Two days after the celebration of the 485th anniversary of the founding of the City of Santiago de Cuba, and one day after the July 26th celebration of the gunshots that touched off the revolutionary war led by Fidel Castro against the Fulgencio Batista dictatorship in 1953, history was made again in this city of heroes and hospitality when the mayors of the cities of Oakland, California and Santiago formally signed a Sister Cities pact.

The formal proclamation read by Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown, states:

On this day, the 27th of July in the year 2000,

Dismayed by growing injustice, mindless armaments, assaults on nature and the flood of useful things which make people ever more useless, and

Certain of the beauty of hospitality and the good that comes from strangers receiving one another, and

Considering that Oakland has established Sister City relations with cities in the People´s Republic of China, Japan, Russia and Ghana and

Considering that Santiago de Cuba has established Sister City relations with cities in Argentina, Mexico, Spain and Italy, and

Whereas Oakland and Santiago de Cuba share many similarities including world renowned artists and musicians and a magnificent bay where mountains meet the ocean, and

Whereas the elected Council of Oakland passed a resolution on May 5, 1998, enccouraging people-to-people diplomacy with the citizens of Santiago de Cuba, and calling upon the United States Congress and President Clinton to end sanctions and move swiftly to normalize relations with Cuba,

Be it resolved that the Mayor of Oakland, California and the President of the Municipal Assembly of Santiago de Cuba declare that their respective cities will accept each other as Sister Cities in the following ways:

--Foster people-to-people exchanges involving teachers, scholars, scientists, musicians, painters, dancers, poets, philosophers, athletes and those interested in urban agriculture.

-- Take the necessary steps to hasten the day when our two countries will enjoy the full benefits that our close proximity calls for.

 Brown´s counterpart, Nicolas Carbonell Igarza, quoted Cuba´s national hero Jose Marti, referring to the new kind of politics the 19th century independence leaders were promoting, as "more sincere, stronger, and more invincible when it is the people who understand it and carry it out". Carbonell continued "the sister city agreement between the cities of Oakland, California and Santiago de Cuba has its roots in the friendship that unites people". He noted that the two cities share many common features, both geographic and cultural, and that this will facilitate all the exchanges called for in the agreement.

Although the relationship is supposed to be essentially cultural, not political, Carbonell noted that¨"Currently neoliberal globalization is growing stronger throughout the world. For us," he explained, "the most important issue is to globalize friendship, solidarity and humanism among the peoples of Our America and of the world, as well as to continue our fight against the economic blockade, the Cuban Adjustment Act, and other laws that affect the development and stability of our economy and people."

The Santiago leader expressed optimism for the future, saying that this friendship agreement would "open the doors to the full development of friendship between the peoples of Cuba and the United States."

He also thanked the US-Cuba Friendship Association, which has been promoting sister city relationships between the two countries despite hesitation and opposition by the American members of the International Sister Cities Association, presenting gifts to Lisa Valanti and Clare Weaver, national and regional leaders of the USCFA in recognition of their tireless work in bringing this about. The California group was also represented by a citizens'committee, generally considered the backbone of any real sister city relationship.

James Sweet, president of the Oakland-Santiago Association, told their Cuban hosts that the group was "overwhelmed by your warm and charming welcome" by the people in the he places they'd visited. He said they would be leaving with a deep sense of responsibility and commitment to sharing of culture and resources, and to creating opportunities¨"to make a substantial difference".

He presented a plaque to the Mayor of Santiago. Earlier, the two mayors had presented gifts to each other. Former California governor and current mayor of Oakland, Edmund "Jerry" Brown, long known as a maverick in political circles, chose Phillip Agee´s new¨"Cubalinda.com" internet travel agency to handle the group´s travel and lodgings in Cuba. Agee unabashedly thumbs his nose at US travel restrictions by offering to help Americans find ways to travel to and within Cuba, whether or not they have applied for US government licenses to do so.

Also accompanying the Oakland mayor´s delegation was a group of black and Latino teenagers called "TEAM" who sang, danced, read poetry and did an exhibit of Kapuera for the more than 100 invited guests.

Prompted by Oakland wheelchair activists Jane Jackson, who originated Oakland´s first "friendship declaration" with Santiago in 1994, and led by young Puerto Rican-American Khalil Jacobs, the teenage group made a strong impression on their Cuban hosts, who commented on the importance of young people carrying this relationship on in the future. Jerry Brown urged Santiago leaders to help provide art,dance and music teachers for a new charter school he will be opening in Oakland next June.