Fatalities From Israel’s Vast Gaza Genocide Deliberately Undercounted

Shameful US newspapers, magazines, television, and radio disrespect the Palestinians in both life and death.


Relatives of Palestinians, who lost their lives following the Israeli attacks on different part of the region, mourn as the bodies are taken from al-Shifa Hospital for funeral process in Gaza City, Gaza on September 15, 2025.
(Photo by Khames Alrefi/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Ralph Nader
Jun 20, 2026

Common Dreams


The mainstream media has no problem guesstimating the deaths (500,000) from the Assad Dictatorship’s Civil War in Syria, nor the estimated deaths in the wars in Ukraine, Sudan, or Iran.

Somehow, media editors do not let their investigative reporters assess the extent of Israel’s mass murder of civilians in Gaza—an exposed, defenseless population of 2.3 million people in an enclave the geographic size of Pennsylvania. The Associated Press notes that U.S. military historian Robert Pape believes, “Gaza is one of the most intense civilian punishment campaigns in history” and that, “It now sits comfortably in the top quartile of the most devastating bombing campaigns ever.”

Why? One reason is that the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health certifies deaths in Gaza based on reports from hospitals and morgues that were mostly blown up well over a year ago. (They report presently around 73,000 fatalities.) But Hamas has admitted that there are tens of thousands of bodies under the rubble, thousands more blown into bits or incinerated and unidentifiable. They also say their figures do not include the collateral deaths (e.g., spreading fires) from the Israeli military F-16 bombings and relentless shelling of the people of Gaza or the deaths caused by the Israeli government-imposed blocking of food, medicine, healthcare, water, fuel, electricity and shelter. From other conflict zones around the world, the ratio of collateral deaths is anywhere from 3 to 13 times the deaths by violent weaponry.

The Israeli regime is fine with the Hamas undercount because they and the U.S. State Department know the real death toll (along with the injury count) is much, much higher. Hamas knows that on October 7, 2023, the multi-layered Israeli border security apparatus was shaky. They then launched what turned out to be a suicide-homicide assault over the border, resulting in some 1400 deaths as compared with the nearly 1200 people—about 400 of them soldiers and police—shot by the Hamas raiders. To this day, with most Israelis skeptical, Netanyahu has blocked an independent official investigation of the mysterious collapse of the multi-tiered Israeli border security complex.

Netanyahu attributes it to negligence. There were, however, too many separate warnings, including 24-hour Israeli spotters from the Israeli side, plus Israel having the Hamas plans a year earlier, to accept that improbable pretext.

Hamas, on the other hand, doesn’t mind the world media repeating again and again their minimal, identifiable death count. They certainly do not want the realistic estimate death count to further outrage their subjects because Hamas did not protect the civilian population, and did not have any air-raid shelters. Hamas certainly knew what was coming from the ultra-modern, savage Israeli military backed by co-belligerent Joe Biden’s U.S. ultra-modern and lethal military industrial complex.

There is another media reluctance operating. The reports by eyewitnesses, and scholarly and military weaponry specialists, who arrive at minimum and maximum ranges of deaths (most of whom are children and women) bring repulsive denunciations and charges of anti-Semitism.

Moreover, apologists for endless Israeli slaughter, like Bret Stephens, the mouthpiece of Netanyahu on the New York Timesopinion page, have used the low Hamas figures to counter charges of Israeli genocide. If it was genocide, they inaccurately claim, the death toll would be much higher. In 2025, two major Israeli human‑rights organizations – B’Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights Israel – each issued reports concluding that Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza (see reporting from Amnesty International).

Well, the death toll is much higher, over 600,000 lives destroyed or over 25% of Gaza’s original population. This leaves an improbable nearly 75% still alive, though most are sick, injured, or dying. Reporting reality would intensify the political, diplomatic, and civic determination to stop the killing, let in adequate humanitarian aid, and move toward resolving this conflict.

Analysts reported by The Lancet, international relief organizations, universities, and UN agencies all estimate hundreds of thousands of dead Palestinians from violent bombs, artillery, snipers, and the resultant, related secondary effects noted above.

For example, Professor Emeritus Paul Rogers of the University of Bradford in the UK, back in April 2025 estimated the tonnage of explosives dropped on Gaza was the equivalent of six Hiroshima bombs, but more lethal because these daily projectiles are more targeted. Tarek Loubani, a Canadian physician who has served tours of duty at crumbling Gaza hospitals, puts the estimate at “hundreds of thousands of dead.”

