Pambana Bassett & Justin Jimenez - COVID-19 and The New War on Cuba

Solidarity Radio

This episode, featuring two members of our Cuba team, was recorded on the ground in the wake of protests on July 11th and 12th across the island. There is a context- specifically of US interventionism- that the grassroots of the US, listeners, need to know about and denounce. The Blockade whose express intent is to cause hardship and incite violence- and whose impacts hit hardest along race, class, and gender- has been illegally imposed, with rejection from most of the world, for six decades. Then, the Trump administration tightened it, adding 243 more sanctions. These compounded the challenge caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the sudden evaporation of tourism dollars in the Caribbean. The economic hardship has resulted in scarcity in all areas from food, transportation, electricity, and vital medicines. People spend hours in long lines and live with uncertainty and growing inequality despite expansive public programmes, paid time off for COVID, salary raises, and subsidised foods through the libreta neighbourhood system. Daily life has been very hard for most Cubans.The frustrastions boiled over into the largest demonstrations on the island in over 25 years. The additional sanctions during the Trump Administration, included: a ban on remittances, major restrictions on where U.S citizens can stay and do business in Cuba, the annulation of flights to provinces other than Havana, bans on the purchase of cigars and rum by US citizens. These are attacks on Cuba’s economy, and are felt most by families, women, the poor, and the African diaspora.Not only are these sanctions immoral and illegal, they have also come during a period in which the Cuban public health system has saved lives by all accounts and measures. Cuban medical brigades have served in more than 40 countries and the not for profit vaccine development benefits other countries in the Global South. It is a time that the US should emulate this commitment to free, prevention-focused, and community-rooted public health systems- not blockade, sanction, and demonize in the media.Our Habana-based team takes us into the factors that led to these protests as well as the heavy hand that U.S interventionism and imperialism has played as well as the international media response. This episode serves as a testimon. Although the November 15th protests didn't materialise, links between some of the organizers and ultra right-wing factions in the US have been made, and the US continues to spend tens of millions on regime change programmes. It is an important time to call for the end of sanctions as a major step to address hardship and respect the Cuban people's sovereignty.Note: One of the speaker’s audio is a bit muffled at times but we still felt it was important for the audience to hear this on-the-ground report as a first hand source when those are few and far between.Note: During our podcast episode we stated that the revolution occurred in 1953- that was the attack on the Moncada, the revolution triumphed in 1959.