I'm referring to the ones on r/Cuba right now. As a Marxist-Leninst it's extremely sad to me seeing these protests. I grew up in a poor Capitalist third world nation, and I came from a privileged background so I was lucky to not suffer as bad as many. But I witnessed what free markets and privatization does to an exploited nation where they will literally let you die if you don't have money to pay the hospital. Are these people buying western propaganda? Do they really think we have freedom and democracy? I'm genuinely curious. My wife and I are planning to visit Cuba this year, as I'm curious to see what it's like compared to an exploited capitalist nation like the one I grew up in.

Image Transcription: Twitter Post and Replies

[Image 1]

UN Human Rights, @UNHumanRights \ #Cuba: UN Human Rights Chief @mbachelet urges the Government to address protesters' grievances amid difficult economic situation and calls for prompt release of all those detained for exercising fundamental freedoms. Learn more: ow.ly/1VkN50Fxedq

[Photo of a Cuban woman holding a Cuban flag in a pro cuban government counter demonstration.]

Betty Pairol Quesada, @BettyPairol

Denuncio enérgicamente el uso y la manipulación de mi imagen como símbolo de las protestas de los delincuentes y vándalos en #Cuba. Somos continuidad, viva la Revolucion. #NoMasBloqueoACuba #Abdala

[Image 2]

Betty Pairol Quesada, @BettyPairol Replying to @UNHumanRights and @mbachelet Denuncio enérgicamente el uso y la manipulación de mi imagen como símbolo de las protestas de los delincuentes y vándalos en #Cuba. Somos continuidad, viva la Revolucion. #NoMasBloqueoACuba #Abdala

Translated from Spanish by Google

I strongly denounce the use and manipulation of my image as a symbol of the protests of criminals and vandals in #Cuba . We are continuity, long live the Revolution. #NoMasBloqueoACuba #Abdala

[Image 3]

Betty Pairol Quesada @BettyPairol 81 Following 193 Followers Followed by SLANK Caution: This account is temporarily restricted You're seeing this warning because there has been some unusual activity from this account. Do you still want to view it?

[Button: Yes, view profile]

What would you do if your neighbor was starving? This is not a hypothetical. Right now the U.S. government is deliberately starving the Cuban people 90 miles to our South. We all must act now!

All people of conscience in the United States have to speak up and take action to let Cuba live. We’ve all been outraged to see the urgent aid for Rafah blocked at the border, while famine stalks the Palestinian people. We can’t allow the same thing to happen directly to our south. Please make a donation today — give bread to our neighbor: https://secure.givelively.org/donate/peoples-forum-inc/let-cuba-live-bread-for-our-neighbors?utm_source=brevo&utm_campaign=Bread%20For%20Our%20Neighbors%20Let%20Cuba%20Live&utm_medium=email

• How Palestinians Are Becoming Doctors in Cuba For Free: https://youtu.be/JWe9IigF5SU?feature=shared
• New U.S. operations against Cuba reveal its injustice: https://www.radiohc.cu/en/noticias/nacionales/352172-new-us-operations-against-cuba-reveal-its-injustice
• Western left intellectuals and their love affair with the attempted ‘color revolution’ in Cuba by Fight Back News: https://fightbacknews.org/articles/western-left-intellectuals-and-their-love-affair-attempted-color-revolution-cuba
• r/RealCuba
• Blowback Season 2 Cuba: https://blowback.show/Season-2
• USA against Cuba: The cuban 2023 report about the impact of the blockade policy of USA against Cuba (PDF Spanish/English) https://misiones.cubaminrex.cu/sites/default/files/archivos/editorbolivia/articulos/informe_contra_el_bloqueo_2023.pdf
• "Youtubers", "influencers" and the media paid by the USA govt against Cuba: https://www.reddit.com/r/RealCuba/comments/13wifa3/youtubers_influencers_and_the_media_paid_by_the/
• Cuban press denounces manipulation of young Cubans on social networks: https://www.plenglish.com/news/2023/04/13/cuban-press-denounces-manipulation-of-young-cubans-on-social-networks/
• Cuba denounces destabilizing actions against the country: https://www.radiohc.cu/en/noticias/nacionales/341709-cuba-denounces-destabilizing-actions-against-the-country
• Cuba foils destabilizing plans of terrorists based in the United States. Cuba foils destabilizing plans of terrorists based in the United States Cuba denounced through the National Television News the attempts of terrorist groups operating in the United States to organize violent actions that will bring pain, suffering and death in Cuba this end of year: https://en.granma.cu/cuba/2023-12-11/cuba-foils-destabilizing-plans-of-terrorists-based-in-the-united-states
• The U.S. is backing protesters in Cuba who are working with literal terrorists in Miami. - Video from 2021 #SOSCuba lies: https://youtu.be/mX4WrXNrcw8?feature=shared
• The Truth About Cuban Doctors: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGFCIAZ_RA4
• Spies, Indentured Servants, or Heroes? Cuban Doctor Responds to U.S. Slanders: https://youtu.be/Xh5P0ypgspw?si=sCjEJGRmNprX9oXT
• The Truth About The Cuba Protests: https://youtu.be/zIOw6fSOJI4
• The Cuba Protests REVEAL Social Media Manipulation in Latin America: https://youtu.be/mJ-JUY6XkbQ
• ‘The US Is A Predator’: Cuban Diplomat on the Blockade & Cuba’s Anti-Imperialism: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7NYqIA8aWo0&feature=youtu.be
• Economic and media war against socialist societies: The case of US–Cuban relations: https://nnoc.org/economic-and-media-war-against-socialist-societies-the-case-of-us-cuban-relations/?amp=1
• The blockade has not ended (Obama didn’t lift the blockade) - An interview with Josefina Vidal - 2015: https://cuba-solidarity.org.uk/news/article/2657/The-blockade-has-not-ended---An-interview-with-Josefina-Vidal
• The U.S. Embargo on Cuba Is MUCH WORSE Than It Seems: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dM7_wTqDUCU
• The Cuban Embargo Explained: https://youtu.be/zmM8p9n6Z9E?feature=shared
• The History and Impact of Economic Sanctions Guerrilla History: https://guerrillahistory.libsyn.com/size/5/?search=Sanctions+
• The Cuba Project - National Security Archive: https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/project/cuba-project
• Growing up under EMBARGO in Socialist Vietnam Part 1: https://youtu.be/-Fdv4xBSLjw
• Embargoes hurt children - I know, I was one of them! | (Growing Up Under Embargo Part 2) - Luna Oi: https://youtu.be/RNG1arLKKho
• The History of US Sanctions on Cuba w/ Helen Yaffe: https://guerrillahistory.libsyn.com/the-history-of-us-sanctions-on-cuba-w-helen-yaffe
• Why They Hate The USA: CUBA - Hakim: https://youtu.be/WgWK6_AYq_o?feature=shared
• ‘The US Is A Predator’: Cuban Diplomat on the Blockade & Cuba’s Anti-Imperialism: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7NYqIA8aWo0&feature=youtu.be
• [Full documentary] CUBA: Defending Socialism, Resisting Imperialism [2010]: https://youtu.be/xxFPZaurHZA?feature=shared
• How Cuban Socialism Survives Against the Empire Next Door, w/ Prof. Helen Yaffe: https://youtu.be/NPsIcjjuoxQ
• Meet the U.S. Students Studying Medicine For Free in Cuba: https://youtu.be/h7g2T3BWg9E?feature=shared
• Cubans on the Street React to US Healthcare & Education Costs: https://youtu.be/3W6q5ZtjBHY?si=zUF1gRqRJdXUl3qi
• Aleida Guevara, Daughter of Che, Internationalist Doctor: ‘I Do It Because I’m Cuban’: https://youtu.be/j7oitsmSdnA?si=nBSfKw2sXurtLNyT
• Meet the Farmers and Workers Running for Cuba’s National Assembly: https://youtu.be/kzHYE823P9Y?feature=shared
• How Cuba Works | BadEmpanada: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXBYlC4-0bQ
• How Democracy In Cuba Works: https://youtu.be/2aMsi-A56ds
• How Cuba Works Viki1999: https://youtu.be/839A7SIUgfg?feature=shared
• How Cuba Works | BadEmpanada: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXBYlC4-0bQ
• We Asked Cuban Voters If They Live In A Democracy Or Dictatorship. Here's How They Responded: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=20DgWZtImUk&feature=youtu.be
• La Corea — A Cuban neighborhood that CNN WON'T show you: https://youtu.be/CIrxuJnil40?feature=shared
• All in this together: Cuba’s Participatory Democracy: https://cuba-solidarity.org.uk/cubasi/article/187/all-in-this-together-cubarsquos-participatory-democracy
• Cuba's Constitution of 2019: https://www.constituteproject.org/countries/Americas/Cuba
• Millions of Cubans Vote on New Family Code, LGBT Marriage, Adoption Rights & More: https://youtu.be/DXL3ScNn5VE
• What makes Cuba’s new Family Code the most progressive in the world? https://youtu.be/s5AJPNGYzkw
• How the Cuban government and people collaborated on the Family Code: https://www.greenleft.org.au/content/how-cuban-government-and-people-collaborated-family-code
• Read the code itself. Tip: Use Google translate on desktop to translate the document. This doesn’t work on mobile. (You have to download the document to drag and drop to translate it on the documents tab on Google Translate: https://www.gacetaoficial.gob.cu/sites/default/files/goc-2022-o99.pdf
• Che Guevara's True Legacy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-HkPLFjQc8
• Che Guevara: Homophobic Racist? Response to Steven Crowder & PragerU | BadEmpanada: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5eFPgvhS60
• Who Did Che Guevara Murder? | BadEmpanada: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkBXFXwGuJE
• In Defense of Che Guevara: Analyzing his Life and Answering his Critics: https://revolutionaryleftradio.libsyn.com/in-defense-of-che-guevara-analyzing-his-life-and-answering-his-critics
• TAKE CUBA OFF THE STATE SPONSORS OF TERRORISM LIST AND END THE BLOCKADE OF CUBA! (PETITION) https://www.letcubalive.info/about
• The Absurdity of Listing Cuba as a State Sponsor of Terrorism: https://youtu.be/uRlk2kq9uq0?feature=shared

