Cuba: July 26 as a day to defend, understand and celebrate the Cuban revolution
Written by: Aidan Jonah
Cuba has been under attack from the United States and many of their western allies since their revolution in 1959. The vicious embargo the US placed on Cuba was specifically intended to cause intense suffering to ordinary citizens, as the revolution had, and continues to have support of the majority of Cubans. The United States, even when condemned by the United Nations General Assembly for almost three decades straight for it, continues to push this embargo on Cuba, and intimidate companies and other countries against breaking the embargo. The United States also spends millions per year to push “democracy promotion” in Cuba, with an explicit note that none of this money would go to the Cuban government.
Despite all this pressure, and tough economic conditions created by the fall of the Soviet Union, the Cuban revolution has stayed strong. Other socialist nations, such as Cuba, Vietnam and North Korea, have worked to assist Cuba as much as they can. It is the revolutionary democratic structures, and mass citizen participation in the maintenance and strengthening of the Cuban revolution, that allow a tiny island nation to resist the world’s strongest empire for more than 60 years.
To learn more about the current situation in Cuba, and the counterrevolutionary protests which the mainstream media massively overhyped, consider signing up for this event occurring on July 26. Description is attached below:
“What is Happening in Cuba? This is the latest panel discussion hosted by the International Manifesto Group. The Panel will take place Monday, July 26 at 9:00-11:00AM EDT / 8:00-10:00AM CDT / 2:00-4:00PM UK Daylight Time. Click here to register to attend this event and please share widely!
About this event
A major disinformation campaign is re-interpreting the current unrest in Cuba as anti-government, even claiming photos of pro-government demonstrations as anti-government. In fact, its causes lie in the 60-year old blockade, further tightened by Trump and continued under Biden even during the pandemic. It is asphyxiating Cuba’s normal social and economic development. Cuba has weathered the fall of the Soviet Union and the Special Period that followed. How are the Government and people dealing with this new challenge?
The experts on this panel discuss the current situation, misunderstandings about it and what is really going on in Cuba.
Speakers
Arnold August is a Montreal-based author and journalist (MA Poli Sci, McGill University). He has written three books on Cuba: 1. Democracy in Cuba and the 1997-98 Elections, 2. Cuba and Its Neighbours: Democracy in Motion (“A tour de force from an expert who clearly know his field well”, Tony Kapcia, University of Nottingham), 3. Cuba-US Relations (“Any open-minded discussion about the asymmetrical Cuba-U.S. relations should start with this highly readable, informative book”, James D. Cockcroft, three-time Fulbright Scholar). Arnold, an award-winning journalist, is published in English, Spanish and French in North and South America, Europe and the Middle East.
Claudia Chaufan, Argentinian MD, PhD is Associate Professor of Health Policy at York University, Canada. She researches the geopolitical economy of global health and is actively involved with organizations working on antiwar, anti-colonial and anti-imperialist struggles.
Keith Bolender, award winning journalist and author on Cuba-USA relations, including “Voices From the Other Side”, “Cuba Under Siege” and “Manufacturing the Enemy; The Media War Against Cuba”. He has written extensively for the past 20 years on Cuban issues for the Toronto Star, The Guardian, Florida Sun Sentinel, the Council for Hemispheric Affairs, North American Council on Latin America, Monthly Review, Progresso Weekly. Lecturer on Cuba-USA relations throughout North America and the UK, including at the United Nations, European Union and the Scottish National Parliament. Member of the Institute for Public Accuracy (IPA) on their roster of experts for Cuban Affairs.
Wendy Holm is an award-winning Canadian Agrologist, Resource Economist, Journalist and Author who has been working with Cuban agricultural cooperatives for 23 years. Since 1999, she has taken over 1,000 Canadian farmers, chefs and students to Cuba in 57 Delegations to learn about Cuba’s leadership in sustainable farming practices. Organizer of two Havana conferences (2011, 2014) on Cuba's new cooperative path, Wendy also taught a University of British Columbia field studies course in sustainable agriculture in Cuba every May from 2005 to 2016. During this time, Wendy also organized and led two international projects to support Cuban agricultural cooperatives. The first - an international dairy project - won a CIDA International Cooperation Award for sustainability. In the second, Wendy worked with Saint Mary's University and Cuban partner ANAP (National Association of Small Farmers) to develop a Cuban version of the Coop Index, a diagnostic tool to support farm cooperatives as Cuba embarks on its road to a more cooperative, people-centred economy.
Claude Morin is a retired professor from the History Department at Université de Montréal where he taught for more than three decades. He holds a doctorate in history from the Université de Paris-X. His main research fields were colonial Mexico, then Cuba, the Caribbean and Central America in the 20th century. He is the author or editor of six books and some forty articles or chapters in collective works. He has commented and still comments on Latin American news in the print and electronic media. He also led groups on cultural trips to Latin America.
Moderator
Radhika Desai is a Professor of Political Studies at the University of Manitoba. She is also the Director of the Geopolitical Economy Research Group. She is the author of Geopolitical Economy: After US Hegemony, Globalization and Empire.
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