Campaigns // International

Cuba

Cuban flagSince the 1959 revolution, led by Fidel Castro and Che Guevara, that swept the US-backed dictator Fulgencio Batista from power, Cuba has been an inspiration to the people of Latin America and the wider world. The Cuban revolution has shown that people can successfully stand up to the power of US imperialism – an example that is all the more impressive when one considers that Cuba is only 90 miles from the Florida coast.

Despite decades of blockade and imperialist aggression, the Cuban revolution continues to provide a shining example of what a small nation can achieve if it truly believes in social justice and equality. Cuba’s record in literacy, life expectancy, infant mortality and more are enough to put most rich countries to shame. Its achievements in health and education are a perfect illustration of what it means to really put people before profit.

Cuba has also been a beacon for the internationalist spirit of its revolution, from its role in anti-colonial struggles in Africa to its impressive medical programme. It is widely acknowledged that it was Cuban troops, material and expertise that drove apartheid South Africa from Angola – a defeat which spelt the beginning of the end for that notorious regime. In the social arena more than 10,000 students from other nations have been trained in the Latin American Medical School (ELAM) located in Cuba.

The poor of Latin America also come to Cuba for surgeries provided by the Cuban government without charge. Operation Miracle, for example, helped restore the sight of 1.6 million people in its first five years of operation.

Despite these achievements, the people of Cuba remain under a blockade and trade embargo, organised by the US and its allies. This blockade has consistently been condemned by the United Nations. The small island nation of Cuba has indeed played the role of David to the US Goliath. For this role the Cuban people and their revolution are due the support of progressives the world over.

 

Stories about Cuba from the éirígí Archives

22/02/10: Imperialists Prevent Aid to Haiti.... In the immediate aftermath of the earthquake in Haiti one month ago, as US president Barack Obama announced he was to send a 5,000 strong military force into the country, its Caribbean neighbour Cuba was mobilising the Henry Reeve International Medical Brigade.....read more>>

30/12/09: The truth of what happened in Copenhagen.... The recent climate change talks in Copenhagen were billed as a last ditch attempt to save the world from the catastrophic consequences of global warming.....read more>>

14/10/09: Free the Miami 5.... A contingent of 15 éirígí activists were among those who gathered at the US embassy in Dublin on Monday to call for the release of the Miami 5.....read more>>

26/02/09: Close Down the Torture Centre and Get Out of Guantanamo.... On January 22, US president Barack Obama issued an executive order declaring that the torture facility and internment camp at Guantanamo Bay in occupied Cuba is to be closed within a year.....read more>>

01/01/09: The Cuban Revolution: 50 years at the forefront of the Battle of Ideas.... Today (January 1st 2009) marks the 50th anniversary of the defeat of the US-backed Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista by the 26th July Movement, led by Fidel Castro.....read more>>

12/11/08: Liberty & Justice for all?.... September 12 2008 marked the 10th anniversary of the arrest in the US of five Cuban intelligence officers.....read more>>

15/10/08: Learning About a Very Healthy Revolution.... While its usual home is in Gleann Colm Cille in county Donegal, Belfast had the honour of hosting this year’s Camp Havana between October 3 and 5.....read more>>

30/08/08: Revolution in Cuba: Propaganda or Truth?....Journeying down Cuba’s Carretera Central that links Pinar del Rio in the east to Santiago and the city of Guatanamo in the west, one is struck immediately by the imaginative and varied presence of colourful billboards and what, at first sight, appear to be advertisements.....read more>>

26/02/08: Behind me are others more radical than I – Fidel Castro....On Sunday, February 24th 2008 the newly elected 614 members of the Cuban National Assembly convened to fulfil their responsibility to elect a 31 member Council of State, which in turn elected Raúl Castro to the position of President of the Republic of Cuba.....read more>>

09/10/07: Che Guevara – 40 years on....October 9th marks the 40th anniversary of the death of the Argentinean revolutionary Ernesto ‘Ché’ Guevara.....read more>>

20/06/07: Death of a Revolutionary....Vilma Espin, one of the foremost figures in the Cuban revolution, has died aged 77.....read more>>

30/04/07: US official’s anti-Cuban Government tirade disrupted and abandoned....Members of éirígí, the Communist Party of Ireland, Cuba Support Group Ireland and others today disrupted a lecture to be given at the School of Politics, UCD, Dublin, by Caleb McCarry, the Bush Administration’s "Cuba Transition Coordinator".....read more>>

17/04/07: An alternative view on the use of biofuels by Cuban President Fidel Castro....In this recently published article, Cuban President Fidel Castro, argues against the use of 'biofuels' as an alternative source of energy.....read more>>

21/03/07: A lesson in humanity – Cuba’s revolution still going strong....The government and people of Cuba are currently providing yet another example of the alternative they pose to the so called ‘free market’ economics of the ‘western world’.....read more>>

29/08/06: Cuban NAM Presidency to Foster Unity....Cuba will assume the presidency of the Non-Aligned Countries Movement (NAM) by reenergizing traditional endeavours to strengthen the unity of Third World nations and the fight for peace.....read more>>

14/08/06: First pictures of recovering Castro....The first photographs of Fidel Castro since he was taken ill two weeks ago have been published in Cuba's Communist Youth newspaper on his 80th birthday.....read more>>

10/08/06: “Reclaim the Republic / Athshealbhaígí an Phoblacht” campaign reaches Cuba....Over the course of the summer, a number of éirígí activists visited the island of Cuba. These activists travelled there to take part in the Jose Marti European International Work Brigade which travels to Cuba each year to work in solidarity with the Cuban Revolution.....read more>>