[Image 1]

[Image Transcription: screenshoot of an article titled “US intelligence services attack Cuba’s finances” by the Cuban online newspaper Prensa Latina]

US intelligence services attack Cuba’s finances

Havana, Mar 7 (Prensa Latina) Recently leaked information confirms that the intelligence services of the United States are carrying out an operation against Cuba's finances, digital media reported on Thursday.

March 7, 2024 12:06

[Links to Prensa Latina social media accounts: Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, telegram, and their email]

The US intelligence community has launched a series of maneuvers to induce inflation within the Cuban market, following four stages: shortages, induced inflation, supply boycott and financial blockade, the publication Razones de Cuba reported.

In the first stage, the intelligence services sought to limit the entry of foreign currency, mainly dollars, in Cuba, as much as possible, according to the report.

The second phase consists of using platforms financed by the US Government, such as El Toque, to stimulate inflation.

The antecedents of this phenomenon are found in similar procedures carried out by the US Government in Nicaragua, Zimbabwe, Argentina (Dólar BLUE via Telegram) and Venezuela (Dólar TODAY via web), the report explains.

According to the analysis, the common denominator is the use of digital social networks such as Facebook, WhatsApp and Telegram, where anonymous individuals set a price for freely convertible currencies, in a closed circle, which is very difficult to access.

The main objective of the actions by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) ‘is to manipulate the prices of products and finally to subvert order in Cuba.’

The third and fourth stages of the operation, the boycott on supplies and the financial blockade, follow the pattern of harassment against institutions that could establish commercial links with Cuba, the article denounces.

[Image 2: State Department, Memorandum, “The Decline and Fall of Castro,” Secret, April 6, 1960]

Memorandum for Mr. Rubottom

SUBJECT: The Decline and Fall of Castro

Salient considerations respecting the life of the present Government of Cuba are:

1. The majority of Cubans support Castro (the lowest estimate I have seen is 50 percent).
2. There is no effective political opposition.
3. Fidel Castro and other members of the Cuban Government espouse or condone communist influence.
4. Communist influence is pervading the Government and the body politic at an amazingly fast rate.
5. Militant opposition to Castro from without Cuba would only serve his and the communist cause.
6. The only foreseeable means of alienating internal support is through disenchantment and disaffection based on economic dissatisfaction and hardship.

If the above are accepted or cannot be successfully countered, it follows that every possible means should be undertaken promptly to weaken the economic life of Cuba. If such a policy is adopted, it should be the result of a positive decision which would call forth a line of action which, while as adroit and inconspicuous as possible, makes the greatest inroads in denying money and supplies to Cuba, to decrease monetary and real wages, to bring about hunger, desperation and overthrow of government.

The principal item in our economic quiver would be flexible authority in the sugar legislation. This needs to be sought urgently. All other avenues should likewise be explored. But first, a decision is necessary as to the line of our conduct. Would you wish to have such a proposal prepared for the Secretary?

Image Transcription: Article about Trade Unions in Cuba on pages 18-19 written by Steve Cottingham & Adrian Weir in the issue “International Centre for Trade Union Rights (ICTUR) Volume 29 Issue 3 2022 Focus on Latin America”

[Image 1]

Trade Unions in Cuba

The Central de Trabajadores de Cuba (CTC, English Workers’ Cente of Cuba) has been the unified trade union federation of Cuba since 1939. Currently the CTC unites 15 sectoral unions organising over 80,000 workplace branches. The unions work at municipal, provincial and industrial levels. Unions are funded by members’ subscriptions, usually based upon their earnings. Every union has an elected committee at municipal, provincial and national levels. Cuban law guarantees the right to form and join trade unions. Legally, a Cuban trade union’s constitution and rules must be approved by its members. Trade unions and their members remain central to the political system and the development of the island’s economy.

The CTC’s latest figures show that about 96 per cent of all eligible workers belong to trade unions. Cuban unions organise in both the public and private sectors of the economy. Women are well-represented. Latest CTC figures show that women comprise about 70 per cent of union membership in education, health and public sector unions.

