The RCG and our campaign Rock around the Blockade heeded the call by the Cuban Communist Party to take to the streets in defence of the Cuban Revolution and mobilised across Britain to this end, countering the British imperialist media’s false narrative.
On 12 July we gathered outside the Cuban Embassy in London in support of the revolutionaries assembling across Cuba. A small number of reactionary Cubans harassed comrades outside the Embassy; their anti-revolutionary character was clear from their vandalising of a revolutionary M-26-7 flag. We stood our ground outside the Embassy until the reactionaries had given up and gone home after being drowned out by our speeches and chants of ‘yo soy Fidel’.
On 17 July comrades in Edinburgh protested outside the US Consulate demanding an end to the genocidal US blockade.
On the 24 and 25 July, RCG branches and FRFI supporters groups across the country took part in a national weekend of action in celebration of the 26 July 1953 Moncada Barrack attack, which sparked the revolutionary struggle in Cuba, and coinciding with the monthly caravanas demanding an end to the blockade. In Liverpool, Manchester, Glasgow, Newcastle, Nottingham, and Birmingham we held lively street events demonstrating the relevance of Cuban socialism for us in Britain, and in London we held a demonstration in Trafalgar Square.
‘Our government has let over 120,000 people die from coronavirus and is now pursuing the murderous policy of herd immunity, with support from the Labour Party, for the sake of getting the economy going. Deaths per million of the population are eight times higher in Britain than in Cuba. While under the US’ economic, commercial and financial embargo, Cuba has produced five unique vaccines and have, from the beginning, adopted a zero-Covid approach. This is what is possible with a planned economy, revolutionary consciousness and a system run by the people, for the people. What is that system called? Socialism!’ declared a speaker in Liverpool.
‘To combat the reactionary media, my friends and I organised a day of solidarity with socialist Cuba in our schools by getting students to wear green in support of revolutionary Cuba. Many of us started discussions on the devastating impacts of the US blockade, the process of building socialism in Cuba and why we need to defend socialist Cuba from imperialist aggression. The day was a huge success, with swarms of green sweeping through our schools’ doors. Students flew the Cuban and M-26-7 flags with pride, accompanied by an understanding of the importance of using the example of Cuba to show the need for socialism here in Britain.’
Destinie Sanchez, London
Viva Cuba socialista! Join us in building an anti-imperialist, communist movement, inspired by revolutionary Cuba, on the streets of Britain!
Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism! No 283, August/September 2021
