Accent of Women

July 20 was a historic day in Havana, Cuba and in Washington DC in the United State. For the first time in 54 years, the Cuban embassy in Washington and the American Embassy in Havana re-opened their doors. After months of negotiations that involved even the pope Francis, and after many years of work behind scenes, this important moment took place.In recent years, there have been a number of political, economic and legislative changes.An important day in the Cuban revolution Calendar is July 26. The celebrations in Cuba and Latin America to commemorate this date remind us there are a lot of questions in the air when discussing the re-establishment of the Cuba-US diplomatic relations.What will this mean for the socialist model that Cuba has developed all this years? Is Cuba giving up and opening it-self to American economic influence? How much will change as Cuba moves to a new generation of leadership?Today we are listening from Kenia Serrano Puig, she is the president of the Cuban Institute for Friendship with the People’s, ICAP and a Deputy to the Cuban National Assembly. She visited Australia in June this year, invited by the Australia-Cuba Friendship Society and we had the opportunity to hear her reflections on these topics.This show is a combination of recordings from both her presentation during her visit to Melbourne, and an interview conducted by British organization Rock Around the Blockade.

Lorena Pizarro is human rights activist and currently the President of the Association of Relatives of the Detained and Disappeared in Chile. She toured Australia in June this year to talk about the cases of forced dissapeared in Chile and Latin america and to highlight the importance of seeking justice for human rights abuses in Chile.She was invited by the National Campaign for Truth and Justice in Chile to support the campaign for the extradition of Adriana Rivas.This talk was presented at La Trobe University. Interpreting by Pilar Aguilera.Some information on the case here.Accused from Pinochet’s Chile still in Australia.

As Accent of Women goes to air, Greece is approaching its due date with the European Community and the IMF to impose severe austerity measures on its people, in order to be granted another bailout. It's looking like Greece will refuse to do this, and will await the outcome of a referendum, scheduled to take place on July 7.To look more deeply at the Greece Economic Crisis, Accent of Women is joined by Afrodity Giannakis, member of Syriza, a part of the left platform and the red network. Afrodfity is one of many Greek nationals leaving Greece at the moment, because the situation is too severe and too harsh. Afrodity has lived in Australia in her childhood, and is here once again.

Auckland Action Against Poverty is a direct action and welfare rights advocacy group. It is an openly anti-capitalist group formed to expose and oppose the New Zealand government's agenda of welfare cuts and austerity attacks on the country’s poorest communities. We spoke with AAAP's coordinator Nadia Abu-Shanab. She is a Palestinian, a en educator and trade unionist.The talk was recorded at the Marxism 2015 Conference that took place in Melbourne in April 2015 in Melbourne, organised by Socialist Alternative.

The Australian Council of Trade Unions held its annual conference from teh 26th to teh 28th of May 2015.  A number of international guests were invited, and among them, Sineat Yon from the Cambodian Food and Service Workers' Federation.  Accent of Women had an opportunity to interview her about organising unions in Cambodia.

Revisiting Accent of women's archives we bring back an interview with Sylvia Marcos, a scholar committed with the struggles of indigenous peoples throughout the Americas.We discussed the idea of decolonising feminist, and what is the contribution of indigenous women in Zapatista communities in the South of Mexico, where indigenous people build autonomous territories and day by day challenge the old ways.Accent of women has an upcoming fundraiser:Heart of Time (Corazón del Tiempo)A film that takes you to the heart of the Zapatista resistance.Director: Alberto CortésMexico-Spain 2008Winner of Cine Ceará Film FestivalIn the Zapatista mountains, land of rebellious dignity and free indigenous peoples, a young woman´s love leads her to challenge the old ways. That is possible in liberated land and in the heart of time.Entry:Concession $10Full fee $15Solidarity donation $20All funds will support Accent of Women, a radio program by and about women from diverse cultures in Australia and around the world. Part of3CR Community Radio 2015 Radiothon.Drinks and snacks available for sale.Facebook event and poster here.

We discuss the situation of political prisoners in Peru over the last 20 years, particularly in the context of  the fierce anti-communism of the Fujimori regime, and the recent changes to the incarceration system.We talk about how political prisoners have used art as a therapeutic tool and a way to share their stories.Viviana Salas is a Peruvian photographer living in Melbourne and the curator of Art Inside, an exhibition currently displaying Melbourne at the Victorian Trades Hall (crn Victoria and Lygon St) The exhibition presents artwork produced by political prisoners around the world, including West Papua, Chile and Peru. The exhibition closes on May 15.

We speak with Emily Woo Yamasaki, an Asian-American activist and queer feminists based in New York.We talked about racist police violence and environmental racism in the USA today. Emily is a contributor to the book "Talking back, voices of color", published by Red Letter Press.

We spoke with Nellie Wong, a Chinese-American, feminist poet and socialist activist. She is the editor of the book "Talking Back, Voices of Colour", published by Red Letter Press. Talking back is an anthology featuring voices of youth, political prisoners, immigrants and history-makers. In Melbourne, the book was launched on Saturday May 2 at Solidarity Salon, 580 Sydney Road, Brunswick. Here is the link to the event.