ALBA Movements’ Declaration
In the Face of Trump’s Blackmail & Global Pressures: Long Live a Free Cuba!
After buying his way to the White House for a second term, technofascist tycoon Donald Trump could not even wait 24 hours to re-include Cuba on the spurious list of State Sponsors of Terrorism. His predecessor, Joe Biden’s, cowardly last-minute removal of Cuba from the list was immediately followed by its re-inclusion—yet another U.S. ruling class crime. A new period of terror from Washington has been inaugurated in.
There is no legal, political, or moral reason that justifies Cuba’s inclusion on this spurious list. The United States has appointed itself in creating such a list as an instrument of international blackmail, as a cudgel in service of U.S. domestic policy, disciplining any country that does not bend to its dirty interests. The list is in no way meant to “fight terrorism”, the usual euphemism used to promote U.S. imperialist policy.
Joe Biden’s “gesture” was always meant to go nowhere, not even to clean up his dubious legacy, which will include leaving intact — at the moment of greatest need — a set of measures that have exacerbated the slow-motion genocide of the Cuban people. Not content with the damage and suffering that the blockade has caused for 65 years, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic and the last eight years, Trump’s recent act only confirms that the current U.S. administration has opted for violent and open confrontation against the Cuban people. Trump has reaffirmed, together with the band of stateless anti-Cubans who are now celebrating the measure, that the philofascist clique ruling Washington only understands the language of force against the weakest. We will have to defend ourselves.
Those governments who last week welcomed Biden’s decision — some genuinely relieved and others less so — blamed the lack of headway on slow U.S. bureaucracy, or Cuban concessions potentially deterring or delaying retaliatory decisions by Trump. They are now left with only disappointment and frustration.
As evidenced by Cuba’s long-standing resistance against the United States, logic, rationality, or even legitimate interests cannot be expected in political decisions with an irrational enemy animated by a spirit of revanchist counterrevolution. The words of Comandante Ernesto Che Guevara are as relevant as always: “Imperialism cannot be trusted even a little bit: Not one bit!.”
The social organizations and popular movements of Our America and the world that have accompanied the Cuban people in their epic struggle against the U.S. economic war should be clear: this is a long-term struggle, one against a powerful enemy that respects neither its own laws nor those of the international order, and it is shaping up to be more dangerous and challenging than ever.
Cuba’s re-inclusion on the list will surely bring terrible days and greater suffering for its people. As demonstrated in recent years, its implications are not only rhetorical but have material effects that cause hunger, despair, and misery. And, as always, there are accomplices — be they active or passive. Neither history nor the peoples of the world will forgive these cowards for taking the side of the strongest. There is no room for half measures: the actions of Trump and his allies represent unconventional warfare and a policy of genocide — by action, omission, and intention.
We represent dignity and are not willing to negotiate. Faced with Trump’s pressure and blackmail, just as we did more than 150 years ago, we have but one choice:
