Drop the Blockade! Let Cuba Live!
Newsletter In Movement 10 (2024)
Internationalist greetings! Welcome to the tenth edition of the In Movement Newsletter for 2024, brought to you by the International Peoples’ Assembly (IPA). This Wednesday, October 30th, the United Nations General Assembly will hold its annual vote on ending the U.S. blockade against Cuba, which has lasted for more than 60 years. For this date, we call on people’s movements, trade unions, political parties and all peoples to stand up in solidarity with Cuba and the revolutionary Cuban people. We are engaged in a permanent campaign to denounce this policy that stifles the economy and the sovereignty of the island.
Resolution 78/7, which for the 32nd time will call for an end to the United States’ unilateral and punitive policies toward Cuba, will be presented by the Cuban government. The document asks whether U.N. member countries are in favor of or against the following topic: “Necessity of ending the economic, commercial and financial embargo imposed by the United States of America against Cuba.” Since 1992, this vote has always resulted in a wide majority of countries calling for an end to the blockade, supporting the resolution.
Now is the time for peoples across the world to unite and say: Drop the Blockade! Let Cuba Live! Here are three ways you can join the mobilization right now:
1. Share and prepare graphics on the campaign on all your social media accounts with the hashtag #DropTheBlockade and #LetCubaLive. For the toolkit, visit our server here.
2. Record a video of supporting Cuba and denouncing the US blockade, or a video of the action for Cuba in your city, and post it on social media.
3. Read and share articles, reports, and videos on Cuba from IPA partner media outlets, such as Peoples Dispatch, Brasil de Fato, BTNews, Telesur, ARGMedios, Madaar, Barricada TV, and others.
>> Don’t forget to follow and tag @peoples.assembly, @asambleapueblos, and @alba_movimientos in your posts!
This is also time to express our solidarity with Cuba through actions of material solidarity. After the electrical crisis in Cuba and the aftermath of a hurricane, in which its consequences are accentuated due to the impacts of a brutal blockade of more than six decades, the ever-solidary Cuban people need our solidarity. Many campaigns are collecting donations in this international movement in solidarity with Cuba.
One of them is organized by The People’s Forum, which delivered to Cuba its first shipment of aid—30 tons of urgently needed food supplies—last weekend. They are still collecting donations, to raise the goal of $150,000 to provide even more aid to the families in Cuba. Visit this link to donate. Other initiatives are happening in Latin America, such as a campaign supported by ALBA Movimientos to donate money directly to organizations in Cuba (you can find more info here). The Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (Copinh) and the Landless Workers Movement (MST) of Brazil are also organizing collections of donations (click here for Honduras and here for Brazil donations). Find out more about donations from the Cuba solidarity committees and organizations that are part of the IPA in your country.
We also would like to invite you to visit cubaisnotalone.art to view the #CubaIsNotAlone exhibition, an initiative by Artists vs. Blockade, a movement demanding an end to the sanctions on Cuba and the removal of Cuba from the State Sponsors of Terrorism list. This exhibition showcases over 50 original works by artists from 15 countries, highlighting global solidarity with Cuba and celebrating the Cuban people’s resistance against the U.S. economic, commercial, and financial blockade.
The peoples and countries of the world have had enough with imperialism and are calling for an end to the blockade of Cuba! Together, we are demonstrating that we stand with Cuba and against the U.S. blockade!
Updates
Zionism and Imperialism Will Fall, and Palestine Will Be Free | On October 7th, marking one year since the heroic people of Palestine struck a historic blow against the imperialist-backed Zionist entity, the IPA issued a statement demanding an immediate end to all Zionist aggression and a ceasefire in Gaza, an end to the Israeli occupation of Palestine, and the lifting of the blockade on Gaza, among other urgent calls. The IPA also renews its call for mobilization as a vital show of solidarity and announces a week of global action from November 20th to 29th, culminating in the International Day of Solidarity with Palestine.
Three Years Since the Coup in Sudan | October 25th marks three years since the military coup in Sudan, when the army arrested civilian members of the transitional council, ending a power-sharing agreement established after the dictator al-Bashir’s ouster in 2019, following a popular uprising. This violation led to a devastating war—erupting on April 15th, 2023—between the former allies, the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Since then, the Sudanese people have endured a brutal conflict that has killed tens of thousands, displaced over 11 million, and left more than 26 million (half of the population) facing acute food insecurity. In its statement marking three years since the coup, the Sudanese Communist Party condemned the ongoing war waged by the “two sides of the coup,” calling it a “proxy war” with no true victory. “From day one, our party called for an end to the war, the bloodshed, the removal of the military from power, and the disbanding of militias.” Read the full statement here.
