On the eve of the 73rd anniversary of the historic assaults on the Guillermón Moncada and Carlos Manuel de Céspedes barracks on 26 July 1953; in this year, 2026, which coincides with the centenary of the birth of Commander-in-Chief Fidel Castro, leader of the Cuban Revolution, who spearheaded that heroic action, the people of Cuba are celebrating these events.
1 January 1959 marked the first time since the end of the American wars of independence in the 18th and 19th centuries that a popular insurrectionary movement had defeated a professional army of over 80,000 men, well-armed, trained and advised by the US military and its repressive forces.
US leaders viewed this situation with concern, as it was the first time they had lost control over the leaders of a movement that had seized political power in a country in the region, and they feared that this might clash with the policies of the powerful empire, both in Cuba and across the hemisphere. These concerns were understandable given their absolute hegemony in the hemisphere, and the policies of the Cold War and anti-communism, which dominated the ideological orientation of US domestic and foreign policy after the end of the Second World War.
Thus, very early on, the Americans attempted to organise a military coup following Batista’s flight; Fidel and the revolutionary leadership realised this and acted with great speed. The national army was defeated and demoralised, its leaders were fleeing, and the coup plans failed; the revolutionary leadership swiftly seized political power and dismantled the army and the repressive forces.
Invited by the American Society of Newspaper Editors, Fidel Castro travelled to the United States for the first time following the triumph of the revolution in April 1959. He visited Washington DC, New York and several other cities, and met with a broad cross-section of American society, including Vice-President Richard Nixon, whilst President Dwight D. Eisenhower declined to meet him.
Following the meeting, Vice-President Nixon wrote a memorandum stating that either Fidel Castro was very naive or was being manipulated by the communists – he obviously believed the latter – and that every effort should be made to overthrow the revolutionary regime.
From that moment on, the CIA and other US government agencies were instructed to begin preparing for the overthrow of the Cuban government, through diplomatic pressure and by supporting sectors opposed to it, through a growing propaganda and disinformation campaign against the revolution, support for terrorist acts carried out by the counter-revolutionary opposition, and the recruitment and training of Cuban dissidents in the United States and other countries, which would culminate in the invasion and defeat of the organised, armed military forces transported to the Bay of Pigs in April 1961; which was initially presented as an internal uprising within the Revolutionary Armed Forces; but ultimately, in the face of political disaster, the then President John F. Kennedy was forced to take responsibility for that act of aggression; yet he was not sanctioned by the UN, the OAS or anyone else, despite it constituting a flagrant violation of international law and the constitutive charters of those organisations.
The approach and policy proposed in Vice-President Nixon’s memorandum have been at the heart of the aggressive policy pursued by US governments against the Cuban Revolution for 67 years, with the exception of a few brief periods during the administrations of Presidents Jimmy Carter and Barack Obama.
The policy of economic, commercial and financial blockade against Cuba was introduced in 1962, inspired by the memorandum of 6 April 1962 drawn up by Lester D. Mallory, Assistant Under-Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs. In that memorandum, the official stated:
“The majority of Cubans support Castro (the lowest estimate I have seen is 50 per cent); there is no effective political opposition. Communist influence is spreading throughout the government and society at an alarming rate. Whether these facts are accepted or cannot be successfully countered, it follows that all possible means must be employed promptly to weaken the Cuban economy. If such a policy is adopted, it should be the result of a firm decision to pursue a course of action which, whilst being as skilful and discreet as possible, achieves the greatest impact in depriving Cuba of money and supplies, reducing monetary and real wages, and causing hunger, despair and the overthrow of the government.”
That same year, the Eisenhower administration imposed the economic, commercial and financial blockade that continues to this day, making it the longest-running and most comprehensive in history. The memorandum was declassified in 1991.
Despite the blockade and acts of aggression, Cuba has managed to achieve high standards in education and culture, public health, employment, and notable successes in social justice, the struggle for racial and gender equality, scientific and technical development, and sport, placing it at the forefront of developing countries and, in some areas, even ahead of many industrialised nations.
Furthermore, it supported the struggle of the so-called Third World countries against colonialism and aggression by foreign powers, contributing to national liberation and the abolition of apartheid; it provided humanitarian aid and solidarity to our brothers and sisters in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean in the fight against ignorance, disease, pests and natural disasters, becoming a symbol of solidarity and internationalism.
This explains why, since 1992, UN member states have voted almost unanimously every year at the United Nations General Assembly—which is the most representative forum of the world’s governments—against the US economic, commercial and financial blockade of Cuba.
The anti-Cuban document released by the US government on 30 June 2025 consists of a reissue and amendment of Presidential National Security Memorandum No. 5, which the US Government itself had issued on 16 June 2017, at the start of Donald Trump’s first term of office.
Cuba denounces and categorically rejects both versions of this infamous document.
As a clear expression of that government’s aggressive behaviour and hegemonic aims, the original text and its current revised version set out a series of measures designed to further tighten the economic blockade and cause greater hardship for the Cuban people, in a futile attempt to seize control of the country and dictate its destiny, in accordance with the provisions of the Helms-Burton Act of 1996.
As early as 2017, and under the auspices of the Memorandum issued at that time, the US Government began implementing measures to drastically tighten the economic blockade, taking it to a qualitatively more damaging level. These measures have been maintained over recent years, including during Joseph Biden’s administration, and go a long way towards explaining the current shortages and the major challenges facing the Cuban economy in terms of its recovery, growth and development.
The original 2017 Memorandum served as the political platform that drove, amongst other measures, the almost total ban on US citizens travelling to Cuba. It is this memorandum that led to the targeting of fuel supplies, the obstruction of remittances, and measures against third-country governments for utilising Cuban medical services to care for their respective populations.
It is also the policy that has encouraged pressure to be brought to bear on commercial and financial entities anywhere in the world to prevent them from doing business with Cuba; that has instigated lawsuits in US courts against investors in our country; and that ordered the slanderous inclusion of the island on the list of states allegedly sponsoring terrorism, with its disastrous consequences for the national economy.
This hostile policy, as defined, violates international law and numerous United Nations resolutions. It seeks to justify the use of economic coercion as a weapon of aggression against a sovereign country, with the aim of breaking the political will of the entire nation and subjecting it to the hegemonic dictatorship of the United States.
The US Government is indifferent to the fact that Cuba is a peaceful, stable and supportive country that maintains friendly relations with practically the whole world. The policy it pursues serves the narrow interests of a corrupt, anti-Cuban clique that has turned aggression against its neighbour into a way of life and a highly lucrative business.
We express our most resolute support for and commitment to the struggle of our people; we condemn the blockade, the aggression by the US government and the threats from the far-right and fascist sectors in the United States and their allies.
Long live the Cuban Revolution
Onwards to Victory, always
Association of Cubans Residing in Jamaica Major General Antonio Maceo