On October 18, Cuba suffered a massive island-wide blackout, leaving over 10 million without power. Two days later, Hurricane Oscar slammed into the island’s eastern coast, exacerbating the crisis. The blackout is a direct consequence of the American embargo, which sanctions ships carrying fuel to the island and has starved Cuba of the hard currency needed to import fuel and replacement parts to maintain energy production and distribution. For the Cuban people to live, the imperialist embargo must die.
Imperialist blockade
The Cuban Revolution of 1959 struck a spectacular blow against American imperialism, overthrew capitalism on the island, and established the first workers’ state in the Western Hemisphere. The heroic struggle of Cuban workers and peasants continues to inspire revolutionaries not only in Latin America, but also across the entire world. The revolution is a living testament to the power of ordinary working people; it has shown millions that the great apocalyptic beast of American imperialism can be defeated.
The American ruling class could not afford to tolerate this example in “its own backyard.” In 1960, President Dwight D. Eisenhower launched a brutal embargo against Cuba. Since then, various Democratic and Republican administrations have ratcheted up the pressure, and the embargo continues to this day.
Donald Trump intensified the embargo by designating Cuba a “state sponsor of terrorism,” and imposing 243 new sanctions aimed at starving the island of food, medicine, and fuel. The “lesser evil” Biden-Harris administration has maintained the overwhelming majority of Trump’s cold-blooded measures. It is scandalous for the American ruling class to declare Cuba a “state sponsor of terrorism” while funding and arming Israel’s terrorism and genocidal wars in Palestine and Lebanon.
For the “crime” of daring to resist American imperialist domination, the Cuban masses have been made to suffer innumerable indignities. The embargo has caused at least $164 billion worth of damage, with over $5 billion in losses between February 2023 and March 2024 alone.
Fight the embargo with class struggle
American and Cuban workers are brothers and sisters. We share the same class enemy. The American imperialists who have plunged Cuba into darkness are the same capitalists who exploit American workers every day. The forces that sent armed reactionaries to the Playa Girón are the same that send racist cops into working-class neighborhoods. The Biden-Harris administration that maintains the brutal embargo is the same administration which illegalized the rail strike in 2022.
The American imperialist embargo has ravaged Cuba for 64 years and counting. The Revolutionary Communists of America demand its immediate end. We call on all those who oppose the reactionary embargo to join us in building a revolutionary, anti-imperialist, class struggle campaign to end it once and for all.