Washington, October 13 (Prensa Latina) — For friends of Cuba in the United States, solidarity cannot be delayed. They continue their struggle to lift the long-standing economic, commercial, and financial blockade, now intensified under Donald Trump’s administration in the White House.
News comes from California, where the Los Angeles-based Hands Off Cuba (HOC) Committee takes advantage of every opportunity and platform to spread the message of the island.
A recent march in Los Angeles in support of Palestine and against the Israeli genocide in Gaza also featured a show of solidarity with Cuba.
Mark Friedman, one of HOC’s coordinators and founders, told Prensa Latina that hundreds of leaflets were distributed during the event. The materials highlighted not only Cuba’s longstanding support for the Palestinian people’s cause but also called for an end to Washington’s hostility toward the Caribbean nation.
HOC acknowledged the valuable work of trade unions and solidarity organizations in Europe and the United States in disseminating the findings of the Brussels International Tribunal against the blockade.
The tribunal called for protests outside U.S. embassies around the world when the upcoming vote against the blockade takes place at the United Nations General Assembly.
In the face of hostile media coverage and subversive actions aimed at bringing about regime change in Cuba, the vast majority of working-class and ordinary people have made their voices heard, said Friedman, who is also a member of the International Association of Machinists.
He added that the world is facing a period of extreme complexity, marked by threats to global peace; war being used by hegemonic powers as a means of resolving conflicts; rising poverty; the growing impact of climate change; the depletion of natural resources; and widening inequality between rich and poor.
Four out of every five children under the age of 10 in Latin America and the Caribbean cannot read or write, he noted, citing figures from specialized organizations.
In Los Angeles, as well as in cities across the United States and around the world, actions are being organized ahead of the UN vote. In this context, local activists will participate in the October 17 demonstrations under the slogan “No Kings,” HOC said.
Meanwhile, a public event supported by 35 organizations will take place on the evening of October 24. Initiatives will be proposed to provide medical assistance for the maternal and prenatal health campaign run by the organization Global Health Partners.
After returning to the White House, Trump immediately reversed several measures introduced by his predecessor, Joe Biden, which had been delayed but were moving in the right direction. These included Cuba’s removal from the list of state sponsors of terrorism.
The Republican president reinstated the Caribbean nation on that unilateral list, triggering a cascade of further measures in an unprecedented attempt to bring about the island’s collapse.
Beginning in January of this year, the Trump administration’s pressure campaign became more severe following an executive order in which the president declared a national emergency with respect to Cuba, making what the Cuban government described as unfounded and defamatory claims that the neighboring country posed a threat to U.S. national security.
Under this order, Trump imposed a strict blockade on oil supplies entering Cuba, threatening tariffs against any country that sovereignly chose to defy his directive.
The Cuban government has described the blockade as collective punishment and firmly rejected the false claims that a small, developing nation could pose a threat to the world’s greatest power.
(Source: Prensa Latina)