney based in washington, d.c., who represented elian gonzalez in

2000-2001 -- he also represented the venezuelan government in its efforts to extradite luís posada carilles. and we're joined by peter kornbluh, who directs the cuba documentation project at the national security archive at george washington university. he is the co-author of the book "back channel to cuba: the , hidden history of negotiations between washington and havana." an updated version of the book that tells the secret story of how obama used back channel diplomacy to normalize diplomatic relations will be published in september. it looks at the role of the pope the back channel negotiations. jose pertierra and peter kornbluh welcome to democracy now! so wonderful to have you with us on this truly historic day. people are watching and listening, here all of the traffic. we're right across the street from the cuban embassy, which will soon hoist the cuban flag for the first time in washington d.c. on the cuban embassy grounds and 54 years. jose pertierra, you are

cuban-american. talk about the significance of this. >> it is his dork. i have waited for this moment all my life. in 1961, i was 10 years old. i remember as if it was yesterday when diplomatic relations were broken. there were times when i thought i would never live to see the day. now you mentioned flags. it is interesting, there is a new cuban flag. inside the embassy, they're going to hoist the flag that the cuban government took back to cuba when on january third 1961, dwight eisenhower broke relations. that flag was folded, taken back to cuba and put in a museum. and it has been brought back and it will be flying inside the embassy today. amy: whited president eisenhower desert dust cut off relations? >> the united states has has a

problem. the united states feels it owns a large part of latin america and it was very hard for the united states to stomach a revolution that said cuba is an independent and sovereign country, and set an example for the rest of latin america. there were a lot of reasons, but that really was at the time the recent and has been the reason why diplomatic relations have not been restored until president obama did so. amy:, can you weigh in on that? >> i just want to say thank you for having us here on this momentous day. there are a lot of people who never thought they would live to see the day come and so many people have worked for this day to arrive and here it is right now. the more sinister reason that eisenhower broke relations was because the united states was preparing to invade cuba, the bay of pigs. fidel castro had his intelligence agents in central

america reporting on his preparations and decided he wasn't going to let the u.s. the be a nest of spies, as he put it, and he was going to tell the u.s. they had to remove i think 70% of the embassy personnel cut the embassy way down, so would not be a center of this espionage and preparations for the attack. eisenhower seized the opportunity of fidel expel in all of these people who were in fact working to overthrow the cuban government. he seized that opportunity as a public relations kind of hook to say, well, we can't take this insult, we're just going to break relations with cuba. rings have changed in the 54 years since. and now the real work against, i think, to action normalize overall relations beyond just diplomatic relations. amy: let's be clear, the embargo has not been lifted and that would have to go through congress. is that right? is there any other way? >> the president has a great deal of authority to further relax the restrictions of the

embargo. but you're right, amy, the embargo was codified by president clinton in a move that seems unfathomable that a president would make, that strips not only his powers, but the power of future presidents to, by executive order, lift restrictions against cuba. it codified it and it is sitting in congress. it is very difficult to do it when you have a republican majority congress, especially republican party that has gone off the cliff the last two years. >> i think president obama is trying to use his executive power to poke holes in this dam that is the u.s. embargo. and the holes are going to grow bigger and bigger as an economic waters and cultural social waters of the u.s. interests -- you know, the people's interests, musicians -- amy: rodriguez is officially part of the delegation -- >> and economic interests.

there are quite a few corporations and hotel industries, the shipping industry, the carnival cruise industry that would like to get into cuba. as they rush through the holes in the dam that obama has created, the dam that is the embargo i think we'll a road and eventually collapse and republicans will say, yeah doesn't make sense to restrict trade with cuba. >> the business of america is business. amy: the u.s. chamber of commerce has been pushing. >> look at the evidence. secretary under bush has come out in favor of lifting the blockade. it is a tidal wave. >> because -- of course, business has no politics in the end. it is there to make money will step people see opportunities in cuba. the point is, we can make great strides toward better relations and normal relations with cuba, even with the embargo in place. yet to be patient about that. there a lot of serious issues that cuba and the united states will be discussing from this day

onward compensation for property, the whole issue of guantánamo, the usaid programs that are focused on promoting democracy in cuba that are great insult to cuba's sovereignty. these are things that going for double still be under discussion. but they will be under discussion under a different framework of relations, a framework of normal, nonhostile civil ties. amy: we're going to go to break. we will continue with jose pertierra and learn about his story, how he came to the united states with his family from cuba. representing elian gonzalez and also representing the venezuelan government in efforts to extradite luis posada carilles who still lives today in florida. and peter kornbluh also joining us the head of the cuba documentation project at the national security archive co-author of the book, "back channel to cuba." denidanny glover and also medea