In a detailed, footnoted series of reports (“The Truth About Gaza’s Dead”), Feroze Sidhwa, an American trauma surgeon who worked in Gaza’s killing fields, has published much probative evidence by dozens of other health workers who experienced the ghastly horrors. These included the deliberate targeting by Israeli terrorist snipers of little children receiving bullets in their brains and hearts. (See Foreign doctors say Israel systematically targeting Gaza’s children: Report – Al Jazeera, September 14, 2025).

The recent report by Francesca Albanese, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, referred to a consensus of 680,000 deaths.

The respected chair of Global Public Health at the University of Edinburgh, Professor Devi Sridhar, long ago was offering estimates far higher than those of Hamas.

The Hill reported that in November 2023, Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Barbara Leaf testified to a House committee that the actual number of Palestinians killed in Gaza was likely higher than the figures then being reported by Gaza health authorities at that time. She was immediately silenced and never again spoke about Israel’s genocidal casualties. The State Department has been blocking a Freedom of Information demand for two years.

The huge Israeli bloc in Congress, of course, has allowed no hearings on the toll made possible by deadly U.S. weapons (including shipping over white phosphorus artillery shells)— costing billions of dollars paid for by U.S. taxpayers. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have reported that Israel used white phosphorus munitions in military operations in Gaza and along the Israel–Lebanon border shortly after the October 7 Hamas attacks.

Reporters could have gotten informed assessments and estimates about the Israeli-inflicted carnage in Gaza from Doctors Without Borders, Save the Children, the World Central Kitchen, and other aid groups. Scores of infants and children in Gaza are dying every day from disease, malnutrition, and untreated injuries. There are no healthcare facilities for them. The shameful U.S. newspapers, magazines, television, and radio disrespect the Palestinians in both life and death, something they would never dare to do if the shoe were on the other foot!

Why aren’t brave reporters like Ryan Grim, Jeremy Scahill, Amy Goodman, and Sy Hersh looking deeply into the ghastly indifference to the undercount in Gaza? Truth and the mournful survivors need you!

ITALY

Ports of Resistance: Blocking the War Machine and the Genocide Economy

Michael Leonardi

June 19, 2026

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Photograph by Port Workers for Palestine

As Israel’s genocidal campaign grinds on — with over 70,000 Palestinians slaughtered in Gaza and its aggression now spreading into Lebanon — a powerful new front of resistance is emerging at the world’s ports. Dockworkers, truckers, and solidarity activists are refusing to be complicit in the machinery of death, physically blocking weapons shipments and exposing the global supply chains that fuel endless war and profit from mass slaughter.

These actions are not symbolic gestures. They are a developing strategy to choke the war machine and dismantle the genocide economy at its weakest links. But to succeed, they must evolve into a sustained, coordinated international effort. Isolated blockades can raise awareness; only synchronized, cross-border action can truly starve the beast.

Italy’s Ports of Resistance

Italian dockworkers have been at the forefront. Unions like the Unione Sindacale di Base (USB) and the Autonomous Collective of Port Workers of Genoa (CALP) have repeatedly shut down operations to prevent arms and military components from reaching Israel.

In September 2025, dockworkers in Genoa and Livorno blocked ports during a nationwide general strike that brought millions into the streets. In Ravenna, workers refused entry to trucks carrying explosives bound for Haifa. Similar actions have targeted vessels linked to ZIM and other carriers.

The resistance has spread south as well. In Calabria, at the strategic port of Gioia Tauro, activists and port workers have mobilized against suspected dual-use shipments and military cargo destined for Israel.

Greece Joins the Fight

The momentum is spreading across the Mediterranean. In Greece, dockworkers at the major port of Piraeus have taken bold action, blocking shipments of military-grade steel and ammunition bound for Israel. Hundreds of workers and activists have mobilized to halt loading and unloading of deadly cargo, declaring they will not be complicit in the ongoing genocide.

New Jersey and the American Front

Across the Atlantic, the Port of Elizabeth in New Jersey has become a critical battleground. As the third-largest port in the United States and the single most important commercial exporter of weaponry to Israel outside of military bases, it ships approximately 1,000 tons of weapons and military components per week.

