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CHANON LECODEY MERRICKS ONLINE EDITOR
The US Blockade of Cuba and the forthcoming 34th Debate at the United Nations General Assembly and need to intensify solidarity with Cuba
“Cuba is a peaceful country. We have no desire for war, and we have demonstrated our solidarity with many peoples around the world. We are not a nation at war; we are not a colony; and we will not give up our sovereignty or our independence.” – Cuban President Miguel DíazCanel.
The South African Communist Party (SACP) condemns the decades-old US blockade of Cuba, which has become so punitive and inhumane that it warrants an annual debate at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). The 34th such debate will take place in New York on 27-28 October 2026. It is now more essential than ever given the extreme danger to Cuba’s very survival.
The SACP calls on the South African government, the progressive trade union movement and civil society to ensure a resounding rebuff of the blockade at the UNGA. It is also essential that the campaign to end the blockade intensifies well beyond the UN vote and that every effort is made to support the Cuban people in the face of acute US imperial aggression. We fully support Cuba’s pursuit of dialogue as a means of resolving differences with other governments, always in accordance with the principles of sovereign equality, mutual respect, mutual benefit and non-interference, reaffirming its commitment to international peace and security.
The blockade has been imposed since 1962, following the failure of the US-backed Bay of Pigs invasion by mercenaries in 1961 to overthrow Fidel Castro’s revolutionary government, which had ended the US-backed tyranny of the Batista regime. It has operated alongside CIA-orchestrated terrorist attacks on the indefatigable revolutionary island and its interests. Cuba faces a ruthless economic war based on the USA’s power to inflict collective punishment and its determination to bring about a humanitarian crisis and provoke regime change short of a military invasion. In the perilous global situation, and given Trump’s frustrations and dilemmas, even that possibility cannot be ruled out.
The UNGA resolution tabled by Cuba speaks to the necessity of ending the economic, commercial and financial embargo imposed by the USA. UNGA resolutions are non-binding since the five permanent members of the Security Council – Britain, China, France, Russia and the USA – can veto motions. Nevertheless, an UNGA vote is significant for the influence, solidarity and pressure it carries across the world. Voting patterns through the years have been virtually unanimous against the US. That majority has grown and, since 2000, has consistently been around 180 in favour, with only the US and Israel against. Under Trump, US lobbying pressure and bribery have increased, but it was still a resounding 165 in favour, 7 against and 12 abstentions by right-wing regimes in 2025. This is a world of heightened conflict.
The US-Israel axis has failed to achieve its ultimate goals in Iran, Lebanon, Palestine, Yemen and Iraq, and together with the war in Ukraine this adds to the growing volatility, linked to the USA’s objective of maintaining its disappearing world domination. Trump getting his way in Greenland and Venezuela raises his ambitions to deal with Cuba – once and for all. The total losses suffered by Cuba as a result of the blockade from 1 March 2025 to 28 February 2026 stand at a record $8.083 billion (Cuba’s own estimate).
That is an increase of 7% over the previous year, when $7.566 billion was reported (March 2024-February 2025). Cuba’s Foreign Minister, Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, explains that the increase results from the Trump administration adding: • a stringent energy blockade, threatening sanctions on any tanker or shipping company delivering oil to Cuba; • secondary sanctions on any third-country company doing business with Cuba; and • keeping Cuba on the US State Sponsors of Terrorism list. Rodríguez Parrilla reported that Cuba was surviving on 2-3 hours of electricity a day; only one tanker had arrived from Russia, and over 7,000 containers of medicine were stuck as shipping lines won’t dock. Cuba’s crime in US eyes is the 1960 revolution, which overthrew tyranny, broke free of US domination, established national sovereignty and chose the socialist path of development and international solidarity with people struggling against colonialism and imperialist domination.
That last point is what the US regards as Cuba’s terrorism. It is such examples as assisting the peoples of Angola, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe – among others in Africa, Asia and Latin America – against colonial racism and its outstanding contribution to the training, education, health and developmental aid of people in the Global South that the imperialist order cannot forgive. The punitive scale of damage to Cuba and its people comes as no surprise, given that Trump stated on 8 January 2026, referring to his government’s policy towards Cuba: “I don’t think you can put much more pressure on them, except to go in and tear the place apart.” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio bears primary responsibility for this macabre assault against Cuba and its devastating humanitarian and economic consequences. He has publicly admitted as much by asserting that his government’s policy is aimed at closing off every way out that Cuba might find from this situation.