benjamin will join us. inside the embassy, 700 people will gather as the flag is wasted for the first time, the cuban flag, on the cuban embassy property and 54 years. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: silvio rodriguez part of

the official cuban delegation today led by bruno rodriguez the cuban foreign minister, who will be here at the embassy honoring the opening of the cuban embassy and the hoisting of the cuban flag in washington, d c our guests now, coming up, medea benjamin and actor danny glover, long and activist on the issue of cuba, and jose pertierra cuban attorney that represented elian gonzalez and the venezuelan government in its efforts to extradite luís posada carilles. peter kornbluh directs the cuba documentation project at the national security archive. if you would talk about how you can to this country. amy: amy, my mother fled cuba with my father when she was fleeing from her mother-in-law. she hated her mother-in-law. she convinced my father to leave cuba. we arrived in miami us a mini

cuban stew. at the time, there is a program in miami run by the united states government for cuban refugees. they would fly cuban families to live anywhere in the united states. they gave them a one-way ticket as long as they promised not to live in miami. i guess they were worried even in 1961 about what would happen to miami of cuban americans stay there. we went to california, los angeles. i grew up with the philosophy of cesar chavez. amy: and for those who don't know or remember -- >> the leader of the cuban american national foundation very right-wing extremist guy who is a friend of reagan and bush and so forth. i think my mother's move to california saved my life otherwise i would have grown up in miami. amy: you have two cigars. you're holding one -- >> i'm holding one -- >> this one. amy: in the significance of these cigars?

are they legal? >> yes, you can bring $100 worth of cigars into the united states from cuba, but you can't bring them in from a third country. you have to bring them in directly. >> more and more americans are traveling to cuba now because of obama has said that she is lifted some of the restrictions on cap travel, but there's still an overall law against free travel to cuba. that is one thing that absolutely has to change. if u.s. citizens are going to be able to exercise their constitutional freedoms to go wherever they want -- cuba is really the only country we are restricted from vacationing in. more and more citizens are going and buying cigars and buying rum. amy: and there are direct flights. the new explain. >> jetblue is starting direct flights. this is going to be -- hannibal cruise is going to start going to cuba by taking people to people groups instead of the occasion her's.

we're seeing a ferry service. there used to be historic for service between key west and miami and cuba and now it is starting up again. you are seeing such -- and so fast the way it is changing, the way these two countries are becoming connected again and it is really, really something. amy: jose pertierra you flop in this, but you're also raising some warning flags. >> i am cautiously optimistic amy. i'm optimistic about the future. i think president obama's move the summer 17 and today is irreversible, no matter who gets elected president. however, things can go wrong and the united states needs to have a president who exercise his presidential authority to get rid of a number of programs that are damaging the u.s.-cuba relations, for example, the regime change program that to the tune of more than $30

million a year seeks to change the government of cuba. there are also things -- amy: this is millions of dollars the u.s. government puts in to change the government. >> congress mandate gets spent on cuba under the holmes burton law. >> what they do is they pay dissidents in cuba and miami -- it is an industry. people make money live comfortably as a result of it. the united states needs to get rid of those programs and move forward and respect the sovereignty of cuba. cuba to stop along to the united states. maybe mississippi does, but not -- amy: jose pertierra, canoe explain who carilles is? >> luis posada carilles is the osama bin laden of latin america. he is responsible for a campaign of terror against cuba dating all the way back to the late

1960's, early 1970's, up until recently. he directed a campaign of bombs that resulted in injuries and deaths. amy: i was in cuba at the coca been a hotel after the italian tourist was killed in one of those bombings. his father would not leave the area of the lobby where his son died. >> he moved to cuba. he told me, i moved to cuba because if i live anywhere else i feel that fabio died. it cuba, i feel his spirit. luis posada carilles was also responsible for downing an airliner. amy: in 1976. >> including a nine year old girl was killed. and a fencing team with medals on their chest at the pan american games. amy: in venezuela. >> your flying back to cuba singing and the bombs went off.