European gathering of solidarity with Cuba | Preparations are underway for the XIX European Continental Meeting of Solidarity with Cuba, set for Paris in November, where over 200 delegates from 27 countries will gather to strengthen coordination in the fight against the U.S. blockade of Cuba and its wrongful inclusion on the U.S. list of “states sponsor of terrorism.” Representatives from nearly 80 solidarity organizations, including Euro-deputies and pro-Cuba parliamentarians, will attend. The event, organized by Cuba Cooperación Francia, France-Cuba Association, and the French Communist Party, aims to boost European solidarity with Cuba and confront the intensified economic aggression by the U.S. This three-day event from November 22-24 marks a significant step forward for the European movement advocating for Cuba’s sovereignty and against imperialist policies. More info here.
Support Zimbabwe’s Fight Against Sanctions | On this World Food Sovereignty Day, October 16th, The Pan Africanism Today Secretariat released a statement in solidarity to the people of Zimbabwe as they resist the impacts of sanctions. Since the historic land reform that returned land to the people, Zimbabwe has faced harsh sanctions from the US and EU, imposed to punish the nation’s independent path. These sanctions have devastated the Zimbabwean economy, making everyday necessities a struggle, impacting infrastructure, and worsening poverty. The Zimbabwe Smallholder Organic Farmers Forum (ZIMSOFF) organized a mobilization on October 17th at the Shashe Agroecology School, a symbol of Zimbabwe’s agrarian reform. Their mission: to spotlight the suffering sanctions cause farming communities, champion a farmer-led movement, and celebrate the Zimbabwe Land Reform Program’s resilience.
Call for the Defense of Democracy in Colombia | On October 10th, ALBA Movimientos issued an urgent call to social and popular organizations worldwide to mobilize against coup attempts in Colombia. These conservative forces aim to delegitimize and overthrow the popular mandate of Gustavo Petro, Colombia’s first democratically elected alternative president. In recent months, political and economic sectors have sought to destabilize Petro’s government through unjustified and undemocratic judicial persecution. ALBA Movimientos remains vigilant in defense of Colombia’s sovereign choice and demands respect for President Gustavo Petro’s mandate.
News
Peoples Dispatch
One month into the expansion of Israel’s war on Lebanon
Israel continues to intensify its airstrikes across Lebanon, obstructing international diplomatic efforts for de-escalation.
Peoples Dispatch
Left parties in India protest arms exports to Israel
Left parties in India protested the export of weapons to Israel, accusing Narendra Modi’s government of complicity in the ongoing genocide in Gaza.
Brasil de Fato
Brazil prepares to host the G20 summit and seeks international consensus on taxing large fortunes
The meeting of the bloc’s heads of State is scheduled for November 18th and 19th, and the G20 Social Summit between November 14th and 16th, both in Rio de Janeiro.
Madaar
A century of struggle: a light on the experiences of the Lebanese Communist Party
The 100th anniversary of the founding of the Lebanese Communist Party takes place against the backdrop of the brutal Zionist aggression supported by the imperialist West.
Peoples Dispatch
BRICS countries call for a multipolar, equitable and democratic world order
In the Summit held in the Russian city of Kazan, BRICS members condemned the genocidal Israeli war on West Asia, the illegal sanctions regimes imposed on the people of the world by the US and its allies, and Western-dominated multilateral institutions.
ARG Medios
Frente Amplio’s progressive Yamandú Orsi obtained 43.9% of the votes and a majority in the Senate; his votes are well ahead of Álvaro Delgado, of the right-wing Partido Nacional (26.7%).
Analysis
The Twentieth Century, the Global South, and China’s Historical Position
Chinese scholar Wang Hui looks back at the twentieth century, which was born out of the multiple revolutions in the peripheral areas of the world, including China.
Creation is a Political Action, and a Writer is a Politicized Person
This Tricontinental’s Art Bulletin reflects on Chinese writer Ding Ling’s revolutionary contributions, blending literature and politics, and celebrating her impact on China’s socialist and feminist movements.
