Resolution of the Enlarged Federal Executive Board of the Left Trade Union Bloc of the Austrian Trade Union Federation, March 1, 2026
Against the blockade of Cuba: solidarity with the Cuban Workers’ Federation (CTC) and the Cuban people
The Left Trade Union Bloc (GLB) within the Austrian Trade Union Federation (ÖGB) and the Chamber of Labor (AK) strongly condemns the recent tightening of the U.S. economic and political blockade against Cuba.
The Trump administration’s latest executive order, announced on January 29, 2026, aims to completely cut off fuel supplies to Cuba through threats, coercion, and blackmail against third countries. By threatening to impose tariffs on imports from countries that sell or supply oil to Cuba, the U.S. government is attempting to impose a total fuel blockade and, in doing so, further intensify its longstanding criminal policy against the Cuban people.
This escalation directly affects the basic living conditions of workers and the entire Cuban population. Fuel restrictions affect hospitals, electricity generation, food distribution, transportation, public services, and production. This is an economic war whose deliberate aim is to exacerbate supply shortages, cause suffering, and destabilize Cuban society.
For more than six decades, the U.S. imperialist blockade has sought to strangle the Cuban economy and punish a people who have chosen the path of sovereignty, social justice, and dignity. Despite these attacks, Cuba has defended universal public health care, education, social security, and internationalist solidarity, even in the face of constant aggression.
The GLB condemns the provocative and false pretexts of the U.S. government, including the absurd claim that Cuba poses a threat to U.S. national security. Cuba does not threaten any people, does not occupy any foreign country, nor does it impose sanctions. On the contrary, it is a peaceful country, respected for its solidarity and cooperation with peoples around the world.
This new measure constitutes a flagrant violation of international law, an act of extraterritorial coercion, and an open attempt to dictate the sovereign trade relations of independent states. It confirms the dangerous course of U.S. foreign policy, based on violence, intimidation, and the pursuit of imperialist hegemony, especially in Latin America and the Caribbean, which directly contradicts the declaration of the region as a zone of peace.
The GLB expresses its unconditional solidarity with the heroic Cuban people, who have repeatedly demonstrated their willingness to engage in dialogue on the basis of sovereign equality, mutual respect, and non-interference, while at the same time resolutely defending their independence and revolutionary achievements.
The GLB demands the immediate and unconditional lifting of the U.S. blockade against Cuba!