Trump Can’t Blockade Love: Why I’m Going to Cuba
Image by CODEPINK.
I’m traveling to Cuba for the first time on March 21 to be in Havana with the Nuestra América Convoy, in which people from dozens of countries representing a variety of organizations will break the blockade, bringing much-needed supplies to the island. CODEPINK is bringing 6,300 pounds of medical equipment and medicine with help from Global Health Partners and others. These supplies will be given to clinics, hospitals, and maternity centers as Cuba deals with the latest horrifying crime against humanity perpetrated by the United States.
The U.S. is blockading oil, seizing and chasing away Cuba-bound tankers in the Caribbean. No oil whatsoever has entered the island since early December. Trump characterized Cuba as an “unusual and extraordinary threat,” paving the way for more unilateral coercive measures (so-called sanctions). Rubio, in his dual positions of Secretary of State and National Security Advisor, twists the arms of countries around the world to expel Cuban doctors.
On top of this are the repeated threats of military strikes from Trump and his allies, along with worrying events: a failed incursion by a group of ten Cuban Americans, including two on Cuba’s terror watch list; and an uncovered plot in which ten Panamanian residents of Cuba were to be paid to spread “subversive content” with the hopes of starting protests. These extremists want war with Cuba and see “no reason to show them mercy,” as an anonymous member of the Cuban American diaspora told Politico.
Bombs have not fallen, but Trump’s economic warfare is killing children. “In the 0 to 5 age group, cancer is the leading cause of death. And it is heartbreaking to face a child with a disease that we know … there is a chance of curing, and we can’t do it because we can’t access those resources,” said Cuban Dr. Carlos Martínez in a press conference. Whether in Tehran, Havana, or Epstein Island, it is as Silvio Rodríguez sang in Días y Flores fifty years ago: “The rage, a child-murdering empire.”
Part of the economic attack is against Cuban doctors who serve the poorest communities throughout the world. Cubans have treated 2.3 billion patients in 165 countries in the history of their medical cooperation programs. These doctors are paid by the countries they serve, as is the Cuban government, which then uses the funds to train more doctors. The payments vary by country, with richer countries like Italy paying more. Due to U.S. pressure, in the past year, Cuban medical missions have been asked to leave Guyana, Jamaica, Honduras, Guatemala, Paraguay, the Bahamas, and Antigua and Barbuda. The main victims in this case aren’t Cubans, but the patients Cuban doctors were forced to leave behind — many will now go without health care.
What can we do in the face of these crimes? We can push for bills in the House and Senate to end the embargo, for the War Powers resolution introduced in the Senate, and for the New Good Neighbor Act introduced by Rep. Nydia Velázquez. We can hold teach-ins, webinars, events, and rallies aimed at political education and building consciousness.
But one of the most important things we can do, and the first reason I’m going to Cuba, is to offer material aid in the form of donations and travel. It’s an honor to be part of the Nuestra América convoy, and it could not have been done without thousands of people donating to the various campaigns to bring medicine, food, and solar panels. This will save Cuban lives, and to paraphrase José Martí’s “amor con amor se paga,” it is a way of repaying love with love. We need to keep raising money for Cuba — it is the most urgent form of solidarity we can express at this time.
Those who can should travel to Cuba. The message from Congressional Republicans is “No Oil. No Travel. No Oxygen.” Visiting Cuba is poner tu granito de arena, doing something small but meaningful — an act of defiance in the face of an empire gone mad. Not all of us can do this as individuals, but together, our communities, movements, and organizations can send people to Cuba. Visitors can take a suitcase of aid and conduct people-to-people diplomacy while helping the local economy.
The second reason I’m going to Cuba is more personal. My father-in-law passed away last July, a Cuban American who dedicated a large part of his life to anti-imperialist solidarity. He was part of the 1977 Antonio Maceo brigade, the first delegation of Cuban Americans to go to Cuba. On the CODEPINK delegation, we’ll be joined by Cuban Americans for Cuba, who are building on that legacy of countering the extremists of their diaspora. The delegation will also include a member of the first Venceremos Brigade, a coalition of anti-imperialist solidarity that began traveling to Cuba in 1969. All together, we are a group of peace activists, teachers, doctors, journalists, influencers, artists, and organizers. We are members of diasporas, including Palestine, El Salvador, and Venezuela.
The third reason I’m going to Cuba is because I’m from Venezuela. On January 3rd, when the U.S. bombed my country and kidnapped President Nicolás Maduro and First Combatant Cilia Flores, they killed over 100 people. Among them were 32 Cubans. Venezuelan Defense Minister Padrino López said they were “murdered in cold blood.” When I first heard him say that, I was filled with a profound sadness. The Cuban people have given so much to my country, and now they have spilled their blood for Venezuela as well.
Through ALBA, the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our Americas, Cuba and Venezuela founded teleSur, PetroCaribe, a development bank, and numerous social programs. Cuba’s solidarity and cooperation helped rid Venezuela of illiteracy. Cuba provided doctors and a path for transforming Venezuela’s health system.
Now, the U.S. is trying its best to divide Venezuela from Cuba. Its warships continue to prevent shipments of oil. They may stop the oil, but they won’t be able to divide us. The Venezuelan and Cuban people have too many ties and too much love to ever turn against each other.
At the end of that Silvio Rodríguez song, he offers love as the antidote to that rage brought about by war, empire, and its daily crimes. Trump can’t blockade love. And there are millions around the world who love the Cuban people — a people who have fought capitalism, imperialism, Apartheid, and Zionism. A people who are always the first to offer aid and solidarity.
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