On May 22, 2026, over 30 activists blockaded the Maher Terminals at 4:30 a.m., targeting the ZIM Virginia and Maersk vessels carrying ammunition bound for Israel. Demonstrators chained themselves to an RV and a truck with a boat, obstructing the terminal entrance with banners reading “ZIM and Maersk Ship Genocide and Ecocide,” “Block the Bombs,” and “Stop Genocide, Ecocide & Deportation.” Ten activists were arrested and now face felony charges.

Danny Creamer, one of those arrested, stated: “Weapons companies like Zim and Maersk cannot be allowed to perpetuate and profit from the violence and genocide committed by the United States and its allies. I believe every single person has the responsibility to resist the actions of our government and these corporations, regardless of consequence.”

Mark Colville added: “We blockaded the terminal to stop the US government from violating its own laws by sending weapons to Israel to commit war crimes and genocide.”

Port Workers for Palestine has conducted persistent outreach at Elizabeth, highlighting the port’s role as a key artery in the U.S.-Israel war machine. While the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) has been largely unresponsive, non-unionized truckers have shown far greater sympathy. Because official union channels have failed to act, grassroots activists have stepped in.

Photograph by Port Workers for Palestine

Toward a Coordinated International Effort

These blockades are part of a growing global awakening. A recent international meeting of port workers in Turkey brought together representatives from at least 34 unions across 34 ports. The gathering laid the groundwork for coordinated actions planned for this fall — late September into October — aimed at escalating pressure on the war economy through synchronized strikes and blockades.

From Gioia Tauro to Piraeus, from Genoa to Elizabeth, the message is clear: ports must become barriers to war, not corridors for weapons deliveries. International solidarity is not optional — it is essential. Isolated actions raise consciousness, but only a coordinated, cross-border campaign can deliver decisive blows against the genocide economy.

The vision runs deeper than Palestine alone. Ports represent communal ownership and collective leverage. The military-industrial complex extracts enormous resources from working communities before they ever see the benefits of their labor. On average, every American contributes over $5,000 per year to U.S. militarism — a figure that has only grown under Trump. As working people, we have a profound moral obligation to stand up not only for ourselves but for the international community: to refuse the flow of weaponry that brings such misery to Palestine, Lebanon, and beyond.

Governments and corporations denounce these efforts as “disruptive.” But the real disruption is the daily shipment of bombs that level hospitals, schools, and entire families. Workers and citizens refusing complicity are exercising the highest form of solidarity: using their labor power and collective presence to stop the killing.

The path forward is urgent. Port workers, unions, truckers, and solidarity movements must expand these actions — coordinating across borders, targeting key chokepoints like Elizabeth, Gioia Tauro, and Piraeus, and building sustained pressure until arms flows cease. The fall coordinated actions emerging from the Turkey meeting represent a critical step in this direction.

History will remember those who blocked the ships, not those who loaded them. From Genoa to Newark-Elizabeth to Calabria, Piraeus, and beyond, the message is resounding: Not one more weapon, not one more shipment.

The ports are rising. The resistance is international. The war machine and the genocide economy can — and must — be brought to a halt.

Michael Leonardi lives in Italy and can be reached at michaeleleonardi@gmail.com

 

Partido Lakas ng Masa (The Philippines): HB 8389 is a fake anti-dynasty bill

By Partido Lakas ng Masa

Published 16 June, 2026

[Editor’s note: Filipino socialist activist Khyl Ramos, from the Partido Lakas ng Masa, will be speaking at Ecosocialism 2026, September 11-13, Magan-djin/Brisbane, Australia. For more information visit ecosocialism.org.au.]

The House of Representatives approved House Bill No. 8389, the proposed Anti-Political Dynasty Act, on June 3 before Congress adjourned for recess.

The bill is a response to the growing public demand to curb political dynasties. According to the Pulse Asia survey conducted from February 27 to March 2, 2026, support for banning political dynasties reached 71% in Luzon, 81% in the Visayas, and 53% in Mindanao.

HB 8389 was approved by a vote of 267 in favour, 20 against and 7 abstentions. Such overwhelming support is hardly surprising. More than 80% of House members belong to political dynasties. The House of Representatives has effectively become a House of Dynasties.

The bill will now be transmitted to the Senate for deliberation and possible consolidation with Senate bills on the same subject.

Yet we have little reason to expect a genuine anti-dynasty bill to emerge from the process.

First, the Senate is locked and consumed by factional struggles. Like many measures that address the needs of ordinary people, the fate of a genuine anti-dynasty bill hangs in the balance amid political manoeuvring and elite rivalries.