Following Cuba’s restructuring of the economy from 2010 onward, many former state employees have found work in the private sector. Many have become self-employed. Rather than create separate unions for self–employed workers, the existing unions have recruited the self-employed. The CTC estimates that about 55 per cent of non-state workers are self-employed. Most of these workers belong to a union. There are currently about 1,500 branches for self-employed workers.

Individual Rights at Work

Cuban workers are entitled to a written contract of employment. Temporary and fixed-term contracts can only run for a maximum of three years. The working week is limited to 40–44 hours, based on an 8-9 hour day and a five-day week. Workers have a right to training, and to use two weeks of their annual leave entitlement for daytime education of their choice. Workers in the state sector are entitled to 30 days’ paid annual leave plus 10 days’ paid public holidays, as well as guaranteed weekly rest days. Private sector employees are entitled to a minimum of seven days’ paid leave, which is low by European standards, but comparable to private sector averages in the US, Mexico and China. Unpaid compassionate leave has been introduced.

Grievances, Disciplinaries and Workplace Representation

Grievances and disciplinary issues in the workplace are dealt with by workplace boards known as the Organs of Labour Justice (OLJ). Traditionally these comprised a representative from the union, one from management and a third, elected by the workforce. While this continues in many workplaces, some larger ones have a five-person committee, the majority of whom must be elected workers. Decisions of the OLJ can be appealed to the courts.

Cuba’s trade unions are recognised within the workplace. Unions have the right to a seat on company boards, facility time and office space for representatives. Each workplace is legally required to negotiate a Collective Bargaining Agreement with the union(s) who organise their workforce. This Agreement covers important issues like pay; health and safety, training and maternity provisions. According to the CTC there are currently 10,244 such agreements in existence. These agreements are legally binding. Every year the union and management must meet to check the detail of the agreement and negotiate any changes.

Health, Safety and Welfare

The right to health and safety at work requires employers to eliminate risks, provide training and supply adequate protective equipment and training. Individual workers and unions have the right to stop work that they consider to be dangerous. Overtime, limited and subject to union agreement, is paid at a premium rate – normally time plus a quarter. The 2014 Labour Code has enhanced maternity rights with protection from overtime and shift working as well as an hour’s paid time daily for feeding a baby up to the age of one year.

Collective Bargaining

Cuba has a national state sector salary scale established in consultation with the trade unions. This is based on qualification and includes a minimum salary of about 6,000 Cuban pesos per month. The Cuban Constitution supports the ‘socialist principle of distribution’ which allows for individuals to be rewarded according to their contribution. Local bonus schemes can be negotiated between unions and the employer then approved by the workers’ assembly. Cuba is working toward restoring the ‘socialist principle of

Steve Cottingham is a lawyer and a member of the Cuba Solidarity Campaign Executive Committee (CSC EC) in London. He has attended several lawyers’ conferences in Cuba and Adrian Weir is also a member of the CSC EC. He has led Unite delegations to Cuba and is the Trade Union Officer with Hornsey & Wood Green Labour Party

[Photo of Steve Cottingham]

[Image 2]

distribution’ where incomes reflect the ‘quantity and quality’ of work. This laudable aim has been undermined by recent increases in food and commodity prices and the US blockade of the island.

Unions and Politics

Trade unions in Cuba have a defined political role in Cuban politics as one of the ‘mass organisations’, along with small farmers, the national women’s federation, and the students’ union. This gives unions a voice in Cuba’s parliament, the National Assembly. The unions manage mass consultations over government policy by convening meetings and organising responses to the National Assembly. Unions in Cuba chair the commissions that present candidates for the National and Provincial Assemblies. Crucially, the Cuban Constitution gives trade unions the right to be consulted over employment law as well as the right to propose new laws to the National Assembly.

The 2014 Labour Code

The Cuban constitution prohibits the ‘exploitation of man by man’ ie the accumulation of capital through exploitation of waged labour. It also guarantees the ‘right and duty to work’. Other fundamental rights include equal pay, a minimum salary, and non-discrimination (including sexual orientation – after a parliamentary amendment). Workers, including the self-employed, have the right to pensions; welfare benefits such as maternity leave, unemployment benefit and accident benefit are established. Workers have the right to individual participation at work through workplace assemblies and trade unions respectively.

In June 2014, Cuba replaced its 1985 Labour Code with a new version. The 2014 Labour Code began as a document discussed by the government and trade unions, who exercised their constitutional right to be consulted on legislation. A five month mass consultation then took place, involving nearly 70,000 workplace meetings. A joint national commission of the CTC, the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, and the National Assembly analysed the workers’ submissions and agreed changes before the parliamentary debate. As a result of this process more than 100 changes were made.

The original draft inserted a new stage into the workplace grievance and disciplinary process giving exclusive powers to senior management. This was removed following the consultation. The draft proposal to permit workers to work all but 7 of their 30 days’ annual leave was amended to permit such work only in exceptional circumstances, and then only after consultation with the relevant union. Written contracts for private sector workers were made obligatory rather than merely ‘preferable.’ Provision was added for indefinite contracts for workers in cyclical occupations like tourism.

The 2014 Code elaborates the rights for non-state workers for the first time. Since 2010, self-employment includes a category of ‘contracted worker’ providing labour for another self-employed worker or business. Rather than cut these self-employed workers adrift, Cuban trade unions have sought to organise them and incorporate them, and their specific requirements, into the post 2014 trade union arrangements.

They are helped by the Cuban Supreme Court which has decided that the self-employed are not civil contractors but employees subordinated to an employer. The 2014 Labour Code gives contracted workers the right to written contracts, minimum salaries, maximum hours, rest periods, paid holidays and health and safety protection at work.

A new co-operative sector has also developed in Cuba. Alert to this, the 2014 Labour Code requires a worker to be offered membership of the co-op after working there for three months. Also, no more than 10 per cent of the working time of co-op can be performed by contracted workers.

The 2014 Labour Code restates the right to voluntarily associate and form trade unions. This right is described as existing ‘in conformity with foundational unitary principles’ – an implicit reference to the CTC and its affiliates. This reflects concerns at divisive breakaways in view of the USA’s stated intention to promote ‘independent’ trade unions in Cuba. The new Code has extended the trade unions’ right to participate in company planning and control by adding the right to receive information from management (to raise the quality of worker participation). Attempts to limit facility time for trade union officials have been removed from the Code, which contains a new right to promote training for trade union representatives.

Active Participants or a Conflict of Interest

Attempts have been made to criticise Cuban trade unions in the past for their role in being active participants in the political process, while at the same time, representing their members. It has been argued that this apparent duality creates a conflict of interest for Cuba’s unions. Quite apart from misunderstanding the role of trade unions in a socialist country, this view is undermined by the evidence. The widespread consultation which led to the 2014 Labour Code and the number of amendments which were proposed and accepted, show that the unions were able to consult their members, conduct a vibrant consultation process and achieve genuine and positive changes to the laws concerning their working lives.

Cuban trade unions remain effective and relevant despite developments in the Cuban economy which have prompted changes in the structure of the island’s workforce. The CTC and its constituent unions continue to enjoy rights and influence that would be the envy of many of their counterparts elsewhere in the world.