the united states continues to protect this man in miami. him and many others, cuban exile terrorists who live in miami. that is something that is a problem in u.s. cuba relations, as if -- amy: guantanamo. >> likely there will be a small protest in miami by anti-castro cubans. but luis posada carilles may show up and the u.s. has been harboring an international terrorist that even the cia, fbi documents show was behind the explosion on this plane. amy: you look at other moments in u.s. history, water great break and come desk water gate break in. explain the chilean diplomat and his assistant -- >> killed by agents of the pinochet government working with these castro does anti-castro

terrorists. >> [inaudible] amy: and that was done on embassy road. >> there's a whole history, bellamy say, i really want to say, this history is going to be part of the past -- let me say really want to say, this history is going to be part of the past. as long as luis posada carilles is in this country without being extradited or prosecution, that history lives on. u.s. and cuba are poised today to move forward, to keep working on these issues of the past that include luis posada carilles and the embargo member to move ford in a much different way. the fact these flags are flying they're flying in a different wind, aren't they? the wind of change has called the u.s. cuban relations. you can't forget that. amy: your own car was bombed, is that right? when was the blown up? explain what happened. >> i was representing an

american, who is been on this program, and her husband was disappeared and tortured in guatemala. the guatemalan military put a bomb in my car in the driveway about three or four miles from there and it blew up. i don't think they meant to kill me, because it was at 3:00 or 4:00 in the morning when it exploded but meant to scare me off the case. i remained on the case. the inter-american court in san jose of the oas, found the government of guatemala comparable for the disappearance, torture of the meant and ordered compensation be paid to his widow jennifer. amy: explain today as this flag goes up, what is happening in havana? originally, i thought, the

flights were going to go up around the same time on the same day, july 20, when he 15. now the u.s. embassy is going to open their him as is this embassy here today. but the flag won't be hoisted today. >> they're waiting until john kerry can get off his crutches from having broken his leg, can get beyond the negotiations on iran, and push those forward and find a day in august to go to cuba and be there for that ceremony. you will become the highest-ranking u.s. official to travel to cuba since the cuban revolution in 1959, another major step, another major publicity attraction, another indication of a much more normal relationship with cuba, and that is due to happen sometime in august and i think start to create a momentum after john kerry, the pope will go to cuba in september. >> i think obama will go -- >> i wonder predict that one

thing that kerry will be doing is advanced work for president obama to go to cuba, which will be his nixon in china moment and i think consolidate these changes. >> that will seal the deal. if he goes to cuba, it will be completely irreversible. amy: jose pertierra, you mentioned guantanamo. it is not closing. >> it's not closing. amy: over 100 men are still being held there. >> people talk about violation of human rights and due process in cuba. we are holding prisoners for years without trial, tortured them, and president obama took the office with the promise he would close guantanamo as a prison, and he has not. i think he will before his term is over, but it is in six years and six years of prison for

people without trial, six years of torture. i think he needs to do something, but beyond that beyond closing the prison, the united states needs to return that territory to cuba. that a sovereign cuban territory . the united states has no business there. if they want a base somewhere, they can put it in mississippi alabama, but not cuba. cuba belongs to cuba, not washington. >> it is one of those difficult political issues for the president, last on the list and has been last on the list for all the years of discussions about how to normalize relations with cuba in terms of the ultimate priority. it is because of the difficulty in negotiating the return of guantánamo. eventually, that will happen. guantanamo will become the panama canal of cuba. it will be returned. under the last vestige of visit vestige of u.s. and peerless him in the region and cuba will be over. -- imperialism in the region and

cuba will be over. amy: there is a flag pole that was just erected a few months ago in front of the cuban embassy. >> very shiny with a gold ball on top. it is ready. and just an hour or so, there's going to be a cuban flag waving in the wind. amy: i want to thank you both for being with us on this historic day. 54 years ago the cuban embassy was closed. 54 years ago the flag was pulled down. today, it will be wasted once again. july 20, 2015. peter kornbluh, they give for being with us, director of the cuba documentation project at the national security archive, at george washington university. co-author of the book, "back channel to cuba: the hidden history of negotiations between washington and havana." and thank you to jose pertierra cuban attorney who represented elian gonzalez in 2000-2001, and also represented the venezuelan government in its efforts to extradite luís posada carilles. when we come back, danny glover,

who is long fought for normalization of relations with cuba, and longtime activist, founder of codepink, medea benjamin. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: silvio rodriguez, the great cuban musician will be part of the official cuban delegation today but by cuban foreign minister bruno rodriguez, who will be here in washington, d.c. , at the cuban embassy as the flag is raised. the cuban flag will be raised here today for the first time in 54 years. we are here in the area of the diplomatic missions of many countries. the cuban embassy, behind me, we're broadcasting just across the street became the first diplomatic building in this

neighborhood. fidel castro visited the embassy in 1959 after he overthrew cuban dictator batista. he was the toast of the town invited to receptions all over. two years later in 1961, the united states under president dwight eisenhower unilaterally broke off relations with cuba. the last time the u.s. and cuba had diplomatic ties. today, the opening of the embassy here in washington as well as the of is in havana -- as well as in havana, shows the first steps in normalizing relations between the two countries. we have two people who fought for a very long time to see this day, the cuban flag wasted in washington, d.c. earlier today, it was hoisted at the state department so it would be part of the more than 150 flags of countries that the u.s. has diplomatic relations with. medea benjamin is with us,

