Report of London meeting 16 July 2025, Bolivar Hall
Cuba is a shining example of socialism that we must continue to learn from and defend. We shared this truth at our public meeting on 16 July 2025 titled ‘Solidarity with Cuba! End the Blockade!’, where comrades reported back on their experience visiting the socialist country, marking our 18th brigade to Cuba and 30 years of solidarity from the RCG and its campaign Rock Around The Blockade (RATB). We were honoured to have Pablo Ginarte, the First Secretary of Political Affairs at the Cuban Embassy, in attendance.
The meeting was opened by Reagan Gray, one of the brigade members on the trip. Comrade Reagan explained how Cuba has been constructing socialism for over 60 years, an alternative to capitalism where the system is geared to put people before profit. She reaffirmed that for the Cuban people, the revolution is still ongoing as they continue to fight for socialism and defend the gains of the revolution, which include free access to healthcare, education and other core social services as well as a political system where the direct participation of the Cuban masses drives everything.
After this inspiring opening, we exhibited a first release of our short documentary on our 18th brigade to socialist Cuba. Lasting only 20 minutes, it managed to encapsulate the totality of our brigade members’ experience in Cuba. It highlighted the solidarity work we did, such as handing over material aid to hospitals and schools, as well as manual agricultural work. The video focuses on our interviews with the Cuban people from all walks of life and different professions, and how the US blockade severely impacts them. A video contribution from comrade Destinie Sanchez was also shown; she delved into the origins of the genocidal blockade, its effects on the entire island and the need for international solidarity with Cuba.
On the topic of international solidarity, the video showed interviews with young Palestinian medical students at the Latin American School for Medicine (ELAM), which has provided them with free scholarships. Included is also the historic May Day march in Cuba on 1 May, where millions of Cubans took to the streets in Revolution Square in Havana and across the entire country, celebrating the victory of the working class over imperialism in Cuba and a show of strength against the US blockade. Comrades report on the march as a sea of people and flags proudly proceed through Revolution Square. A few South African and Angolan flags were on display, pointing to Cuba’s role in helping end apartheid regimes in Africa. During the May Day Rally, we were able to interview Lefika Chetty of the South African Communist Party, who spoke about the important bond between Cuba and South Africa.
Our final speech was from Kotsai Sigauke, another brigade member, who spoke about the importance of socialist Cuba and what it means to the world and especially communists in Britain. Comrade Kotsai covered Cuba’s history as a colony of Spain and then a neo-colony of the US, where living conditions and social services were dire and then how the people rose during the Cuban revolution, putting the island in control of the Cuban working class and ousting imperialism. He made clear the need to not only defend socialist Cuba, but to learn from it and build the revolution to Britain.
A lively discussion then followed, centred around the experiences of the brigade members in Cuba, the ideological battle the youth of Cuba face against imperialist propaganda on social media and how we can bolster our solidarity with the socialist island of Cuba. Finally, we had the closing words from our honoured guest Pablo Ginarte, who lauded the resilience of the Cuban people and pointed out the common enemy of both the Palestinians and the Cubans, US imperialism.
Viva Cuba!
Viva Palestina!
Abajo el bloqueo!
