“Addressing the UN General Assembly this week, Donald Trump could not have made his intentions towards Cuba any clearer.”
By Kim Johnson MP
Addressing the UN General Assembly this week, Donald Trump could not have made his intentions towards Cuba any clearer.
The US President described Cuba as a “failed state.”
As the Cuban delegation walked out, he said: “it’s failing like never before, and it will fall.”
These inflammatory words come against the backdrop of intensifying US pressure against the Cuban people, including the ongoing blockade and further threats of punitive measures. The US has maintained its blockade against Cuba for more than 60 years, with the Trump administration dramatically escalating that pressure.
The question for Britain, and for our new Prime Minister, is simple: what are we going to do about it?
Washington has consistently stated it wants a regime change – and Trump’s latest words represent a dangerous escalation of the US blockade, which has been repeatedly condemned by most countries at the UN.
He is openly declaring he wants the Cuban government to fall.
Britain should be speaking out loudly against this flagrant threat to international law and we must not abandon our principles. Particularly following Trump’s kidnapping of Venezuelan President Maduro earlier this year, which broke every rule in the book. Yet the international community turned a blind eye.
In the past year alone, the US has interfered in elections in Honduras, Colombia, Peru and Argentina. We are witnessing the return of crude imperialism, and it must be fought with everything we have.
Cuba is facing the sharp edge of this, with the US actions to significantly tighten its illegal blockade. Cuba is experiencing severe fuel shortages and prolonged electricity blackouts. When the power goes out, transport is disrupted. Water supplies are affected. Food and medicines become harder to preserve. Hospitals and other public services are placed under enormous strain.
In June, the UN Human Rights office revealed that as a direct result of the extra US sanctions, Cuban infant mortality had doubled to 9.9 per 1000 births, childhood cancer survival rates had fallen from 85 to 65 percent, and essential medicines were available at only around 30 percent of normal supply levels. Fuel shortages have had a massive impact, with food production output reportedly down by 60 percent, causing massive rises to basic food costs.
This goes far beyond being a geopolitical dispute.
It is about workers trying to get to work. Nurses trying to keep hospitals open. Teachers keeping schools functioning. Families trying to feed their children.
It is about Cuban firefighters tackling blazes with limited fuel, outdated equipment and failing water supplies. It is about teachers keeping schools open through electricity cuts and shortages of essential materials. It is about public service workers maintaining vital services during power outages.
At this year’s TUC Congress, many were struck by the words of Osnay Miguel Colina, General Secretary of Cuba’s trade union confederation, the Central de Trabajadores de Cuba. He gave us a powerful message: “Cuba is not alone.”
It’s time for our Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary to remember that. And it is time for our labour movement to say it loudly too. Britain has a long history of positive relations with Cuba, shown by our consistent support for Cuba’s resolution at the UN calling for an end to the blockade, the signing of the UK-Cuba Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement, and collaboration during the Covid and Ebola epidemics. Now is the time to turn this support into action.
There is no justification whatsoever for the imposition of measures of economic strangulation that punishes an entire population. That should be a basic principle of international solidarity.
Delegates put that principle into action by overwhelmingly backing Motion 76, ‘End the Siege on Cuba,’ at this year’s TUC Congress. The motion called on our government to oppose the extraterritorial application of US sanctions, reject any US military intervention against Cuba and provide humanitarian assistance to the Cuban people.
Congress also backed the Cuba Solidarity Campaign and affiliated unions for their practical humanitarian work, including 15 consignments of medical and food aid worth more than £2 million through the Cuba Vive appeal.
This is what international solidarity looks like.
Workers backing workers. Not just measly words, but real practical action.
Our labour movement has a proud internationalist tradition. Our solidarity cannot stop at the borders of Britain. When workers anywhere in the world are facing injustice or hardship, we should not look away.
That is why Andy Burnham and Ed Miliband should be asking what more Britain can do.
The Prime Minister said in his speech at the UN General Assembly that Britain will stand up for “fairness and justice” and for the UN Charter, and that we will fight the “abuse of power wherever we see it”.
Those cannot just be words. We must be steadfast in condemning Trump’s escalations and make clear that we do not support the US blockade or the use of economic coercion to force political change in Cuba.
Cuba’s future should be determined by the Cuban people.
They must not be subjected to an illegal economic siege designed to force political change by a colonial power.
Trump has made his position clear. Now we must make ours. Cuba is not alone. Hands off Cuba.
- Kim Johnson MP is the MP for Liverpool Riverside, you can follow her on Facebook, Twitter/X, Instagram and TikTok.
- If you support Labour Outlook’s work amplifying the voices of left movements and struggles here and internationally, please consider becoming a supporter on Patreon.
- EVENT – ¡Viva La Solidaridad! No to Trump’s War on Latin America, Sunday 27th September, 1pm, Racquet Club Hotel (first floor meeting room,) 5 Chapel Street, Liverpool, L3 9AG. Register here. Speakers include Kim Johnson MP / Gabriel Becerra, Colombian MP / Francisco Dominguez / Julia Felmanas, Brazilian activist.
- You can join the Cuba Solidarity Campaign here.
