A Great Crime is Being Committed Before the Eyes of the World!
STATEMENT FROM CUBA SI NY/NJ COALITION
“Power Outage Plunges All of Cuba Into Darkness” – New York Times
The impact of Washington’s economic and political war on Cuba reached a tipping point in October 2024 with the collapse of Cuba’s electric grid at its central Antonio Guiteras power station. The Donald Trump administration (2017-2021), with bipartisan support, significantly deepened US hostility and sanctions, reversing the shift towards US-Cuba normalization from Barack Obama’s second term. The Joseph Biden White House has maintained Trump’s anti-Cuba policies, even as the COVID-19 pandemic devastated Cuba’s tourism industry. US economic pressure and sanctions are the decisive factor in preventing Cuba from accessing the capital to modernize its energy system and overall infrastructure.
The U.S. economic war on Cuba is the basis for this current crisis. It is the invisible prison gate that defines every decision, including policy mistakes and short-term palliatives. All of this stems from the 64-year blockade imposed on Cuba by the United States.
As Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez recently said, “While all the difficulties of Cuban society are not exclusively due to the blockade, whoever does not identify it as the main obstacle to our development would be untruthful.”
The Cuba Si NY/NJ Coalition declares: a great crime is being committed before the eyes of the world!
Even before the current energy disaster, the US blockade has caused great stress and hardship in everyday life for Cuban working people, young people, professionals, and small business owners. It has led to mass emigration; however, the current crisis has also resulted in heroic efforts, led by Cuba’s energy and electrical workers alongside the entire Cuban working class to overcome the crisis.
This can also be a political turning point in the worldwide struggle to defeat the US blockade, which today includes a growing Cuba solidarity and anti-blockade united front in the United States.
On October 30, 2024, for the 32nd consecutive yearly vote, the United Nations General Assembly will overwhelmingly condemn Washington’s economic sanctions and hostility against the nation of Cuba. The UN vote is mere days before US Presidential and Congressional elections and will again highlight the contempt of world public opinion for this anti-Cuba policy and broader US dominance.
Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken have shamefully kept Cuba on the official US government State Sponsors of Terrorism (SSOT) list, following Trump’s decision to include Cuba on the list during the last days of his Administration. Cuba’s inclusion is a brazen and obscene lie and is intended to be a particularly damaging aspect of the whole range of US sanctions, which constitutes the blockade.
Despite anti-Cuban propaganda in the U.S. media, public opinion in the United States continues to oppose US economic and travel sanctions against Cuba and increasingly supports US-Cuba normalization. This is represented by dozens of anti-blockade resolutions passed by city councils, local and national trade unions, and various religious organizations throughout the United States. https://nnoc.org/resolutions/
It is also seen through people-to-people exchanges and solidarity brigades to Cuba. As 2024 closes, new generations of committed young activists and fighters are determined to work toward ending the blockade imposed by the U.S, serving as a reminder of the strong domestic and international solidarity with Cuba.
End Washington’s Bipartisan Economic and Political War
Against the Sovereign People and State of Cuba!