Second, the Senate itself is dominated by political clans: 83% of its members belong to political dynasties (including eight senators who are siblings, and other senators who belong to entrenched family clans. 

HB 8389: A fake anti-dynasty bill

HB 8389 adopts an extremely narrow definition of political dynasty, covering only relatives up to the 2nd degree of consanguinity and affinity — spouses, parents, children, grandchildren, and siblings.

Why exclude nephews, nieces, and cousins when they are among the most common instruments of dynastic succession today?

Under HB 8389, political clans may continue fielding relatives in neighbouring districts, provinces, cities, municipalities, and other elective positions at both the national and local levels. They may also continue using party-list organisations as alternative vehicles for political control.

A social cancer

Political dynasties are a social cancer that corrodes democratic governance.

They perpetuate vote-buying, patronage politics, and political dependency. They transform public office into family property and reduce ordinary citizens to clients of powerful clans. Government becomes a family enterprise.

Many control, directly or indirectly, the contractors and business interests that profit from government projects. By monopolising political power across generations, they foster corruption, abuse of authority, and impunity.

PLM’s call

Partido Lakas ng Masa (PLM, Party of the Labouring Masses) calls for a genuine Anti-Political Dynasty Law that:

• Covers relatives up to the 4th degree of consanguinity and affinity, including nephews, nieces, and first cousins;
• Prohibits both simultaneous and successive occupation of elective positions by members of the same political dynasty;
• Establishes a cooling-off period before former officials and their relatives may run for office;
• Prevents the use of party-list organisations and other mechanisms to circumvent anti-dynasty restrictions;
• Applies to all levels of government, from the national level down to the barangay.

The struggle goes beyond Congress

The struggle against dynastic rule is part of the broader struggle against elite domination, oligarchic control, corruption, patronage politics, poverty, and exploitation.

We therefore will bring the issues directly to the masses.

The masses have never been consulted in the drafting of anti-dynasty legislation. We will organise people’s assemblies across the country to discuss a people’s alternative to HB 8389. 

The fight against political dynasties is inseparable from the fight for genuine democracy and for a social and political order free from exploitation, oppression, and elite rule.

End political dynasties!
For a government of the masses, not of the trapos [traditional politicians] and dynasties!

The Philippines: Is Akbayan now supporting the US against China?

By Partido Lakas ng Masa

Published 18 June, 2026

[Editor’s note: Filipino socialist activist Khyl Ramos, from the Partido Lakas ng Masa (PLM, Party of the Labouring Masses), will be speaking at Ecosocialism 2026, September 11-13, Magan-djin/Brisbane, Australia. For more information visit ecosocialism.org.au.]

See also below Partido Lakas ng Masa statement “On the malicious attacks against PLM being circulated by an Akbayan supporter”

Partido Lakas ng Masa (PLM, Party of the Labouring Masses) disagrees with Akbayan Party List Rep. Perci Cendaña’s statement lauding Sec. Gibo Teodoro as a defender of Philippine sovereignty to be emulated, following China’s imposing of sanctions against Teodoro and his family members.

Secretary Teodoro’s long political record is consistently pro-US, support for deeper military ties with Washington, and policies that further expand US military footprint in and entrenching the Philippines — EDCA, bases, military hardware acquisition, the Pax Silica military-industrial complex — now as a part of the hyper-imperialist Trump administration. 

His most recent statement was public praise for US leadership at the 2025 Shangri-La Dialogue, where he reportedly said that “American leadership is indispensable” and that the United States “remains the greatest shield”, while expressing gratitude for bipartisan support from the US Congress. 

As Defence Secretary, Teodoro has been a prominent defender of the expansion and acceleration of the Enhanced Defence Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) sites and has welcomed larger and more sophisticated PH-US military exercises and closer interoperability, including cooperation under the Mutual Defence Treaty and Balikatan exercises.

Under Teodoro’s watch U.S. tested and deployed missiles on Philippine territory, one of the biggest threats to peace in the region, widely acknowledged to be aimed at China.

Teodoro’s record is not an assertion of genuine national independence — it is in fact a model of unswerving alignment with the main imperialist power the US that has historically, consistently violated Philippine sovereignty. 

Perci Cendaña’s describing Teodoro as a model to be emulated implies that he, and presumably Akbayan, support Teodoro’s pro-US positions, as outlined above. 

Nationally, Teodoro is opposed to peace talks with the CPP-NPA-NDF and supports NTF-ELCAC’s ‘war on terrorism’ and red-tagging. He is also opposed to investigating the massacre of the Negros 19 civilians.

