Cuban May Day rally demonstrates resilience in the face of the illegal US blockade
By Fraser McGuire
Earlier this month I had the incredible opportunity to travel to Cuba as part of the young Trade Unionists May Day Brigade, organised with the Cuba Solidarity Campaign. The brigade included attending the annual May Day celebrations in Havana and participating in a conference on international solidarity with delegates from more than 30 countries across 5 continents.
When our group arrived in Havana on May 1st it was 4am. There were still several hours before sunrise, yet already the streets were packed with thousands of people who had travelled from across the country to take part in the May Day demonstration. As the sun rose over the Malecon, the seafront was transformed into a bright sea of banners, flags, and the noise of hundreds of thousands of people – the atmosphere was a clear and exceptionally powerful reminder of the resilience of the Cuban people under the illegal blockade enforced by the United States.
Delegates from trade unions and political groups across the world had travelled to Havana to attend the May Day celebrations and extend gratitude and solidarity to the Cuban people. Many of the international visitors gathered near one end of the huge demonstration at the José Martí Anti-Imperialist Platform – which is directly opposite the US embassy. The demonstration was also attended by Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez as well as Raúl Castro and other senior government and trade union figures.
The next day we attended the international solidarity conference in Havana, which was addressed by speakers including President Díaz-Canel and the Deputy Foreign Minister, as well as trade union delegates and representatives from the Progressive International and other Latin American nations. A central theme of the conference was a defiant rejection of US interference in Latin America – from intervention in Haiti to the occupation of Guantanamo Bay and the suffering caused by economic sanctions against the people of Cuba and Venezuela.
President Díaz-Canel touched on the hypocrisy of the US regarding the ongoing genocide in Gaza. In the ‘land of free’ which imposes economic restrictions on nations across the world it deems ‘unfree’ can we witness the full repressive force of the state mobilised to injure and arrest thousands of students calling for peace.
Global South nations have stood firm in condemnation of the genocide in Gaza – in Latin America, Colombian President Gustavo Petro announced on May Day the ending of diplomatic ties with Israel, and Brazil has paused a deal with Israeli weapons manufacturer Elbit Systems. Cuba has not had diplomatic relations with Israel since 1973.
Everywhere we visited in Cuba there were signs of struggle from the US blockade, and of the impacts of the US classification of Cuba as a ‘state sponsor of terrorism’, a decision made under Trump which has been continued by the Biden administration. The blockade makes it increasingly hard to access food, fuel, and basic medical necessities, while the inclusion of Cuba on the state sponsors of terror list stops Cuba from having access to international banking systems.
The official wording of a US strategy document on the sanctions on Cuba includes the sentence “activities directed against the economy are intended to aggravate existing economic difficulties and thus to increase the level of disaffection… in the popular masses”. Seen up close, it becomes clear that the US blockade is a form of economic warfare against the Cuban people- a punishment for the removal of US backed dictator Fulgencio Batista more than 60 years ago.
As part of the May Day brigade, we had the opportunity to visit a Cuban hospital and speak to doctors and nurses working in Cuba’s inspirational healthcare system. The achievements of Cuba’s healthcare system under decades of embargo are nothing short of a miracle, weathering the covid pandemic with constricted access to crucial medical supplies, and training world-class doctors and scientists. One doctor told me that the successes were because, despite less access to resources, technologies, and international markets, the Cuban system puts patients and ordinary people right at the heart of its healthcare structures.
Despite the ever-growing international opposition and condemnation of the US blockade, solidarity with Cuba has never been more vital than now. The next US election may be one of the most significant in terms of the relationship between the US and Cuba, while the Biden administration has failed to relax the hardline attitude, a second Trump presidency could see sanctions tightened even further.
Solidarity isn’t just rhetoric and condemnation, but also must translate to material support and education. Across the UK we have seen trade union and grassroots support for groups like the Cuba Solidarity Campaign as well as meetings and film showings about the impacts of the US blockade on Cuban society. Cuba is a beacon of hope for many, yet it is also a lighthouse warning of the reality of US imperialism. Building and strengthening the movement to end the blockade has never been more necessary.
- Fraser McGuire is the Chair of East Midlands Unite Hospitality and an organiser for Arise: A Festival Of Left Ideas. You can follow him on Twitter and Instagram.
- You can become a member of the Cuba Solidarity Campaign (CSC) here.
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