longtime political activist, cofounder of code pink. and then a glover, -- danny glover, well-known actor, film director, and political activist. danny, let's begin with you. your thoughts on this? day? you are about to make your way in the cuban embassy. >> it is an important day for the cuban revolution, important day for the cuban people and an important day for the american people and for the world as well. the u.s. has now found itself within the protocols of nations intersecting the cuban government and the human people. and recognizing the have differences, but at the same time, there are mutual things they can talk about as well. so it is important day. but just the beginning.

because the embargo still in place. amy: and you think the embargo anytime soon will be lifted? you have everyone from the u.s. chamber of commerce to republican governors who have been going to cuba as well as ceo after ceo, a lot of political pressure, a lot of capitalist pressure to open cuba. >> well, i think the pressure and certainly the process has started, and i see a number of other things. there's still the question of guantanamo on the table as well. there many things on the table and i think we are the beginning of a process right now. amy: your thoughts, medea benjamin? how many times of you been to cuba? >> i lived in cuba from 1979 to 1983 and i've been back to cuba many, many times. the last time was in may. amy: leaving major delegations. >> we took 150 people honor last

delegation. we are encouraging people to go. you talk about what the future may bring, i think that depends a lot on how much we push, if we encourage people to go. it is still illegal to lie on a beach in cuba. amy: what do you mean? >> it is illegal to go as a tourist. you have to squeeze yourself into one of the 12 categories, which is quite easy now educational -- anyone can say i'm going for educational purposes. but it is ridiculous we still have to do that. so the more people who go, the more this will be reversible the more congress will feel the pressure. there are hundreds of thousands of americans who are going to cuba. the numbers have increased by 50% since the announcement was made. i think it is now part of people's political duty as progressives to go to cuba and just keep the opening -- make a grow bigger and bigger.

amy: there have been 2000 open in havana? >> that is fantastic to be able to go in cuba and stay in a cuban home is wonderful. you know, danny, it is wonderful to go to cuba anyway, but to understand now that this opening is still not normalized. we encourage people to go and we encourage [inaudible] we're buying shirts in cuba. this is encouraging an alternative economy in cuba between the state economy and the president. >> and changes in cuba have been happening over the last two years as well. and certainly she mentioned the fact the alternative cooperatives, at this stage -- not simply in creating a

realizing some sort of form of capitalism, the cooperatives as a reinforcement of socialism as well. amy: i want to ask about assata shakur. the new u.s. cuban relations could impact assata shakur the legendary figure within the black panther party and the black liberation army, who now lives in cuba where she has political asylum. assata shakur was convicted in 1973, killing of a new jersey may 2, state trooper during a shootout that left one of her fellow activists dead. she was shot twice by police during the incident. in 1979, she managed to escape from jail, and she later fled to cuba. she has long proclaimed her innocence. in 1998, democracy now! aired her reading an open letter to pope john paul ii during his trip to cuba. this is an excerpt. >> 1977, was convicted in a trial that can only be described

as illegal inching does legal lynching. in 1979, was able to escape with the aid of some of my fellow comrades. i saw this as a necessary step not only because i was innocent of the charges against me, but because i knew that the racist legal system in the united states, i would receive no justice. i was also afraid i would be murdered in prison. i later arrived in cuba right am currently living in exile as a political refugee. amy: that was assata shakur speaking in 1998, in an open letter to the previous pope, interestingly enough, the pope also will be going to cuba, and serve as a crucial intermediary in the thawing of relations between the united states and cuba. our guest our media benjamin and danny glover. two people who have long fought

from their various purchase from the activism of codepink to danny glover's world renown actor, director, activist. danny, what will happen with assata shakur? there is a multimillion dollar bounty on her head. she has had political asylum in cuba for decades. are you concerned about what will happen? >> from the standpoint of the cuban government, they have made it very clear that there is -- the discussion about her is not on the table. they make a very clear. i don't know what the united states will determine -- what they will do in terms of what happens to her in the situation. i'm not aware of anything that is happening in terms of the

discussions. that would be taking a leave to say anything about that. -- leap to say anything about that. i think it is important we are careful of what we say about her as well, this particular point in time, because she is still in a dangerous situation, even though the cuban government has taken every step to protect her livelihood, protect her. but it is still a very dangerous situation. so i'm not so sure what the dynamics are about that and what discussions, if any, will happen about that. amy: medea benjamin? >> every time we meet with high-level negotiations, we bring up that question. thousands of the same way, it is on the table, we feel we have a total right to give political asylum to people in cuba.