Toedoro was the anointed successor of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, now ensconced in the BBM regime.

All in all, Teodoro has a horrendous record, a symbol of extreme right-wing politics. 

There is no doubt that China’s actions in the West Philippine Sea, and intimidation and aggression against Filipino fisherfolk and coastal communities must be opposed. However, PLM maintains and argues the biggest threat to peace in the region and genuine national sovereignty is the US and those such as Teodoro who promote US, not Philippine, interests. 

Genuine patriotism cannot be selective.

In order to clarify for the left and progressive movement, Akbayan should answer a basic question regarding the party’s foreign policy: Is Akbayan now supporting the US against China?

---

On the malicious attacks against PLM being circulated by an Akbayan supporter 

Some clarifications are necessary on the malicious attacks and misrepresentations being circulated by Aaron Moralina, an Akbayan supporter.

First, PLM has consistently opposed China’s incursions in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) and the escalating military buildup, interventions, and war preparations led by the United States in our region. This has been the PLM position from the very beginning.

We reject the false choice that the Philippines must align either with Beijing or Washington. (Or to exclusively attack one side to argue for a pragmatic, tactical position that favours the position of the present administration.)

We oppose all forms of great-power domination and insist on an independent foreign policy based on genuine national sovereignty.

Second, our record on the WPS issue is clear and public.

We actively supported the electoral and political initiatives of Walden Bello, including his proposal for a fisherfolk-led flotilla to the contested waters near Masinloc. The objective was to assert the rights of Filipino fisherfolk who had been harassed and prevented by Chinese forces from accessing their traditional fishing grounds.

The action ultimately did not push through because the fisherfolk themselves informed us that they had regained access to the area and preferred not to jeopardize the situation at that time. We respected their decision.

Also during the recent elections, we supported a congressional candidate in Dasmariñas City — a former Navy commander — who openly campaigned against China’s intrusions in the WPS. While we agreed with his emphasis on defending Philippine maritime rights, we also urged him to include in his platform a critique of U.S. military aggression and foreign military intervention, alongside the pressing social and economic concerns of his constituents.

Third, our position on China is neither evasive nor ambiguous.

We have discussed this extensively in our Socialist School and other public forums. We view China as a state with a developing monopoly-capitalist economy with imperial ambitions. It is an economic superpower that increasingly seeks to project power beyond its borders. At the same time, we recognize that China does not yet possess the same level of global military reach and infrastructure that the United States has built over decades.

One need not support U.S. militarization to oppose China’s actions. Nor does criticism of U.S. imperialism require silence about China’s conduct. We reject both arguments.

Fourth, Aaron’s attempt to weaponize the issue of Robin Padilla’s presence at our anti-dynasty press conference is both dishonest and uninformed.

Padilla was neither invited to speak nor included in our coalition. He was not seated at the presidential table alongside the coalition leaders who delivered the statements. He arrived on his own and sat facing the panel.

His presence was evidently connected to his anti-dynasty bill filed at the Senate, and his association with a friend of the coalition who was involved in drafting his bill. When asked whether he wished to talk about his bill from the floor, he declined and instead remarked that he would simply listen to the proceedings, describing the event as a public consultation on the need for a genuine anti-dynasty law.

That does not constitute an endorsement of Robin Padilla, his politics, or his support for the Duterte camp.

But, of course, his presence gravitated media attention especially because the press conference took place amid the unfolding Senate controversy of the time. His unexpected presence created another media story, which we did not want, but it did not alter the character, politics, or objectives of our event.

Our position on the elite faction fight between the pro-Duterte and pro-BBM camps is clear: “Marcos - Duterte, Walang Pinag-iba.”

These clarifications should settle the factual issues.

As for Aaron Moralina’s attacks, we return to the central political question that he continues to evade.

Let us dispense with distractions, insinuations, and personal attacks.

While opposing China’s aggression in the West Philippine Sea, does Akbayan support the ongoing expansion of U.S. military positioning in the Philippines — including additional military access, deployments, rotational forces, EDCA sites, and the broader strategic role being assigned to the country in Washington’s regional military posture?

It is a straightforward question.

The public deserves a straightforward answer.

Sadistic Savagery on Display: Trump-Rubio’s Assault on Cuba

Monday 15 June 2026, by David Finkel

THE SADISTIC SAVAGERY of the Trump regime’s starvation-and-regime-change assault on Cuba comes into relief when you look at the surrounding circumstances and context.