History will remember him as the genocidal figure who sought to starve the Cuban people, apply collective punishment and exact revenge. On 29 January 2026, the energy blockade against Cuba was imposed under the absurd pretext of regarding the country as an ‘unusual and extraordinary threat’ to US national security. On that date the US President signed an executive order (EO 14380) authorising additional tariffs on imports from any country that sold or supplied oil to Cuba, directly or indirectly. Several special procedures of the UN Human Rights Council, as well as the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, have expressed concern that these restrictions are jeopardising essential services at national level – healthcare, food and water systems – because of the heavy reliance on imported fuel.
The immense suffering of Cuban families is borne out by examples and statistics: • deaths caused by a lack of medicines which, for decades, the country produced and supplied free of charge or at subsidised prices, but which it is now unable to guarantee; • more than 100,000 surgical procedures that cannot be planned or carried out, because hospitals cannot be protected from unexpected power cuts during already frequent outages and lack fuel for backup generators; • more than 118,000 cancer patients, including 1,200 children, who are unable to receive first-line treatments and are forced to resort to second- and thirdline alternatives; and • an infant mortality rate that has risen to 9.3 per 1,000 live births, compared with the 4 or 5 recorded in previous years – the preventable deaths of 1,780 newborns had suitable equipment, devices and treatments been available.
On 1 May 2026, the US government stepped up its pressure further by issuing another Executive Order (EO 14404), again under the pretext of the threat posed by Cuba to US national security. It exacerbates the extraterritorial nature of the blockade by imposing ‘secondary’ sanctions: it allows the freezing of assets and the restriction of operations of any foreign person or entity operating in sectors considered strategic to the Cuban economy – energy, mining, finance, security and defence – and authorises sanctions against those who have provided financial, material, technological or logistical support to the Cuban government or State.
In practical terms, the US government uses the fear of losing access to the US market and financial system as a key tool of subjugation, pressuring third countries, companies and financial institutions that have links with Cuba – and, above all, those that might potentially have such links. Under the guise of this Executive Order, the US State Department and Treasury Department have launched a veritable witch-hunt against anyone who has business dealings or links with Cuba. A second objective of this strategy has begun to emerge: in addition to bringing about the collapse of Cuba’s economic, political and social system, the US seeks to drive away any potential commercial rival in pursuit of its goal of taking total control of the island. Cuba’s feat of withstanding such a ruthless siege inspires admiration across the globe. The people of Cuba will prevail, for their resilience, creativity and determination cannot be stifled in any way. Supporting Cuba today is an act of courage, justice and historical responsibility, and one that upholds the principles of international law.
The SACP therefore calls on the South African Government and civil society to continue their unstinting and principled solidarity, mobilising fraternal support in Africa and globally. This is part of the international solidarity campaign to provide material and diplomatic aid to Cuba – a people and a country that have given so much assistance and solidarity since the victory of the revolution led by Fidel Castro over 66 years ago. That Cuba does not threaten the US is reflected in the attempts at normalisation by Democratic Party administrations, beginning under President Kennedy after the CIAbacked invasion of 1961 – half-hearted as these were. Former President Jimmy Carter visited Cuba in 2002; President Obama shook hands with President Raúl Castro at Nelson Mandela’s memorial service in 2013; and President Biden, in a last gasp and hypocritical gesture, removed Cuba from the US Terrorism List days before leaving office. This was immediately overturned following Trump’s inauguration in January 2025. Cuba has been a victim of the power games and shifts between the US two-party system. Cuba favours dialogue as a means of resolving differences with other governments, always in accordance with the principles of sovereign equality, mutual respect, mutual benefit and non-interference, reaffirming its commitment to international peace and security.
As President Miguel Díaz-Canel has declared: “Cuba is a peaceful country. We have no desire for war, and we have demonstrated our solidarity with many peoples around the world. We are not a nation at war; we are not a colony; and we will not give up our sovereignty or our independence.” The threat of military aggression by the US against Cuba has escalated over the course of the year to extremely dangerous levels. Influential politicians, who do not represent the interests of the majority of the American people, are calling for military aggression against Cuba in order to pressure the president into taking that decision.
What is important – and rarely asked – is what the pretext would be for launching a military attack. We must denounce the ease with which US politicians and even the media refer lightly to war, as attempts are made to normalise aggression and make it acceptable to US and international opinion. US military aggression against Cuba would generate a true humanitarian catastrophe, a bloodbath. Both Cuban and US citizens would lose their lives, something which only the US politicians who do not send their children to war are betting on.
