Cuba

Posted by: John Phoenix On behalf of the Communist Party of Cuba, Emilio Lozada Garcia, Head of its International Relations Department addressed the 23rd edition of the International Meeting of Communist and Workers’ Parties, Türkiye, 20 October 2023. Dear Kemal Okuyan, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Türkiye, Dear comrades, brothers and sisters: I convey to you the warmest greetings on behalf of the Communist Party of Cuba and the most sincere wishes that this 23rd International Meeting of Communist and Workers’ Parties will be a success in terms of articulation, coordination and effective work of our parties. A year has passed since the last meeting in Havana and the situation faced by the great majorities that we represent and defend has not improved,...

BY WALTER SMOLAREK Photograph Source: Susan Ruggles – CC BY 2.0 This year’s May Day celebration in Cuba was interrupted by severe storms that knocked out electricity in much of the country. Authorities had no choice but to postpone the traditional mass marches. But for over 150 young grassroots organizers from the United States who had traveled to the country to mark the holiday, this turn of events was just more reason to deepen their efforts to end the U.S.-imposed blockade of the country. Miya Tada, a brigade participant from New York, explained how this showed that “the biggest obstacle the Cuban people are facing is the repression and economic warfare of our own government, and that just inspires me to further the struggle against the blockade back in the United Sta...

BY EVE OTTENBERG Photograph Source: Keith Ruffles – CC BY 3.0 Defending itself from the extremely hostile bully to the north is old hat and a constant activity for Cuba. This was especially so, after the collapse of the USSR and European socialism roughly 35 years ago nearly crushed Cuba, which immediately lost its chief trading partners, while the U.S. blockade strangled it. Forced to turn inward, Cuba strove to improve its productivity and workforce, without damaging the twin foundations of the revolution, education and health care. That it did so, that this small, besieged nation turned a dangerous even deadly situation around, happened thanks to the efforts of committed revolutionaries like Pedro Ross, who helped found the workers’ parliaments – specifically to save the...

BY ROGER HARRIS The U.S. Embassy in Havana, Cuba. Photograph Source: U.S. Department of State – Public Domain The Havana Syndrome was first reported in Cuba in 2016. The mysterious malady initially afflicted US embassy staff in Havana, especially those attached to intelligence missions. It then spread to Canadian embassy officials. The sudden headaches, debilitating dizziness, and hearing excruciatingly painful sounds struck both at work and at home. Oddly, the Cubans themselves appeared immune to the pathology. Soon other cases of what the US Defense Department called “anomalous health incidents” (AHIs) were reported in Russia, China, Colombia, Uzbekistan, and then even in the US. This mass psychogenic illness was experienced mostly by US government spies, diplomat...

BY EVE OTTENBERG Photograph Source: Keith Ruffles – CC BY 3.0 Defending itself from the extremely hostile bully to the north is old hat and a constant activity for Cuba. This was especially so, after the collapse of the USSR and European socialism roughly 35 years ago nearly crushed Cuba, which immediately lost its chief trading partners, while the U.S. blockade strangled it. Forced to turn inward, Cuba strove to improve its productivity and workforce, without damaging the twin foundations of the revolution, education and health care. That it did so, that this small, besieged nation turned a dangerous even deadly situation around, happened thanks to the efforts of committed revolutionaries like Pedro Ross, who helped found the workers’ parliaments – specifically to save the...

BY NOAM CHOMSKY – VIJAY PRASHAD Photo by Ricardo IV Tamayo Cuba, a country of 11 million people, has been under an illegal embargo by the United States government for over six decades. Despite this embargo, Cuba’s people have been able to transcend the indignities of hunger, ill health, and illiteracy, all three being social plagues that continue to trouble much of the world. Due to its innovations in health care delivery, for instance, Cuba has been able to send its medical workers to other countries, including during the pandemic, to provide vital assistance. Cuba exports its medical workers, not terrorism. In the last days of the Trump administration, the U.S. government returned Cuba to its state sponsors of terrorism list. This was a vindictive act. Trump s...