Socialist Cuba is under attack. US imperialism, after bombing Venezuela and kidnapping its president Nicolas Maduro, has set its sights on Cuba.
On 29 January US President Trump signed an Executive Order imposing a total oil blockade, threatening any country that sells oil to Cuba with punitive tariffs. He has threatened Cuba to ‘make a deal before it is too late’. This dramatic escalation follows the US hijacking of oil tankers bound for Cuba, cutting off 30,000 barrels per day of subsidised oil provided by Venezuela. Cuba is suffering from daily blackouts due to fuel shortages. The aim is clear: to strangle the Cuban Revolution to death.
For over 60 years Cuba has faced a brutal, genocidal set of sanctions and other methods of economic warfare. It is the most comprehensive and long-lasting blockade waged against any country in history. It blocks access to food, fuel, medicines, construction materials and international finance.
The US government says Cuba is a ‘threat’. Cuba is only a threat to US imperialist domination of Latin America and the Caribbean. In 1959, the Cuban revolution overthrew the murderous US-backed dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista, replacing it with socialist democracy and self-determination. The US blockade was imposed in 1960, with very explicit goals. Lestor Mallory, a US diplomat, wrote that it was designed to ‘bring about hunger, desperation and overthrow of the government’. Britain is complicit. British banks enforce the blockade by blocking trade and transactions that they suspect of benefiting Cuba.
Since the triumph of the Cuban revolution ordinary Cubans have been able to direct the economy towards their own needs, not those of an exploitative capitalist class. With this power they have eradicated illiteracy, emancipated women, built a free healthcare system that rivals even rich countries, expanded the rights of LGBT Cubans and provided free housing and education. Cuba’s internationalist missions have helped fight oppression and provided healthcare and education to millions across the world.
Cuba’s example of socialism must be defended now more than ever. In rich capitalist Britain, poverty exists alongside fabulous wealth; healthcare and education are being privatised, housing is unaffordable and both Labour and Tory governments commit crimes against the global working class. Britain needs a socialist revolution.
The RCG has always defended Cuba and called for building a solidarity movement inspired by its political example. Cuba stands on the frontline in the fight against imperialism, in solidarity with Palestine and all oppressed peoples. It is our duty to defend Cuba on the streets of Britain, to defend the example of Cuban socialism, to fight the imperialist blockade.