Further reading – Ludlum S, What about the Workers?, Cuba Solidarity Campaign (2014) https://cuba-solidarity .org.uk/cubasi/article/ 182/what-about-the- workers

Evenson D & Ludlum S, Workers in Cuba: unions and labour relations, Institute of Employment Rights (2011, 2nd edition) https://cuba-solidarity .org.uk/resources/ tradeunionsfinal may2015sl.pdf

[Photo of Adrian Weir]

[Image Transcription: screenshoot of an article titled “Cuba approves increase of social benefits for maternity” by the Cuban online newspaper Prensa Latina]

Cuba approves increase of social benefits for maternity

Havana, Jan 24 (Prensa Latina) The Cuban government today approved a three-month increase in the social benefit for maternity, as part of the actions planned to correct distortions and boost the economy in 2024.

January 24, 2024 14:42

[Links to Prensa Latina social media accounts: Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, telegram, and their email]

Granma newspaper reported that the communiqué informing the measure, published on the government’s official networks, explains that protecting the most precious thing for our family, infants, is a priority for the Revolution.

Granma adds that from this moment on, mothers and fathers will be able to be with their babies until they are 15 months old, three more than the 12 months established so far. This is the second time in less than five years that Cuba has adopted a resolution of great benefit for parents and their families.

In October 2021 the approval by the Council of State, Decree Law 56 “On Working Mothers and the Responsibility of Families” increased and equalized guarantees for working mothers in the state and non-state sector.

This decree is also noteworthy because it included the payment of 100 percent of the worker’s salary in the event of a risky pregnancy and the elimination of the requirement of having worked 75 days to be entitled to receive economic and social benefits.

In turn, the entry into force of Decree Law 71 in 2023 extended the exercise of the right to protection for the care of the daughter or child to other working persons.

This new regulation introduced changes in line with the Family Code as a consequence of multiparentality, adoptive, assisted and socio-affective filiation.

ef/abo/mem/ale/ebe

[Image 2: Claudia & Karina Campaign poster]

[Claudia & Karina presidential campaign logo]

[Left side of the poster has picture of Claudia De la Cruz and a QR code with text saying “Get Involved!”]

A powerful peoples movement has just emerged in every corner of the country and all around the world united to demand: Free Palestine! Israel and the United States have money and military might on their side, but is absolutely clear that the world stands with Palestine. With mass mobilizations like today’s we can use our strength in numbers to help force the Israeli and U.S. War machine to back down.

Only the people's movement can accomplish this, because the first instinct of both Democrat and Republican politicians is to compete to prove which of the two supports Israel's ruthless violence against Palestinians the most.

While the U.S. government neglects the poor and working class of this country at a time when it's becoming harder and harder just to pay rent or go to the grocery store, the Biden administration is requesting $105 billion to fuel the aggression against Palestinians, continue funding the proxy war in Ukraine and escalate towards war with China. This is in addition to the annual $3.8 billion the U.S. sends to fund Israeli apartheid in "normal” periods. And the Republicans support this war funding just as much or demand even more!

Every cent invested in the U.S. war machine is money that can be used for housing, healthcare, education, public infrastructure and ongoing environmental catastrophes amongst many other basic needs. Instead, U.S. weapons manufacturing corporations grow even richer off the contractors to arm the Israeli war machine.

THE PSL AND OUR SOCIALIST PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN IS NOT AFRAID TO SAY WITHOUT RESERVATION THAT THE PALESTINIAN PEOPLE DESERVE THE RIGHT TO LIVE IN THEIR LAND, FREE AND IN PEACE. THE ONLY PATH TO PEACE IS TO END THE ISRAELI OCCUPATION OF PALESTINE FROM THE RIVER TO THE SEA.

PAID FOR BY CLAUDIA DE LA CRUZ FOR PRESIDENT CLAUDIA & KARINA

[Right side of the poster has picture of Karina Garcia and links to the website (votesocialist2024.com) Twitter (@VoteSocialist2024, and Instagram(@claudia_karina2024)]

A leaked phone call revealed that the organizers of the #15ncuba protests, a supposedly progressive, grassroots movement, is collaborating with a right-wing Cuban-American extremist.

Image Transcription: Women’s Rights In Cuba. Source from the article “Fighting for women’s rights - 60 years of the FMC” by Cuban Solidarity Campaign (Aug 11, 2020)

[All images have a dark purple background and white text]

[Image 1]

[Silhouette of a women in the background]

Women’s Rights In Cuba

[Image 2]

The history of Cuba’s independence struggle and the 1959 Revolution is peppered with courageous women who receive little recognition outside of Cuba.

Mariana Grajales, known as the “mother of the country”, was a black woman born in Santiago de Cuba in 1815, whose sons (including the famous General Antonio Maceo) fought in the 1868 War of Independence. Mariana herself ran hospitals and provision grounds and frequently entered the battlefield to aid wounded soldiers. Ana Betancourt was another pre-revolutionary leader who campaigned for women’s rights and an end to colonialism and slavery.

As the resistance to the dictator Fulgencio Batista gathered force, more women emerged through underground organisations such as the Frente Cívico de las Mujeres Martianas and Mujeres Unidas Oposicionistas, and later as part of the all-female guerrilla squadron Mariana Grajales. Women leaders who emerged from these times include Celia Sánchez, a founder member of the 26th of July Movement, and Haydée Santamaría and Melba Hernández, who took part in the famous 1953 rebel army assault on the Moncada Barracks, and were arrested and tortured with the men when the attack failed.

Post-Revolution, Celia became a member of the Cuban Council of State and oversaw the publication of Granma newspaper. Haydée established the Casa de las Americas and Melba became a politician and diplomat

[Image 3]

Like many other Cuban women, they emerged from their participation in the underground movement and revolutionary war with new self-esteem, having broken the gender taboos of 1950s Cuba, occupied leading positions and become powerful role models for future generations.

Perhaps the most well-known, both in and outside Cuba, is Vilma Espín, founder and former President of the Federation of Cuban Women (FMC), an organisation to which she dedicated her life until her death in 2006.

The achievements of women in Cuba are clear. Save the Children consistently places it first among developing countries for the well-being of mothers and children, and the World Economic Forum, in its 2020 Global Gender Gap Report, ranked the island 31 out of 151 nations. The gains listed in the box on this page can be traced back to policies introduced in the early days of the Revolution and to the work of the FMC since its establishment on 23 August 1960.

[Bold] The “revolution within the Revolution”

Even before the Revolution, its leaders took the decision to place women’s equality and rights at the heart of the revolutionary project. In 1955 the 26 July Movement published Manifesto Number One, committing itself to the “establishment of appropriate measures in education and legislation to end all vestiges of discrimination for reasons of race or sex that regrettably exist in the realm of social and economic life.”

[Image 4]

In one of his first speeches after the triumph of the Revolution in 1959, Fidel Castro said women’s liberation was key to its success: “They are victims of discrimination at work and in other aspects of life [...] When our revolution is judged in the years to come, one of the questions that will be asked is how our society and our country resolved the problems of women, even though this is one of the problems of the Revolution that requires the most determination and firmness, the most perseverance and effort.” The emancipation of women became central to redefining Cuba’s future – what Fidel Castro described as “the revolution within a Revolution.”