and that we have gotten on the united states without that being on the table and we're going to stick to that. amy: medea benjamin, this issue of high-level politicians in the united states, not to mention ceos, you have a lot to do with what these delegations are doing in cuba. amy: you mean -- amy: corporate had to like to do business in cuba, would like the embargo to be lifted. >> the ceo of google has been there, the head of tom donahue, very right-wing guy, the head of [inaudible] as been here. one of the staff is a lobbyist. i met the ceo of cargill and

talk to him and he said not only are they interested in selling their gmo, must take our products, but interested in buying organic products in cuba. -- i must say but interested in buying organic products in cuba. cuba is that over 50 years to be worried about this. they've also had time to deal with ceos from other countries. i think we should trust they're going to make the decisions that they feel are best for them and i think we can do things like support the co-ops, support the very small businesses, do things that kind of shape the economy that our friends in cuba like to see. but it is up to the cubans. >> i think medea is right when she says the cubans have been dealing with other countries in the world another ceos of the world, other major corporations of the world. and guidelines -- [inaudible]

in reference to the relationship they want to have. and that is important. they have been very steadfast in that coming developing that. amy: what about health care? what can the united states learned from cuban health care? the system, the doctors. [laughter] >>. >> everything everything. poor, poor country is able to have family doctors that you can go down the street and where the doctor will come to your house at a fraction of the cost that we pay for health care. and the cuban develop this high-tech bio industries that is producing things that would be so positive here in the united states to stop the amputations forelimbs of people who have diabetes, to helping cancer treatments. there's so much to learn on the preventive and as well as the high finance. amy: the world health organization recently declared cuba the first country in the world to eliminate the

transmission of hiv and syphilis from other the child. >> and they say that is because of the preventive care. amy: just this weekend, there was a klan rally in columbia, south carolina, protesting the taking down of the confederate battle flag. it is interesting in this country as the confederate battle flag goes down, the cuban flag goes up in washington d.c., right here. danny glover, if you can talk about the black lives matter movement here and can you relate it to anything that you see going on in cuba right now? >> the black lives movement along with the dream defenders and so many other groups -- i think there's a process also that is happening in their own politicalization. what they're beginning to do is a relationship with other

movements around the world. international as well as the perspective from inside right here. and i think we are -- there's a conference this week -- next week, this week, in cleveland, i believe, of like lives matter. it is really encouraging to see how they're able to refrain -- refrain their movement relationship [inaudible] i believe a begins the radicalization necessary for young people and i think they're opening up another space. how that connects with supporting groups in south africa and other groups, groups that i'm sure they would want to connect with within cuba, groups would want to connect within and

as well as the of young people who have used their platform as a way of transformation and changing society as well. amy: and the consciousness of black cubans, the whole afro-cuban population there something that you have long been interested in. >> we have been talking -- we think it is important and let me note, this is the decade that the yuan has designated -- venezuela is going to have a major assembly, a conference in 2013 -- excuse me, 2016. and i think that -- and cuba is going to play a major role in that. and this is a conversation in the possibility to have another discussion about afro descendents in cuba. the cuban revolution has done very things to change the lives of african descendents, but

there is still more to be done. they often go to white cubans, not black cubans. i think there is more to be done. it opens this space for us, for progressive -- young progressives to now begin to have a relationship and connect with young cubans as well. amy: in this last minute that we have, medea benjamin, you're holding a party outside the embassy? >> yes, a party all day long, dancing and music for people were in the d.c. area, so come on down. amy, i also want to say we're taking groups to guantánamo in november. and people who are concerned about the issue of the guantánamo base can join us and go -- we're leaving from miami but going to guantánamo and will be part of a cuban seminar for a military base. it is a great thing for people to do. amy: and your assessment danny glover, finally, president obama

in this last second that we have? and the path he is taking now? >> i think, certainly, we have to commend him on what he has done and they're still more that he could do while he is still in office he or and, certainly, i am very proud of what he is done. that i'm also just we also have to acknowledge that the nations in the region -- if we're going to have anything to do at any meeting unless the cubans of their the meeting. amy: i want to thank you for being here danny glover and medea benjamin. that doesn't for our show. today, an historic day in washington, d.c. we are right here in front of the cuban embassy. today the cuban flag will go up for the first time in 54 years. a special thanks to amy littlefield, dennis monahan julie crosby. democracy now! is looking for feedback from people who

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