Folks:

In just a few weeks we will be joining other concerned citizens from all over the United States gathering in Cuba to discuss our sister city efforts with our Cuban counterparts, both nationally, and locally. We anticipate the participation of various organizations and officials representing WA, CA, NM, IL, IN, VT, ME, MA, OH, CO, LA, AL, DC, NY, WI, MD, PA and FL among them.

Several new sister cities will be celebrated, Santa Fe-Holguin, Decatur-Camajuani, and the first state-to-province relationship will be officiated between Pennsylvania and Matanzas.

We will be sharing information about the growing support for our activities within municipalities throughout the U.S.. Because for over forty years now, U.S.-Cuba policy remains stuck like a dinosaur in a tarpit, Cuba is still listed as a terrorist nation! Even after September 11th! We will discuss the possible consequences to our work if that is not changed to reflect global reality! We will assess our work, and discuss expanding some universal programs exchanges in the fields of public education and healthcare. We will also be able to visit our provinces and see firsthand, the devastation of Hurricane Michelle, and discuss with the communities we are working with, what their priorities are for reconstruction and recovery from the worst natural disaster to strike Cuba since prior to the revolution. Of course that's just a highlight!

Please fill out and email the Pre-registration form attached and indicate your preference for a single or double accommodations at the Palco, and your roommate if you have one, or whether we need to pair you with a new friend! We also need to prepare your registration packets and be sure we have enough rooms reserved. We also need to know your arrival time, etc.

Thank you all for going through all of the unique 'challenges' associated with travel to Cuba to be able, at this very important time, to meet face to face with our friends there and determine together our priorities for sustaining and strengthening our wonderful people-to-people relationships. See you in Havana!

Sincerely,

Lisa Valanti
President
US-CUBA Sister Cities Association, Inc.

CONFERENCE CALL: PLEASE DISTRIBUTE WIDELY:

"Building Bilateral Relations - A Continuous Conversation" "Staying on course in unsettling times - The essential role of people-to-people diplomacy and sister city sustainability in bilateral relations"

U.S. CUBA Sister Cities Association will convene its 2nd conference in Cuba, continuing a dialogue with our Cuban counterparts to explore, expand, and strengthen a broad range of innovative, sustainable and mutually beneficial projects connecting our institutions and communities.

In the aftermath of September 11th, our sister city network faces unique challenges and some expanding opportunities resulting from advocating change in the outdated cold war dynamics of US-Cuba relations. **

All of us in sister city partnerships are privileged to join the Cuban people at the forefront of creating and sustaining shared goals of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, friendship, and human development.

Those of us working in grassroots organizations with international links have unique opportunities to offer our fellow citizens for becoming more personally informed by experiencing different realities for themselves, and becoming part of a process that builds trust and communication by engaging in community building and solution oriented conflict resolution.

We hope everyone will take this well-timed opportunity to personally participate in intimate discussions and collective decision making with our Cuban partners concerning the shape, focus, and priorities of our work this upcoming year to guarantee our universal success. Since we are working within complex social and political systems, our cooperative efforts are much more effective than any one of us could achieve alone.

The tentative schedule is: The conference will be convene for an informal evening reception, Sunday, February 17th, at the Palco Hotel, on the grounds of the Assemblea National, or National Convention Center, in Havana, Cuba.

The national conference will formally begin on Monday, February 18th, and continue the 19th, with meetings with Cuban leaders from many sectors responsible for developing international exchange programs.

Wednesday, February 20th, the conference participants will reconvene within the provinces where they are developing local sister cities, counties or state relationships, for a provincial meeting. The rest of the week will be for groups to meet with the people specific to their interests to further their work.

This conference is for people who are interested or engaged, in building sustainable relations with institutions, community groups, organizations or professional counterparts in Cuba. * For further information or to apply for membership contact: uscsca@aol.com or visit our website at: www.uscsca.org.

Among some topics we will address: 1. Current U.S.-Cuba relations and its impact on our particular programs.

2. The form and function of sister cities - Cuba enjoys sister city relations with many other nations in the world - how are we different? How can we function more appropriately and effectively?

3. Incorporating trade developments in food and medicine into our work. 4. The use and sometimes abuse of humanitarian aid in sister city relations -- a meaningful bi-product, not the purpose of sister cities.

* A sister city, county or state relationship, is the internationally agreed upon universal model used to express fraternity among nation states.

Sister city partnerships have the potential to carry out the widest possible diversity of activities of any international program, including every type of municipal, business, professional, educational and cultural exchange or project. Sister city programs are also unique in that they inherently involve the three main sectors in a community: local government, businesses, and a wide variety of citizen volunteers representative of every sector within the community." (Thanks to Sister Cities International for the universally agreed upon explanation of sister relationships)

** Because in the past forty years the United States has never officially reviewed its Cuba policy, Cuba is still on the short list as a nation that sponsors terrorism. Obviously the context of terrorism changed as of September 11th, U.S. policy, however, did not. This could potentially complicate our work immensely under new anti-terrorist regulations.

This year we will contend with a hostile US executive branch, a divided Congress, yet we need to take advantage and factor in new economic development opportunities in food, medicine and travel.

Can we help Cuba address the consequences of Hurricane Michelle, the worst natural disaster to happen since before the revolution? Within the global reality of the 21st century our commitment to a better world as part of a national grassroots movement is offering us an ever-changing and challenging environment in which to work in 2002!

Lisa Valanti
President
US-CUBA Sister Cities Association, Inc.
National Office:
320 Lowenhill Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15216
412-563-1519
Fax: 412-563-1915

US-CUBA Sister Cities Association Announces:
"Building Bilateral Dialogue
- A Continuing Conversation"

Update, 1/16/02

CONFERENCE CALL: PLEASE DISTRIBUTE WIDELY:

	US-Cuba Sister Cities Association
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US-CUBA Sister Cities Association Announces: "Building Bilateral Dialogue - A Continuing Conversation"

Update, 1/16/02

CONFERENCE CALL: PLEASE DISTRIBUTE WIDELY:

US-CUBA Sister Cities Association Announces:
"Building Bilateral Dialogue
- A Continuing Conversation"