The FMC was central to achieving this. It was the first mass organisation created by the new government, and with Vilma Espín at its helm it spearheaded equality programmes, served as an advocate for change and informed government policy.

Prior to the Revolution, most women could not work because they had to care for children at home. In 1961, the FMC opened state-funded daycare facilities that cared for newborns as young as seven weeks until they were old enough to attend school. One of the first tasks of the FMC was to free women from domestic service and prostitution. 100,000 women in pre-revolutionary Cuba were involved in prostitution, and the FMC took on the role of involving them in building a new society, offering education, stipends, and support.

[Image 5]

Many went on to train as nurses and build Cuba’s health service.

The Federation of Cuban Women today

Today the FMC’s primary task is to guarantee justice and equality for women in the workplace and at home. It has a research wing which provides input into government laws relating to women on issues ranging from employment, health and ageing, to domestic violence.

Its education wing provides training for policy- makers, for police officers working on gender violence cases, and content for radio programmes.

Since 1997 there has been a government plan for the advancement of the female population, which means that ministries have a responsibility to ensure their policies contribute to the advancement of women’s equality and well-being – and they must provide the FMC with annual accounts on what they have done to achieve this.

FMC in the community

The FMC has four million members, 1,600 paid professionals, and 150,000 volunteers. Women affiliate for just three Cuban pesos a year. FMC orientation houses in each province offer women a range of services: from practical courses for setting up businesses and teaching skills and crafts to training and workshops on domestic and gender violence. Each house also offers counselling and family mediation services.

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Equality guaranteed by law

The FMC formed part of the commission which drew up both Cuba’s 1975 and 2018 Constitutions, and the 1976 Family Code. It is also currently involved in the drafting of a new Family Code due to go out for public consultation in 2021.

Women are legally guaranteed economic, political, social, cultural and family rights. The Family Code that Espín promoted in 1976 also attempted to persuade men to take part in household chores and childcare. Article 26 states that marriage is an equal union, and that household labour and childcare should be shared between both parents. The aim was to legally mandate equality for women in the home. Although it is impossible to enforce, it did see men take on a greater share of domestic work than previously. But household chores and childcare still fall disproportionately to women – an issue the revision of the Family Code will look to address. (See "Cubans just ratifed the world's most progressive Family Code" and "How the Cuban government and its people collaborated on the Family Code" by Peoples Dispatch.)

Pregnancy entitlement is exemplary in Cuba, thanks to the work of the FMC and the trade unions. Women are entitled to eighteen weeks of maternity leave on full pay. After that, either parent is eligible for up to 40 weeks at 60 per cent of pay. When they return to their jobs, women are allowed one hour a day to breastfeed. The FMC was instrumental in revising the law, which in 2003 gave both mothers and fathers the opportunity to choose who takes the 40 weeks of leave.

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Focus on women’s health Cuba has the highest government spending on social services in Latin America, with 26 per cent of GDP spent on health. The constitutional commitments to free education and health were cornerstones in the effort to build a more equal society after the Revolution, and the positive impact on women is evident. According to Save the Children’s State of the World’s Mothers’ report, educating girls is “the most effective means of improving the well-being of women and children.”

Although health spending benefits the entire population, many of the country’s acclaimed health policies are specifically directed at women. These include programmes on maternal infant care, detection of cervical cancer, reproductive health and family planning, and family doctor and nurse programmes.

Contraception and abortion have been provided freely since 1965, when Cuba became the first country in Latin America to legalise abortion, and family planning services have positive implications for women’s health in a continent where free contraception is rare.

Women at work

Before the Revolution, women made up five per cent of the workforce – today they are almost half.

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Women make up the majority of judges, attorneys, lawyers, scientists, technical, finance, education, heath and public service workers. In joint ventures operated by Cuba with foreign investors, they hold more than 40 per cent of the jobs.

Men still dominate traditionally male roles such as construction, mining, and the ‘hard’ sciences, but there are signs women are breaking through. For example, 30 years ago only five per cent of engineers in Cuba were women. Today that number is 24 per cent – significantly higher than in the UK’s six per cent, and the US’s eleven. Trade union delegations to Cuba frequently comment on the number of women they meet holding senior trade union posts in the regions and nationally.

Future challenges Machismo, an aging population and the blockade, are the three major challenges facing the FMC today. The organisation has not yet been able to eradicate traditional sexist behaviour and gender stereotypes in the home. Attitudes are still moving at a slower pace than legal rights. For example, despite both parents being eligible for 40 weeks of parental leave when a child is born, it is still the mother that usually takes it. The FMC know that they have their work cut out in this area. The legacy of five centuries of patriarchal society, Spanish colonial rule and Catholicism will take longer than 60 years to eradicate.

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As Dania Rodríguez Gutiérrez, an FMC international officer, says: “we need more democracy in the family and to break down macho stereotypes which still exist in Cuban culture and are embedded in Cuban families.”

An ageing population and falling birth rate is also placing an enormous strain on the state’s capacity to provide services for social welfare. The tradition in Caribbean and Latin American societies of caring for relatives at home means this burden inevitably falls on women.

Society and family structures have undergone massive changes since the 1976 Family Code was drafted and the new Code will attempt to address these. The revision will likely expand the definition of family to recognise the reality of diverse family structures, include new protections for the elderly and people with disabilities, and address domestic violence, gender identity and same-sex marriage. (See "Cubans just ratifed the world's most progressive Family Code" and "How the Cuban government and its people collaborated on the Family Code" by Peoples Dispatch.)

Women and the 1961 Literacy Campaign

Women were instrumental in Cuba’s 1961 Literacy Campaign. Not only did they help to eradicate illiteracy (cutting it from 24 to 3 per cent), but their participation had a liberating effect in itself. They went to live and work with campesinos in remote rural areas: working the fields with them by day and giving classes at night.

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They experienced different parts of the country and new environments, and were empowered as equals with the men, carrying out the same duties as them – something that had not happened before.

Today, many women now in their 80s speak with pride and reverence about the part each played in the literacy campaign, how it changed Cuba, and how it changed them.

One of the participants, Leonela Relys Díaz, who was 14 years old when she volunteered as a brigadista, went on to invent the Yo Sí Puedo (Yes I Can) alphanumeric literacy method, which has been used in more than 30 countries to teach 9 million people to read.

Today, Cuba boasts a literacy rate of more than 99%, that of a developed country. Women now outnumber men at university level, representing 68% of students receiving university degrees.

Learn More: - Maestra (Teacher) by Catherine Murphy (film) - Women in Cuba: The making of a revolution within the revolution. (Book) - Blowback Season 2 Bonus 2 - "Lo Distinto Se Parece" (Podcast)

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[Top right Corner: Cuba Solidarity Campaign Logo]

Democracy A Cuba Solidarity Campaign Fact sheet 2015

Before the Revolution

In 1959 the Cuban Revolution defeated dictator, Fulgencio Batista, and his corrupt and unpopular government was ousted by the Cuban people. Batista had seized power in a military coup in 1952 and promptly cancelled elections. Opponents of Batista were harassed, imprisoned and assassinated. US mafia gangsters like Meyer Lansky and Lucky Luciano worked in tandem with Batista, his supporters, the US government and big business to make millions of dollars out of the Cuban people.

