Birmingham RCG and our Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism! supporter’s group held a rolling picket in solidarity with socialist Cuba on Saturday the 30th of October. After weeks of discussion meetings based around our pamphlet, Revolutionary Cuba, the streets are ours we protested outside of various locations around Birmingham. Targeting the institutions of British imperialism that comply with the blockade. There we upheld all that the Cuban people have managed to achieve, despite US economic warfare.
The 60-plus year blockade that’s been imposed on Cuba by the US has been trying to strangle their socialist revolution. By preventing them from being able access certain technologies and materials, the blockade tries to ensure that the working class cannot truly govern their country entirely on their own terms and tries to cause frustration and division within Cuba that will threaten the people’s revolution. The blockade not only affects Cuba’s trade with the US, but with many countries around the world that don’t want to upset their economic relationship with the world’s dominant imperialist country. This includes the worlds oldest imperialist country, Britain, who are also threatened by Cuba’s socialist example of an alternative to climate destruction, austerity and war.
We started outside the mailbox; inside of which is the BBC’s Birmingham ‘headquarters’. We called out their false claim of being a ethical or impartial reporter. It is not impartial to present the reactionary lies and ranting of right-wing press and people on twitter as just as reputable as the statements of active and elected members of the Cuban assemblies of people’s power. And it is not ethical to deliberately further falsehoods about ‘humanitarian crisis’ or ‘dictatorships’ in Cuba while ignoring the gains made in healthcare, internationalism, economic planning and sustainable farming through popular consultation and people’s power.
Next we hit up three major, high-street banks. Outside of Lloyds we condemned their financing of climate destruction while talking about Cuba’s commitment to sustainable economics and the ‘Tarea Vida’ or ‘Life Task’; a 100 year plan to commit the island to fighting the effects and causes of global warming. As world leaders meet again at the COP26 environment summit, we know that they cannot solve or slow the climate crisis as long as the dominant imperialist powers enforce a system of production dependent on expansion and re-investment. And so, Cuba’s socialist answer of a planned economy based on need is ever more important.
Then, outside of Barclay’s, we talked about Cuban healthcare, their vaccine and international efforts to fight Covid-19. In contrast to the profit motives of the Pfizer vaccine that are leaving many countries – particularly the nations oppressed by imperialism – unable to adequately treat their population. And, lastly, outside of HSBC we compared the austerity the British ruling class imposes on the working-class in times of crisis to the way the working-class defend themselves in times of hardship in Cuba. Comparing how Birmingham has lost its council-run nurseries but Britain maintains its arms exports to Cuba closing military bases but closing no nurseries during the special period. Or comparing Rishi Sunak saying prices are just going to have to rise in the current crisis to the huge state subsidies or hard-currency stores in Cuba that are trying to make sure people can still access goods.
As crisis deepens across the imperialist world, the attack on the living standards of the working-class will increase; making the socialist example set by Cuba even more important as an example of what the working-class can fight for. And imperialism is also growing more fervent in its attack on Cuba; meaning that our solidarity and resistance from within the imperialist core countries even more important for their revolution. Solidarity is key. One revolution. Una sola revolución.