The controversies within the left over the character of the Cuban government and state are irrelevant to the brutality that the United States is practicing. It’s the U.S. imperialist state and government that need to be on trial.

That’s the state and Trump regime that brags of blowing up more than 50 boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific, on the lying pretext that they were “running drugs,” killing close to 200 people including victims of “double-tap” bombings — probably fishing vessels in most cases — without a shred of evidence, let alone judicial process.

That same regime has now indicted Cuban former president and defense minister Raul Castro in the shootdown of Cuban exile “Brothers to the Rescue” planes three decades ago.

It’s nothing to do with justice or any national security threat, but raw imperial power exercised under the “Donroe Doctrine” of a floundering U.S. presidency, combined with the zealotry of Marco Rubio’s savior-complex obsession over “rescuing Cuba from communism.”

That arrogance was on full display with the kidnapping of Venezuelan ex-ruler Maduro. Trump expected to duplicate that triumph in Iran — overlooking the detail that Tehran had the capacity to fight back. (Admittedly, those of us who knew that Trump’s tariff idiocies and tax cuts would damage the U.S. economy underestimated his potential to crash the whole world economy.)
Hemispheric Ruin

More broadly, the U.S. assault on Cuba is an intended warning to any present or future progressive movements or governments in Latin America. Today, the lives of Cuban children, women in pregnancy and those needing health care, dying from the lack of electricity and medical supplies are human sacrifices on the altar of imperial rapacity and ideology.

There was a time when post-revolutionary Cuba presented some kind of radical challenge to U.S. hegemony, or at least what was called Cuba’s “threat of a good example” with its advanced educational and public health achievements. In all honesty, such a “threat” ended long ago with the defeat of the 1980s Central American revolutions and then the 1991 dissolution of the Soviet Union.

The ensuing 35 years, beginning with the early 1990s “special period” of austerity and hardship, have seen a struggle to preserve Cuba’s independence and economic viability under conditions of constant menace, as well as waves of emigration. The events of the shootdown of the exile-flown planes in 1996 occurred in that context.

Those Brothers to the Rescue flights, whatever humanitarian assistance they may have provided to refugee boats in the early 1990s, were also deliberate provocations against Cuba’s sovereignty. They had murky connections with the CIA and FBI, some of which were revealed by Cuban government operatives who infiltrated the group.

By 1996, entering Cuban airspace and dropping leaflets over Havana, they were engaging in a game of Chicken that ended tragically.

Did that justify the Cuban air force blowing small civilian planes out of the sky? In my own opinion, clearly not — whatever malicious mischief or performative defiance they may have intended, those flights were no imminent security or military threat.

Cuba certainly had non-lethal methods of intercepting them. And the political impact was destructive, resulting in even tighter anti-Cuba sanctions by “bipartisan” agreement of the Clinton administration and Republican congressional leadership

Was the shootdown perhaps worthy of an independent investigation? Maybe so — in a different world with a body competent to perform it. In the real world, the United States government and judicial system are no such entity, and have no right to prosecute Cuba or its officials for this or any other case. U.S. imperialism should be the defendant.

There are Cuban exiles, and not only extreme right-wingers, who think that Trump and Rubio will “liberate” the island. They ought to have a look at Venezuela, where Maduro’s post-Chavista police-state regime remains in place under new Washington-client leadership and the miserable conditions of life persist.

The intention of the assault on Cuba is part and parcel of the effort to subjugate all of Latin America to multinational and especially U.S. corporate domination and privatization, democracy be damned. It is a fast-track road to hemispheric ruin, which makes the stakes especially high.

28 May 2026

Source: Solidarity webzine.

Attached documents

• sadistic-savagery-on-display-trump-rubio-s-assault-on-cuba_a9603-2.pdf (PDF - 1.2 MiB)
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• sadistic-savagery-on-display-trump-rubio-s-assault-on-cuba_a9603.pdf (PDF - 1.2 MiB)
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• David Finkel

  David Finkel is an editor of Against the Current, published by the US socialist organization Solidarity (www.solidarity-us.org)

Visiting Cuba 2026 — A Critical Point

Monday 15 June 2026, by Robert Bartlett

I VISITED CUBA over the 2026 May Day week with a delegation from Building Relations with Cuban Labor. The effects of the 65+ year U.S. embargo and recent blockade of oil were everywhere to be seen. [1]

The airport was practically empty with only one terminal open and another closed due to the lack of aviation fuel necessary to refuel planes, other than those who could carry enough fuel to do a round-trip visit. Canada was one of many countries whose airlines cancelled travel to Cuba, curtailing tourism and its income. Other countries are similarly affected.