The Cuban Revolution put an end to this, but it didn’t stop successive United States governments trying to reverse the gains of the Cuban people through overt attacks like the Bay of Pigs invasion and covert actions in conjunction with Batista’s supporters. Today the US government grants millions of dollars to groups working in and outside Cuba on so called “democracy building programmes” with the objective of forcing a change of Government in Cuba to one more subservient to US political and economic interests.

Cuba’s Democracy

Cuba’s democratic system grew out of a desire to defend the gains of the 1959 Revolution such as the eradication of illiteracy, and the introduction of universal free health care and social provision designed to meet the needs of the people. The system is designed to involve the mass of the Cuban population in every level of the democratic process to ensure that money, violence and corruption could never again be used to take power.

The grassroots participatory nature of the Cuban system means that in addition to elections, there are further opportunities for the population to participate in decision making. People can exercise their democratic rights through voting for representatives to the Municipal, Provincial and National Assemblies and through their membership of ‘mass organisations’ which represent women, students, trade unionists and other parts of civil society and have the right to be consulted on legislation.

Mass Organisations

Cuba’s mass social and grassroots organisations have millions of members. They are self-regulating voluntary bodies with their own staff, buildings and resources.

These include the Cuban Workers Central (CTC); the Federation of Cuban Women (FMC); the National Association of Small Farmers (ANAP); the University Students Federation (FEU); Pre-university secondary pupils (FEEM); and the neighbourhood based Committees for the Defence of the Revolution (CDRs). All have the right to nominate delegates to Provincial and National parliaments and to initiate and be consulted on legislation in the National Assembly.

More than 2,221 voluntary organisations covering a wide span of interests - social and grassroots bodies, technical, scientific, cultural, artistic, sports, friendship and solidarity organisations exist in Cuba. They range from the mass organisations composed of millions through to much smaller bodies with more specific interests.

[Photo of a voter registering to vote in a local polling station in Cuba. Elections to local councils are once every 2.5 years, and for provincial and national bodies once every 5 years.]

Find out more at www.cuba-solidarity.org.uk

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Elections in Cuba - You can vote in elections at 16 - You can stand for local election at 16 and national elections at 18 - All elections are by secret ballot and voting is voluntary - Elected representatives continue to be paid their working wage - Elected representatives can be recalled Provincial/national parliament election are every 5 yrs and local every 2.5 yrs Women make up 48.9% of the members of the National Assembly - Candidates must achieve 50% plus 1 vote to be elected

Local, regional and national elections

Cuba has 169 Municipal Assemblies, 16 Provisional Assemblies and a National Assembly to which representatives are elected by secret ballot. Voting is voluntary and votes are counted in public. Local and regional representatives are called delegates, and representatives at the national parliament are called Deputies. They are subject to recall by their constituents at any time, and receive no financial incentives other than their normal working wage.

[Photo of a woman walking past a list of candidates are displayed in the local community in Cuba]

During elections it is illegal to spend any money promoting candidates. Candidates’ biographies and their reasons for standing are simply displayed on local notice boards so that every candidate receives the same exposure. Political parties are permitted in Cuba, however they are not allowed to nominate or campaign for candidates. This includes the Cuban Communist Party which is forbidden by law from interfering in the electoral process.

Municipal Assembly

The electoral process in Cuba begins with municipal elections once every 2.5 years. Each Municipal area is divided into ‘wards’ which nominate and elect their delegates. They do this by dividing each ward into smaller nomination areas – between two and eight per ward depending on the population density. Candidates are nominated by their neighbours in local open community meetings, where they are free to accept or decline the nomination. If several people are nominated, the candidate is chosen by a show of hands. In this way, each ward in the municipality ends up with at least two candidates on the ballot paper.

Successful candidates must gain more than 50 per cent of the votes cast in a secret ballot. If nobody achieves this, then run off elections are held until the required majority is achieved. For example in October 2002 the electorate could choose from 32,585 candidates standing for 14,949 municipal delegate places. Some 1,370 delegate positions went to a second round of voting and 3 to a third. More than 81.7 per cent of those eligible voted in the elections which are completely voluntary.

Delegates are required to meet with their electors at least once every six months for ‘accountability sessions’ where they must take up issues and problems raised by their constituents and seek solutions. They can be recalled at any time if their constituents feel that they are failing to perform their role adequately.

Provincial Assembly

The delegates to the Provincial Assembly are elected once every five years. Half of the delegates are nominated from those already elected to the Municipal Assemblies, the other half are nominated by Cuba’s

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mass organisations representing women, trade unions, students, small farmholders, and the neighbourhood associations (see section on Mass Organisations).

The elections to the Provincial Assemblies are not competitive. Instead Electoral Commissions, chaired by a member of the Cuban Workers Central (CTC) and made up of representatives from the mass organisations, draw up a list of candidates. These candidates have been nominated at hundreds of meetings of the mass organisations over a period of many months. After wide consultation and after agreement from the Municipal Assembly, a list of candidates is recommended for the Provincial Assembly. The list is then put to the electors for approval in a secret ballot. As in the municipalities candidates must win more than 50 per cent to become members of one of the 16 provincial assemblies.

National Assembly

Cuba’s parliament, the National Assembly of People’s Power, is made up in a similar way to the Provincial Assemblies. Elections take place once every five years and half the delegates come from the municipalities and the other half are candidates nominated by the mass organisations. A list of candidates for National Assembly Deputies is put before the electorate and each must receive 50 per cent or more of the vote or alternative candidates can be nominated.

[Photo of a local community meets to nominate its ward candidates for the Municipal Assembly elections. Nominations to decide the candidates are decided by a show of hands, but the final for representatives to the Assemblies at all levels are decided by secret ballot.]

[Photo of an election billboard encouraging people to vote.]

The Cuban Constitution

The rights of the Cuban people are written into the Cuban Constitution which was formally adopted, together with the political institutions and procedures of the Cuban government, in a 1976 vote approved by 98% of the electorate.

Article 1 states that:

“Cuba is an independent and sovereign socialist state of workers, organised with all and for the good of all as a united and democratic republic, for the enjoyment of political freedom, social justice and collective well-being and human solidarity”.

Article 9 of the Constitution guarantees that: - every man or woman, who is able to work, have the opportunity to have a job; - no disabled person be left without adequate means of subsistence; - no sick person be left without medical care - no child left without schooling, food and clothing; - no young person left without the opportunity to study; - no one be left without access to studies, culture and sports.

The state commits itself to working to achieve a situation in which no family is left without a comfortable place to live.

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Of the 612 deputies, or MPs, elected to the National Assembly in 2013, 48.9 per cent were women, the average ages was 48 and eight per cent were 35 years or younger. Voter turnout was 90 per cent of the electorate.

National Assembly delegates are responsible for electing the Council of State, which in turn elects ministers and the Cuban President and Vice President. Following a decision at the 2011 Communist Party Congress, senior elected officials can only serve two consecutive terms (10 years) in office. Current President Raul Castro will stand down at the 2018 elections after his second term ends.

