From 29 April to 6 May I had the humbling experience of visiting socialist Cuba, representing the Party for Socialism & Liberation as part of a larger North American youth brigade organised by the International People’s Assembly. Our brigade of over 100 youth leaders from various social justice movements and organisations met with Cuban activists and organisers living under the weight of the unjust, unilateral, widely unpopular and genocidal US blockade. NINO BROWN reports.
For over 60 years now the US government’s blockade has tried to strangle the life out of the Cuban revolution and thus the Cuban people. Before going to Cuba I read and studied the Cuban revolution, admired the courage, commitment, and class consciousness of not just the revolutionary leadership of Cuba, but also of the Cuban people.
Cuba is a socialist society that is in transition out of capitalism since 1961. It is not a ‘workers’ paradise’ or a ‘utopia’ – the Cubans themselves will tell you as much. However, what Cuban society is, fundamentally, is a humane society. In the time that I was able to spend in Cuba I was impressed by the sense of responsibility that everyday Cubans felt towards their revolutionary project.
May Day in Havana
On International Workers Day, long before the sun rose, we took to the streets of Havana to get into formation for the parade. We lined up in Plaza de la Revolución under the banner ‘Build the Future! Break the Blockade!’. This May Day was special. After two years of Covid-19 induced lockdowns and social distancing the Cuban people were able to take the streets, with a contagious revolutionary spirit, because of three highly effective vaccines that their socialist system has produced, even under a total blockade. Even though fuel was in short supply because of the blockade, people from all provinces of Cuba travelled to take part in this historic International Workers’ Day celebration.
Last year was a rough year for Cuba after having to endure a counter-revolutionary threat in mid-July from opportunists who sought to use the frustrations of some Cuban people at the effects of the blockade to go against the revolution. What became known as a ‘Bay of Tweets’, where social media platforms were used to spread massive disinformation, was propped up by Western governments, principally the US in an effort to topple the revolution from within. One of the targets of this disinformation was the Cuban youth. But, one year later, the counter-revolution is at bay for now, and the revolution continues to move forward. I witnessed tens of thousands of young Cubans march in the street, chant down the blockade, and reaffirm their commitment to their country and socialist project.
Cuba: a revolution in process
In this brigade I was honoured to be able to meet with black Cubans who were fighting racism in Cuba and received direct support from the government. I was able to meet with transgender Cubans who were at the forefront of challenging outdated and patriarchal gender norms not just through the community, but in reforming the highest bodies of the law as reflected in the 2019 draft Family Code. I met with grassroots activists and leaders in the Martin Luther King Jr Centre and learned about the role of liberation theology, popular education, and building mass organisations of the working class to defend and strengthen the revolution. I had the pleasure of visiting the Fidel Castro Centre and learning about the ways that Fidel’s revolutionary example continues to inspire the world. There were so many things that I learned about Cuba, but what was the most striking was the humility and honesty that all the leaders demonstrated when they addressed the contradictions in Cuban society.
After all, revolution is a process, not a moment in time. The revolution, I learned, made mistakes, but they were not grave errors because the Cuban revolution was truly a revolution of the people, by the people, and for the people. At no point did any Cuban tell me that racism did not exist in Cuba, or homophobia, or transphobia. But what they did tell me was how their society was addressing it and why they saw this as vital to the survival of the revolution. Socialism is a project of the poor and working class in their full diversity. The Cuban people taught me that it is a project that must criticise itself and adapt constantly. It is not something that is simply decreed, but must include the active participation of the masses of people. It requires constant work, be it popular and political education or building new organisations of the working class to rectify the legacy of colonialism and capitalism (fighting racism, sexism, anti-LGBTQ bigotry), or volunteering time and wages to build community centres, schools, and meet the needs of the people.
Our responsibility as revolutionaries in the ‘belly of the beast’
I now fully understand the words of Che Guevara when he said: ‘I envy you. You North Americans are very lucky. You are fighting the most important fight of all – you live in the belly of the beast.’ I feel a profound sense of responsibility as a human being residing in the country that is trying to asphyxiate the Cuban revolution. After much debate, discussion, and deliberation some of the groups on the brigade drafted a declaration of solidarity, as a step towards building the kind of unity that is going to be needed in the ‘belly of the beast’ to not just end the US blockade against Cuba, but to uproot the US capitalist and imperialist system, and build a socialist future. We have an immense debt to the Cuban revolution. We have much to learn from our Cuban comrades. We must commit to engaging in the ‘battle of ideas’ as Fidel Castro pronounced, by telling the truth about Cuba, its contradictions, successes, and its attempt to build socialism under total blockade.