The Cuban Revolution is today under the most serious threat since the Bay of Pigs invasion of 1961. That was defeated, but the U.S. intention to overthrow or cripple the Cuban government has never ended, no matter whether Democrats or Republicans are in power. Today the economic pressure exerted against the entire country is reaching a critical point with military action a real possibility.

The tourist industry is practically shut down. This has dramatically decreased one of the main sources of foreign currency needed to buy products on the international market.

Along with the embargo on oil shipments the Trump administration has escalated the pressure by threatening sanctions on companies who continue to invest in Cuba and now have pressured the bank that was processing Visa and Mastercard transactions in Cuba to cease operations.

Two Spanish resort chains Iberostar and Melia, which operated 12 and 15 hotels respectively, just announced they are withdrawing from their partnership with GAESA, a Cuban governmental institution. Blue Diamond, a Canadian company which according to the New York Times ran dozens of hotels, is also leaving.

On the streets of Viejo Havana, a tourism magnet of colonial buildings and maze of restaurants and hotels, was practically deserted. The people who would drive visitors around in their 1950 vintage cars were mostly absent, and restaurants that would normally be open were closed along with music clubs that cater to tourists.

It had the feeling of a ghost town, but one in which the population was still present.

Due to the blockade on Venezuelan oil, traffic was sparse and electric vehicles and motorcycles were more numerous than gas ones. On the major highway traversing the island there were few cars, fewer buses and trucks. The oil shortage has wreaked havoc on the necessary mechanisms to move people and goods.

Power Outages and Daily Life

Power outages are regular in all areas of the island and probably longer in rural areas. In the town of Viñales, which we visited, power might be on for less than half the day and people will charge electric vehicles and batteries while they can. I saw no gas stations that were open during a ten-day period.

Some people, a minority, who have been fortunate enough to have solar panels, use them to supply their houses in the day and store energy in batteries for the periods when power is out.

Prices have risen, and the exchange rate for access to U.S. dollars has climbed to over 500 pesos to a dollar on the informal market. Access to dollar stores which supplement the basic food supplies that are available in monthly rations are reduced accordingly.

The average base salary according to people we talked to is roughly 3000 to 4000 Cuban pesos (between $6 to $8 a month), which doesn’t go far. This has led many people we talked with to have to work three or even four jobs to survive. This has amplified the effects of this long policy of economic starvation.

What Do People Think?

First, there is no hesitancy to speak freely about the difficulties that they are facing individually and what they would like their lives to be like. During our trip we met with artists, workers in the privately owned restaurant industry, medical people and leaders of various institutions across health, biotechnology, education and farmers, as well as our host families in Viñales.

Not being fluent but able to have limited conversations in Spanish, and longer ones with people whose English was better than my Spanish, along with conversations that other members of our delegation shared, gave a similar picture.

People have dreams of a better life, but confront a daily reality where they think their dreams could probably more likely be achieved in other countries. Younger people wished to be able to travel and believed that their lives could be better in another country, Europe being a destination mentioned frequently.

Austerity and Migration

An urban planner who gave our delegation a history of Cuba from Colonial days to the present gave some context when he talked about the effects of the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1990 on the economy, and the beginning of the first “special period” and significant emigration from Cuba.

He stated that 65% of the migrants over the past ten years are from Havana and most are well educated. That is striking and alarming as some of the best educated people don’t see a future under the present conditions of austerity.

This is a reality, and people’s expressions of what to do range from those who don’t see life improving in the foreseeable future and thus want to leave, to those who just want the suffering to stop no matter how.

In one extended conversation I had with a university-educated server in a restaurant, he stated that he was not supportive of the United States but critical of what he said were inequalities within the Cuban system where those with resources have ways of gaming the system. He was dismissive when I brought up some of the achievements of the revolution in terms of education, literacy and health care.

It is unwise to generalize from a small sample of society, but I have the impression that the economic impact of the last 35 years has been one of erosion of the major gains of the revolution in bringing a country from subservience, illiteracy and exploitation by foreign ownership, an economy that was dominated by sugar production and the unsavory mob influence in Havana.