Influencing power – the power of the people In Cuba, participation in decision making is not confined to voting in elections and leaving everything up to elected delegates and deputies in between. The mass organisations, to which people belong on a voluntary basis, play a vital role.

For example, when the National Assembly proposed a new Labour Law in 2012, a year long consultation process involving some 69,056 trade union meetings and 2,802,459 workers took place to discuss it. As a result 101 significant amendments to the proposals were agreed including 28 totally new regulations.

Work Commissions All Assemblies, National, Provincial and Municipal, have Work Commissions. Their role is to research and scrutinise policy areas and feed directly into policy content, and at the National level into drafting legislation. There are around 20,000 people involved in the Work Commissions at any one time including delegates and specialists pertinent to the commission’s field of work in areas such as health, education and production.

[Image of a polling station and ballot box being prepared in advance of the 2013 elections]

Find out more: Further reading: Cuba and its Neighbours by Arnold August Democracy & Revolution by DL Raby Leadership in the Cuban Revolution by Antoni Kapcia CSC Trade Union Fact Sheet CubaSí magazine articles archive Full details at www.cuba-solidarity.org.uk

Get involved Help end the illegal US blockade of Cuba and defend the Cuban people’s right to determine their own future free from foreign interference and aggression.

Please support the Cuba Solidarity Campaign Membership includes quarterly magazine and free 15 track Cuban music CD. £20 waged/£8 unwaged

Join or donate today.at: Cuba Solidarity Campaign c/o Unite, 33-37 Moreland St, London, EC1V 8BB T. 0207 490 5715 office@cuba-solidarity.org.uk www.cuba-solidarity.org.uk

[Bottom right Corner: Cuba Solidarity Campaign Logo]

Recorded on Sept. 26. Rania Khalek of Breakthrough News and Zoe Alexandra of @PeoplesDispatch sat down with Cuba’s Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs at the close of the UN General Assembly. They talked about the terrorist attack that had just taken place on the Cuban embassy in Washington DC, the impact of Cuba’s inclusion on the state sponsor of terrorism list, accusations that the Chinese built a spy base in Cuba, and more.

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LGBTQ+ RIGHTS IN CUBA

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Like many other Caribbean and Latin American countries, Cuba's LGBT+ community have faced historical discrimination and homophobia and there is still work to be done to achieve equal rights for all.

Hundreds of years of Spanish colonialism, the influence of the Catholic church, and a culture of machismo helped to entrench homophobic attitudes deep in society which LGBT+ people are still fighting against today. However, in recent years there have been significant steps to rectify the mistakes of the past, to legislate to protect LGBT+ rights in society and try and educate the wider population to end discrimination and homophobia.

Following the decriminalization of same sex relationships in 1979 a number of education initiatives and changes in the law marked the beginning of changes in government and societal attitudes, including the new Family Code passed in September 2022 which legalizes same sex marriage and adoption.

“Supporting LGBT+ Rights and the LGBT+ community in Cuba” - Cuban Solidarity Campaign (2021) [arrow pointing right]

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Central to lobbying, raising awareness and educating against homophobia in the country has been the work of the government funded National Centre for Sexual Education (CENESEX). CENESEX campaigns for sexual equality and LGBT+ rights and is headed by director, Mariela Castro Espin, daughter of feminist revolutionary Vilma Espin.

CENESEX was established by the Ministry of Health in 1988 and has been instrumental in changing legislation and attitudes, including changes to the Family Code in 2022 which recognised same sex marriage and adoption. CENESEX recognises that there is still much work to be done, however huge achievements have been made both in terms of reforming legal structures and challenging cultural norms. These achievements are not only impressive in themselves, but especially so when the regional context of Latin America and the Caribbean is considered which is heavily influenced by generations of ‘machismo’.

“Supporting LGBT+ Rights and the LGBT+ community in Cuba” - Cuban Solidarity Campaign (2021) [arrow pointing right]

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The impact of the blockade and aggressive US policy on the LGBT+ community and all Cubans should never be forgotten or played down. It impacts on all areas of Cuban society, access to healthcare, essential medication and education materials.

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“Supporting LGBT+ Rights and the LGBT+ community in Cuba” - Cuban Solidarity Campaign (2021)

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Timeline of advancing LGBT+ rights in Cuba

• 1979 Same sex relationships decriminalised
• 1988 CENESEX established to provide education on sexuality, sexual health and the recognition and guarantee of sexual rights of the population
• 1993 Strawberry and Chocolate, a ground-breaking film set in 1979, about a young communist man’s relationship with a gay writer – explored tolerance, inclusion and homophobia and marked a watershed in Cuban society
• 2006 Cuban television begins running a soap opera featuring gay characters for the first time.
• 2007 Cuba starts celebrating the International Day Against Homophobia (IDAHO) with a two week programme of awareness raising, educational, and cultural events
• 2008 Gender reassignment surgery is made freely available
• 2012Adela Hernandez is the first known transgender person to be elected to public office, after being elected as a delegate to the municipal government in the province of Villa Clara
• 2013 The new Labour Code includes anti-discrimination laws based on sexuality in employment for the first time.
• 2015 IDAHO features the involvement of the CTC (Cuban Workers Federation) for the first time, with a key focus being the creation of workplaces free from stigma and discrimination
• 2019 A new constitution is passed which expressly prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity and deletes the previous definition of marriage as a union between a man and women. Marriage is now defined as a social and legal institution and just one form of family organisation, recognising the right of everyone to found a family; First transgender marriage takes place
• 2021 The Cuban parliament unanmimously approves the draft of the new Family Code (updateing the 1975 document) in December. The document includes same sex marriage and adoption. CENESEX and the Federation of Cuban Women were part of the commission which drew up the draft document.
• 2022 Following a referendum and public consulation, on 26 September the Cuban population votes by 67% to approved the new Family Code which includes same sex marriage and adoption, as well as many changes to enshrine women's reporductive rights and more rights for minors and vulnerable groups within sociiety.

“Supporting LGBT+ Rights and the LGBT+ community in Cuba” - Cuban Solidarity Campaign (2021)

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[Image 1 has a blue, yellow, green, orange gradient background. The rest of the images have a blue background with black text with the National Network On Cuba logo.]

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THE US BLOCKADE ON CUBA IS A VIOLATION OF DEMOCRACY

[National Network On Cuba]

Article by NNOC co-chair Calla Walsh

“The blockade is not about restoring democracy in Cuba, despite the US attempts to portray it as such. No, these sanctions are designed to force Cuba into a return to capitalist dictatorship”

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Biden used his so-called Summit to prop up US regime change operations under the guise of democracy promotion. Foundations like the National Endowment for Democracy, a CIA front group, are some of the most blatant examples of how the US uses “democracy” as a weapon to undermine real democracy in the name of democracy. Over the past 20 years, the NED and USAID have allocated over $250 million USD to programs targeting Cuba. These programs aim to mutate real economic dissatisfaction in Cuba into violent anti-government protests. They have especially targeted Cuban cultural groups and youth groups, with the CIA notoriously infiltrating the underground hip hop scene in Cuba and fomenting counter-revolution. These protests have been utter failures, because people in Cuba are dissatisfied by the US blockade, not by the Cuban government.

