‘Y todo lo que parecía imposible fue posible.” - Fidel Castro
"Condemn me. It does not matter. History will absolve me." - Fidel Castro
When you hear Cuba, what comes to mind? Maybe it’s the classic old Ford car on the streets of Cuba, painted a vibrant red or blue or pink. Maybe it’s the common sentiment that taxi drivers are paid more than doctors in the country. Or maybe you think of Cuba’s revolutionary leaders, Fidel Castro, and Che Guevara, who carried out a revolution that led to the overthrow of the dictator Fulgencio Batista and transformed Cuba into a socialist country that prioritized agrarian reform, universal healthcare, and massive literacy campaigns for its people.
This summer, I got to confront these preconceived notions of Cuba head-on when, in June of 2024, I traveled alongside several organizers in Sunrise and 100+ other young organizers from organizations across the country to attend the 2024 Youth Brigade in Cuba. The brigade, hosted by the International Peoples’ Assembly, exchanged with Cuban youth and worker leaders, building bridges between organizers in North America to stand against the U.S. Blockade of Cuba and experience Cuban socialism in practice.
During our trip, we got to visit the Casa de las Américas, an organization founded by Haydée Santamaría, one of the few women directly involved in the revolutionary brigades. Under her leadership, it became, over the next two decades, a physical and cultural refuge for artists and writers who had been persecuted in their homelands for their advocacy of social justice and opposition to military dictatorship. We spoke with workers from the Melia Hotel in Havana and workers from the Blas Roca Contingent of the Construction and Hydrological Workers’ Union about their experiences.
We learned about the efforts to combat racism from an Afro-Cuban Community Network Association and the history and ongoing efforts to confront racism in Cuba. Finally, we visited medical institutions, including a vaccine institute, where we learned about the advances being made in medicine in Cuba despite the restrictions imposed by the blockade.
We did a lot; and in addition to long, intense, but beautiful enriching days, my experience and time in Cuba brought up a lot for me, and want to translate those thoughts into a few reflections:
Reflections:
Revolution is just as much about spirit/culture as it is about theory; we saw this in the graphics and murals of Che and Fidel across the country, in the Revolution Square, and in the commitment to art & culture that was revolutionary (e.g., through Casa de las Americas)
The United States as violent, ruthless, paternalistic: We learned about the all-encompassing impact of the U.S. blockade on Cuba, and its relationship to broader anti-imperialist struggles. The importance of unity and collective action, and culture in sustaining revolutionary consciousness was stressed constantly, and the role of popular education in fostering mass participation was highlighted throughout the program. We came back with a sense of urgency in us, as well as clarity regarding the need for deeper political education and stronger solidarity networks. The brigade reinforced the idea that international solidarity is not just a sentiment but a shared strategy that requires continuous effort and engagement. And building a revolution requires both broad-based support and deep, sustained efforts. It's our duty as organizers to get people to see their conditions and organize and fight for themselves. It’s hard to think about even reaching that point and it’s very very slow but it’s what we need to win.
Solidarity: Even with such few resources, Cuba has strong embodiment around solidarity, whether it be protesting and standing in solidarity with Palestine or sending Cuban doctors abroad. Solidarity is not about whether it’s strategic or not, or whether we have the resources or not, there's a deep seated belief in standing up for and supporting oppressed people.
Democracy in Cuba: My conceptions of democracy were challenged while visiting Cuba. In the U.S.., I associate democracy with elections, congress people and senators, with a two party political system. But is the U.S. a democracy if many Black and brown people have been excluded (through felonies) from the voting process? When we have an electoral college and Senate that gives more power to rural white states? When we have a government that is totally captured by corporate interest and the ruling class? Fidel Castro is often portrayed as a dictator when in reality one must be rigid when fighting the forces of global capitalism and imperialism. In Cuba, there is one party, the Communist party. (This is seen as un-democratic, which is interesting of the U.S., to talk about given how similar the Republican and Democratic party are at its core; parties of the ruling class.) They had massive worker engagement through mass organizations, some of which we talked to on our trip.
Conflicts & Tensions: Cuba is not a utopia, in part due to the blockade, as well as the fact that the Revolution is only 60ish years in the making, with almost all of that being within the context of the blockade. The Cuban people that we spoke to admitted the faults of their country/society, and grounded us in the reality that it would be almost impossible for centuries of patriarchy and racism to be overturned in a little bit over half a century, let alone with limited resources. Many also spoke to the high amount of young people leaving the country, especially because media from the U.S. can leave Cuban youth wanting a life that they can’t experience while living in Cuba.
Race: The conditions around race in Cuba are very different from what we experience in the U.S., and people from the U.S. do not realize the extent to which we project our experience onto other places. Cuba’s revolutionary history has historically been tied to rebellions by people who were enslaved, and Cuban identity has been forged by a commitment to struggle against repression. While colorism and discrimination still occur, they are not institutionalized in the ways that we see in the U.S. and other parts of the West.
My time in Cuba was immensely transformative; getting on the ground was both a testament to the fierce commitment Cubans have to socialism and an economy planned around the dignity of human life and a vicious reminder of the impact of a 60+ year-old blockade on Cuba, which makes it difficult for everything from key medical supplies to food to equipment and makes it nearly impossible for other countries to trade and do business with Cuba.
My trip to Cuba in June made clear that we must not only demand Cuba’s immediate removal from the US “state-sponsor of terrorism” list but also demand an end to the blockade that, since 1959, has strangled the Cuban economy and deeply affected the quality of life for Cuban people.
“Abajo, abajo, abajo el bloqueo.
El mundo socialista es el mundo que queremos.”