There are neither foreign bases nor troops operating against the US from Cuban territory. The only foreign base is in Guantánamo, against the will of the Cuban people, and is illegally occupied by the US. Cuba has been forced to prepare itself, in the exercise of its right to self-defence, and this involves the entire Cuban people. It has had to reorganise the running of the country to adapt the economy to these extremely difficult circumstances, whilst transforming the economic system. Cuba draws on its human resources, its scientific and technological talent, and the strength of social justice structures and programmes built over many years.
The solidarity shown by people and solidarity organisations in the US is a demonstration of the legitimate aspiration to achieve a constructive relationship with Cuba. South Africa remains a central part of the international solidarity effort. At the UN General Assembly, Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Ronald Lamola said South Africa is deeply concerned at: “the wielding of economic weapons to coerce countries into abandoning their chosen development trajectories. The suffering of the Cuban people should command our deepest solidarity. We reiterate our call for an end to the blockade on the Cuban people.” The SACP welcomes this principled position. South Africa’s “Cuba Solidarity Now” is a national “people to people” solidarity movement. It funded the installation of photovoltaic systems for two polyclinics in Villa Clara province – in Santa Clara and in the Escambray Mountains. The Havana Neuroscience Centre has been allocated resources to buy two electric vehicles to transport its engineering teams, who provide services to 25 laboratories in Havana, benefiting approximately 10,000 patients a month; resources have also been allocated to install photovoltaic systems at the Centre.
In August 2026, 20 tonnes of foodstuff were delivered to three hospitals in Havana, and Cuba Solidarity Now is running campaigns to send a further 30 tonnes of food to Cuba in December 2026. The National Union of Mineworkers has also contributed foodstuff and toiletries, and FOCUS members have travelled to Cuba with consignments of medicines. The government has sought ways of circumventing the blockade. Hopefully, efforts from South Africa will be intensified. Cuba has withstood previous difficult periods, particularly following the collapse of its long-standing Soviet ally. Cuban ingenuity and determination are making the difference in replacing oil-driven energy with solar power and new methods of agricultural production, and China and Vietnam are making a huge difference in both areas.
The year 2026 has seen a sharp upturn in solidarity aid from many countries. Among the highlights of the growing international solidarity efforts: • during 2026 China donated 60,000 tonnes of rice and installed 10,000 photovoltaic systems to provide solar electricity to isolated rural homes and health centres, nurseries, homes for children without parental care and bank branches across the 169 municipalities; • Russia delivered 100,000 metric tonnes of donated Ural crude oil (approximately 730,000 barrels); a delegation from the Russian Civic Chamber donated food, sweets, portable torches, USB sticks and first-aid kits, handed over as part of the centenary celebrations for Fidel Castro; and the Russian city of St Petersburg donated three ambulances for maternity and children’s hospitals in Havana, Matanzas and Santiago de Cuba; • two Mexican Navy vessels delivered 814 tonnes of humanitarian aid (liquid and powdered milk, meat products, beans, rice, tuna, sardines, biscuits, vegetable oil and hygiene products); Mexico and Uruguay sent powdered milk under the Cooperation Agreement and the Fund established in 2023; Mexico and Belize sent 1,700 tonnes of food and basic necessities; and the thirteenth consignment from Mexico and Caribbean states brought powdered milk, infant formula, beans, flour, rice, tinned food, medical supplies, solar panels, batteries and water tanks, with Mexico providing free shipping from its terminals; • the Vietnam Red Cross Society donated 100 billion VND (approximately 3.82 million USD) as part of the “Humanitarian Month 2026” campaign, and Cuba received 10,000 tonnes of rice from Vietnam, in addition to 1,500 tonnes on behalf of Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Ho Duc Phoc;
• Japan donated USD 6.5 million to install solar power systems in 10 hospitals (4 in Havana and 6 in the provinces), benefiting 2.6 million patients and 27,500 healthcare workers;
• UNICEF and South Korea donated 213,000 bottles of prenatal supplements for 30,430 pregnant and breastfeeding women; and
• the UN allocated 4 million USD from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) as part of a 160 million USD package. The coming UNGA debate is consequently not a mere ritual but a call to action.
Cuba stood with Africa when our freedom hung in the balance. Now Africa must stand with Cuba – end the blockade, hands off Cuba, and let the island that taught the world solidarity live free. --
ISSUED BY THE SOUTH AFRICAN COMMUNIST PARTY FOUNDED IN 1921 AS THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF SOUTH AFRICA. Media, Communications & Information Department | MCID Mhlekwa Nxumalo, Acting National Spokesperson
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