Socialism in One Country?

Being in Cuba reminded me of visiting Nicaragua before and during the U.S.-funded-and-directed Contra war. Two years before the counter-revolutionary war began, investments were being made in schools, clinics and other social services that had only previously been available to a small slice of society.

After the war started, the effect of having to divert resources to defending the revolution was evident from what was attempted in 1980 through 1982.

The effects that I could see in Cuba are due to the lack of access to resources available on the world market and denied either directly by the United States or indirectly through Washington’s economic and political threats to other countries willing to trade with Cuba.

All small, underdeveloped countries face daunting challenges in trying to compete with larger countries whose industrial capacity and economies of scale are more efficient than what any small country can muster.

This makes them dependent on trade and purchase of goods which can’t be manufactured locally. This leaves any small country, socialist or not, subject to market pressures and the inequality of selling low while buying high for value-added products.

An example is the Biotechnology research center. Cuba is rightfully proud of being able to develop medicines and vaccines, but limited access to the international scientific community through conferences, and the inability to afford the latest technologies – like automated gene sequencing, reverse transcription technology, the restriction enzymes used to produce the new RNA vaccines — makes developing new medicines slower.

These are products difficult to manufacture and expensive to buy. While using dated technology is still effective, it also hobbles production and incentivizes scientists to pursue other options like emigration.

Compromises to Survive

The challenges that Cuba faces in the face of an economic blockade are many and have led to coping mechanisms to withstand the pressure. A basic divide in Cuban society is between those who have access to either the tourist industry or remittances from relatives who live outside Cuba, and those who don’t.

Many people have family who have emigrated and send money back to Cuba, while fewer have a direct connection to the now diminished tourist economy where daily tips at a restaurant or hotel can equal the monthly salary of school teachers or doctors. Those with dollars can supplement their diet through access to dollar stores, while those without are even more dependent on auxiliary income through multiple jobs.

The economy since the collapse of the Soviet Union has evolved into parallel state and private sectors. While the private one based upon tourism injects significant money into salaries and helps the state sector continue to subsidize basic food allowances, healthcare and education, it is vulnerable to the pressure of U.S. actions and also can lead to resentments over the inequality present with the dual systems.

Ending the economic blockade would allow the Island to restore sources of hard currency like tourism and even barter arrangements where doctors could provide health care in other countries so that oil and other products in short supply in Cuba could be purchased. That would restore public transit, which is needed for many to go to work.

It is hard to assess just how soon real access to materials would begin to restore production and alleviate some of the most grievous effects the population is suffering. On the long term a continued conversion of the energy sources from oil to solar and other renewables will take a long time and most easily achieved by purchases from China, thus once again reliant on hard currency.

Agriculture is an industry that faces challenges as well. Life on a farm is demanding in every country and people can have easier lives in cities, yet dependence on agricultural imports should be minimized.

The too-long dependence on sugar sold or bartered on the world market delayed addressing self-dependence for food. In the rural town we visited, our host now goes to their field via a horse cart, not a car.

Lack of fuel renders much machinery useless and makes it difficult to get to a market. In the long run sustainable agriculture, renewable energy production and the further development of a balanced economy are essential goals; they will not be advanced by any surrender to U.S. economic and possible military actions.

Cubans want solutions to this dilemma and short of international counter-pressure and willingness to break the blockade, an internal dialogue among all Cubans on the future of the revolution needs to be part of a solution. And for us, of course, the urgency of stopping this strangulation of Cuba is critical.

May 2026

Source: Against the Current.

Attached documents

• visiting-cuba-2026-a-critical-point_a9604-2.pdf (PDF - 1.6 MiB)
  Extraction PDF [->article9604]

Footnotes

[1] Photo: The Building Relations with Cuban Labor delegation brought medical supplies collected by Not Just Tourists.

Cuba

• Notes on the Political Situation in South America
• Trump’s Justice Department Bring Charge Against Raul Castro—What’s next?
• In the time of predators
• In defence of Cuba against the neocolonial blockade and starvation imposed by Trump
• Trump’s New Cuba Policy: Bad for Cuba and Migrants

Internationalism

• Porto Alegre and the Rebirth of Internationalism

• Robert Bartlett

  Robert Bartlett was a science teacher who taught in the Chicago suburbs. He is an associate member of the Caucus of Rank and File Educators. Since his retirement in 2018 he has been part of a Solidarity Squad to help teachers preparing to strike.

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