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The US is still trying to fulfill the original goal of its blockade, which, in the words of the State Department itself, is “to bring about hunger, desperation and overthrow of government.” Over 60 years of the longest and most severe unilateral sanctions in the world have been exacerbated by the COVID pandemic and decrease of tourism to Cuba, but more significantly by Trump’s hawkish policy towards Cuba, which saw the reversal of Obama-era normalization policies, the addition of 243 new sanctions on Cuba, and the readdition of Cuba to the so-called “State Sponsors of Terrorism” List. In spite of his campaign promises to revert to Obama-era policy, Biden has kept nearly every single one of Trump’s added sanctions and doubled-down on the fallacy that Cuba is a terrorist state. Biden could change this designation with the stroke of his pen.

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US sanctions are designed to force Cuba into a return to capitalist dictatorship. US laws condition the lifting of sanctions on the complete destruction of Cuba’s revolutionary political and economic systems. For example, the “Cuban Democracy Act of 1992,” commonly known as the Torricelli Act, requires that, for sanctions to be lifted, Cuba must change its Constitution, return US property that was legally nationalized by Cuba, move “toward establishing a free market economic system,” and hold elections for a new government. It promotes US intervention by “[authorizing] the President to provide assistance to promote nonviolent democratic change in Cuba.” So, the “Cuban Democracy Act” is about tearing apart Cuba’s existing democracy and replacing it with what the US deems to be fair elections.

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The blockade is not about forcing Cuba to give its people a greater say in their democracy. Cubans already have one of the most robust democracies in the world. Rather, the blockade is about exerting maximum economic pressure on Cuba to enable the US to impose their so-called model of democracy on Cuba: democracy for the US ruling class to seize and exploit Cuba’s people and resources.

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The US wants to reverse the accomplishments of the Revolution, and force Cubans back into the poverty they lived in under the yoke of the US. These policies are in blatant defiance of international law. They are a gross violation of Cuba’s right to sovereignty and self-determination.

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Not only is the blockade a violation of Cuba’s democratic rights, but it is also maintained against the democratic will of the US people and the 96% of the countries on Earth which vote year after year to condemn the blockade in the United Nations. A consistent majority of US citizens support normalizing relations with Cuba and lifting sanctions, especially for vital products like food and medicine, but we don’t get any say in the continuation of the blockade.

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The US labels Cuba as “authoritarian” and “undemocratic” to justify its cruel blockade. In reality, Cuban democracy is centuries ahead of the so-called democracy we have in the US. Observing Cuba’s municipal elections last November was the first time I saw real democracy, after working on dozens of elections in the US. Cuban elections are completely nonpartisan and there is no campaign spending, advertising, or lobbying allowed. Cuba consistently has much higher voter turnout than most other countries in the world. Once elected, representatives are not paid, they continue their lives as workers alongside the rest of the population, and they can be recalled at any point by voters. The workers are the state in Cuba.

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In the US, on the other hand, the corporations are the state. Bribery by corporations and lobbyists is legal and in fact a guaranteed path to victory, because the candidate who spends the most money almost always wins. In the US, we are only called upon to have a say in our government when elections take place.

 In Cuba, elections are not the full extent of how citizens can participate, they are only the beginning. The Constitution is regularly revised with the participation of millions of citizens. Ideas are constantly being generated from the masses and laws are tested and revised with the masses. This is what real democracy looks like.

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The Cuban Revolution has survived for over 60 years despite all odds, and we can only imagine the incredible things Cuba will do when it is able to develop free from the constraints of the US blockade. If we fight for it, then we will see an end to the blockade in our lifetimes and we will live in a truly democratic, multipolar world.

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JOIN OUR CAMPAIGN TO END THE BLOCKADE & GET CUBA OFF THE "STATE SPONSORS OF TERRORISM" LIST!!

CLICK THE LINK IN OUR BIO OR GO TO NNOC.ORG

[National Network On Cuba Logo]

[Image 12: Screenshoot of the Cuban Democracy Act of 1992 from congress.gov]

Shown Here:Passed House amended (09/24/1992) Cuban Democracy Act of 1992 - Sets forth U.S. policy with respect to Cuba.

Declares that the President should encourage countries that conduct trade with Cuba to restrict their trade and credit relations with Cuba in a manner consistent with this Act.

Authorizes the President to impose the following sanctions against countries that provide assistance to Cuba: (1) ineligibility for assistance under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 or the Arms Export Control Act; and (2) ineligibility for forgiveness or reduction of debt owed to the U.S. Government. Terminates such sanctions if the President reports to the Congress that Cuba has met conditions established under this Act concerning democracy, human rights, and a free market economy.

Prohibits restrictions on the export to Cuba of medicines, subject to specified conditions and inspection requirements. Permits telecommunications services between the United States and Cuba. Requires the U.S. Postal Service to provide direct mail service to and from Cuba. Authorizes the President to provide assistance to promote nonviolent democratic change in Cuba.

Prohibits the issuance of licenses for certain transactions between U.S.-controlled firms in third countries and Cuba. Prohibits vessels which enter Cuba to engage in trade from loading or unloading any freight in the United States within 180 days after departure from Cuba. Prohibits: (1) vessels carrying goods or passengers to or from Cuba or carrying goods in which a Cuban national has an interest from entering a U.S. port, except as authorized by the Secretary of the Treasury; and (2) specified commodities authorized to be exported under a general license from being exported under such a license to any such vessels. Directs the President to establish strict limits on remittances to Cuba by U.S. persons for purposes of financing the travel of Cubans to the United States to assure that such remittances are not used by the Cuban Government as a means of gaining access to U.S. currency.

Declares that food, medicine, and medical supplies for humanitarian purposes should be made available to Cuba under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 and the Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act of 1954 if the President certifies to the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that the Government of Cuba: (1) has made a commitment to hold free and fair elections for a new government within six months and is proceeding to implement that decision; (2) has made a commitment to respect and is respecting human rights and basic democratic freedoms; and (3) is not providing weapons or funds to any group in any other country that seeks the violent overthrow of the government of such country.

Waives sanctions against Cuba under this Act if the President reports to the Congress that Cuba: (1) has held free and fair elections conducted under internationally recognized observers; (2) has permitted opposition parties ample time to campaign for such elections and has permitted full access to the media to all candidates; (3) is showing respect for basic civil liberties and human rights; (4) is moving toward establishing a free market economic system; and (5) has committed itself to constitutional change that would ensure regular free and fair elections. Requires the President, if he makes such report, to take the following actions with respect to a freely-elected Cuban Government: (1) encourage the admission of such government to international organizations and financial institutions; (2) provide emergency relief during Cuba's transition to a viable economic system; and (3) take steps to end the U.S. trade embargo of Cuba.

Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to exercise the authorities of the Trading With the Enemy Act in enforcing this Act. Authorizes appropriations. Amends the Trading With the Enemy Act to authorize the Secretary to impose a civil penalty on violators of such Act. Provides for forfeiture of any property or vessel that is the subject of a violation. Requires the Department of the Treasury to establish a branch of the Office of Foreign Assets Control in Miami, Florida.