It will be two days of anti-imperialist unity, where “all those who support Cuba’s sovereignty and self-determination” are welcome. This is what those who have organised a demonstration next weekend against the blockade of the island say.
The embargo has had different tones and an absolute indifference and inhumanity to the pain and deprivation it causes its inhabitants.
Its purpose from the beginning, from when it was first imposed, was to prevent the aims of the revolution from being realised.
There was a (capitalist) system to defend and Fidel Castro’s rise to power put it in jeopardy, not least because US economic interests were at stake.
The expropriation of its companies and the compensation offered by Cuba was something the US was not prepared to accept. That is when the first embargo came in 1960, although it did not include medicines or foodstuffs. This was taken over by Dwight Eisenhower, who ended diplomatic relations with Cuba.
The situation got tougher when President John F. Kennedy was determined to put an end to the revolution in Cuba, and little by little, during his short term in office, he began an embargo that was getting tougher and tougher. In fact, on 7 February 1962, by signing the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, he officially declared the blockade against Cuba.
From then on, the different US governments have been tightening it, through laws and regulations, to justify what is no less than a crime against humanity.
In its fury against the Cuban government, the country of the North has not minded depriving the inhabitants of food, medicines, essentials, oil and a long list of other goods that have left the island on the edge of the abyss.
What the US is undoubtedly seeking is to push the population to its limits and the government’s stability to the brink. Information and disinformation play a definitive role in this chess game.
With this in mind, several London-based groups have organised a “Rally against the blockade of Cuba!” on 14 and 15 November.
They are Rock Around the Blockade, Bolivia Solidarity Campaign, Revolutionary Communist Group (RCG) / FRFI, Cubans In UK, Brazil for Democracy, Global Majority, Red Condor Collective and Communist League.
The organisers’ call is very concrete, calling on “friends of Cuba, left-wing activists and anti-imperialist revolutionaries” to express their support for Cuba and to denounce the US plans of interference and destabilisation against the Caribbean island.
They emphasize that the United States continues to increase the Blockade even under the pandemic.
“Since the Trump administration, more than 243 coercive measures have been applied against Cuba. In addition, USAID has allocated a budget of $20 million to pay mercenaries to enact their explicit policy of regime change inside and outside Cuba”, they point out.
They add that “Dozens of web and media pages are funded by the US State Department to generate false information, promote violent acts and generate negative opinions of Cuba and more recently promote a military intervention.”
Date, time and place: Sunday, November 14, 2021, from 1 pm. to 5 pm. Monday, November 15, 2021, from 5 pm. to 8 pm. Venue: Embassy of Cuba, 167 High Holborn, London, WC1V 6PA
For more information on the event, click here.
(Translated by Rene Phelvin – Email: renephelvin@gmail.com) – Photos: Pixabay