MANCHESTER CUBA SOLIDARITY CAMPAIGN
Councillor Neil Swannick 
welcomes Felipe to Manchester.
A chance to say thanks.
When Cuba lost 80 per cent of its overseas trade after the collapse of the soviet bloc at the beginning of the 90s, material aid became vital.  The National Union of Mineworkers, like many other solidarity groups and unions shipped a great deal of aid to Cuban miners, their families and their communities.  Stan Dalby (above left with Felipe) started annual shipments of aid to the oil workers in Matanzas province.  This was the first chance he and Felipe had to meet in person, and for Felipe to say thanks to the Bury Cuba Relief group.  Felipe also visited the NUM national office in Barnsley, and was able to meet up with his friend Frank Cave, ( above Right) who has been responsible for much of the solidarity and friendship between the unions in Britain and Cuba.  Note:  Sadly, Frank died after a long strugle against illness at the beginning of January 2002:  obituary. 
Ten years on and the Cuban economy has greatly recovered, but the blockade still means shortages of many things.  The priority now is for hard currency, which enables the union to develop a variety of community based projects, currently the construction of a combined union office, social centre and family doctor consulting room, serving the local neighbourhood.  However, as Felipe points out, the most important aid for the Cuban people is to know that they have friends and people in solidarity with them overseas.

More pictures of Felipe's visit. 

More about the link with Matanzas

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Obituary:  Frank Cave.  From the Morning Star, Wed. 9 Jan 2002
National Union of Mineworkers' vice-president Frank Cave has died after a
long battle with illness, the union announced on Tuesday. Mr Cave, 59, was
respected in the labour movement for his tireless work as a trade unionist
and his unswerving commitment to socialism. He began work at the
Brodsworth colliery in Yorkshire in 1957 and was elected as a full-time
NUM area agent in 1982. He played a leading role in the unofficial strikes
in 1969 and 1970, which won an eight-hour day for surface workers, and is
credited with paving the way for the successful national disputes of 1972
and 1974. From 1989, he served on the NUM national executive committee and
was elected NUM vice-president in 1991. Mr Cave served as the
International Energy and Mineworkers Organisations political and policy
committee chairman and was an active member of Cuba Solidarity Campaign
and CND. In 1995, Mr Cave resigned from the Labour Party to found the
Socialist Labour Party, in which he served as vice-president and later
president. NUM president Arthur Scargill said: "The miners have lost a
true champion, the Socialist Labour Party has lost its president and I
have lost a close personal friend." Mr Cave was responsible for the
collection and dispatch of thousands of pounds worth of aid and equipment
to Cuba, through the Bury Cuba Relief Fund. Mr Scargill said that Mr Cave
had been "an internationalist and his efforts on behalf of the people of
Cuba, in particular, were recognised throughout the world." Mr Cave leaves
wife Beryl and daughter Louise.
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