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<h1 class="gmail-reader-title">The United States' total war against Cuba: Resistance and solidarity</h1>
<div class="gmail-credits gmail-reader-credits">Pedro Monzón Barata</div>
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<div class="gmail-reader-estimated-time" dir="ltr">June 9, 2026</div>
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<div class="gmail-moz-reader-content gmail-reader-show-element"><div id="gmail-readability-page-1" class="gmail-page"><p>In
this article, Pedro Monzon Barata argues that Washington\u2019s decades-long
campaign against Cuba aims not at democracy but at regime change and
recolonization, while highlighting Cuba\u2019s legacy of international
solidarity and resistance despite sanctions, pressure, and isolation.</p><div><ul id="gmail-content-slick-0"><div aria-hidden="false"><li>
<a href="https://alpha-en-media.almayadeen.net/media/image/2026/6/8/6e978d9e-e78b-4bfe-881f-50530b6b9ba7.jpg?v=2&width=1000" tabindex="0"><img src="https://alpha-en-media.almayadeen.net/media/image/2026/6/8/6e978d9e-e78b-4bfe-881f-50530b6b9ba7.jpg?v=2&width=1000&preset=w750" alt="Cuba is a fundamental trench in a much larger battle, and halting the aggressive and predatory advance of the empire before it engulfs the entire planet is a shared responsibility of all humanity. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Zeinab el-Hajj)" class="gmail-moz-reader-block-img"></a>
Cuba is a fundamental trench in a much larger battle, and
halting the aggressive and predatory advance of the empire before it
engulfs the entire planet is a shared responsibility of all humanity.
(Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Zeinab el-Hajj)
</li></div></ul>
<p>This is not about democracy or the well-being of the Cuban people.
After more than six decades of resistance, history demonstrates that the
United States' objective has always been the same: to crush the example
of dignity that the Cuban Revolution represents. From the failed Bay of
Pigs invasion in 1961, through sustained terrorism, to the more than
six hundred assassination attempts against Fidel Castro, the pattern is
clear: the will to destroy a country that dared to challenge U.S.
hegemony. This enmity was born from a sovereign decision made in 1959:
to recover natural resources, nationalize foreign companies, and build a
socialist project in the empire's own backyard. Every measure of
aggression the island has suffered responds to this systematic imperial
logic.</p>
<p>In the current context, with an imperial escalation that has
dangerously accelerated in 2025 and 2026, Washington's true intentions
are to provoke regime change, destroy our socialist system, and achieve
recolonization. Secretary of State Marco Rubio increasingly instigates
policies of asphyxiation and demands that Cuba have "new people in
charge," while Donald Trump has publicly declared that it would be a
"great honor" to take control of the country. Military options are being
openly discussed to return the island to the status of a de facto
colony under the Platt Amendment, which granted the United States the
right to intervene militarily in Cuba, among many other humiliating
conditions. What Washington wants now is to restore that status of
submission.</p>
<p>On January 15, 2026, Trump signed an executive order declaring Cuba
an "unusual and extraordinary threat" to US national security. This
declaration has no basis in reality. What threat can a small, blockaded
country with no offensive military capability pose to the North American
superpower? The answer is none. The false "threat" is a rhetorical
device to legally activate the economic blockade and lay the groundwork
for military intervention. It is the same pattern used before the
invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan: first fabricate a threat, then
demonize the government, then impose sanctions, and finally justify
armed aggression.</p>
<p>But those pushing toward armed confrontation should look at the
Middle East. The maximum pressure policy against Iran has not managed to
bend the heroic Islamic Republic. A military aggression against Cuba
would be an even more resounding failure. The island has a united people
trained in defence, with a history that includes defeating a
CIA-organized invasion in 72 hours. Any intervention would condemn the
United States to a new Vietnam in the Caribbean, with rising casualties,
financial cost, global repudiation, and internal fracture. If this
aggression were to take place, the Trump administration would head into
the midterm elections with two resounding failures.</p>
<p>In April 2026, the US government announced an unjust indictment
against Army General Raul Castro for an event that occurred 30 years
ago: the downing of two planes that repeatedly violated Cuban airspace
in 1996. The terrorist organization Brothers to the Rescue carried out
provocative flights over Havana with total impunity. Declassified
documents reveal that Washington was warned several times by the
government of Cuba, but allowed the violations to provoke a fatal
outcome, with the aim of generating a political conflict. Accusing Raul
Castro 30 years later is an act of legal cynicism to prepare the ground
for military aggression.</p>
<p>The primary tool of this criminal scheme is economic asphyxiation.
The 1960 Mallory Memorandum openly admitted the objective: "to provoke
hunger, desperation, and the overthrow of the government." The blockade
has cost the island more than $1.5 trillion, equating to decades of
truncated development. Today, airlines have suspended flights to Cuba,
hotel management companies and investment partners have withdrawn, and
the entry of parts for thermoelectric plants is blocked, contributing to
increasingly prolonged blackouts.</p>
<p>These are not surgical sanctions but massive punishment against the
entire population. Washington seeks a return to colony status. Its goal
is not a cosmetic change but total dissolution of the Cuban system. They
want Cuba to abandon its alliances with China and Russia \u2014 which are
not military in nature \u2014 and align unconditionally with the United
States. They pursue the plunder of our resources: privatize state
enterprises, healthcare, and education, and control strategic sectors.
Thus, they try to erase the example of a small country that refuses to
kneel, prioritizes social justice over corporate profits, and has shown
the world that one can live with dignity without submitting to the
northern master.</p>
<h2>Does Cuba deserve to be 'punished'?</h2>
<p>Leaving aside that imperialist acts against Cuba and the rest of the
world have no legal or moral basis, one might ask: Does Cuba deserve to
be "punished"? The premise of Washington's demagogic policy starts from a
false construction designed to justify a genocidal siege. If Cuba is a
solidary country that practices full social justice within and outside
its territory, the answer is clear: the true criminal is the one who
imposes the punishment, not the one who resists with humanism. Cuban
solidarity is not an occasional gesture but a state policy sustained for
more than six decades, deeply rooted in revolutionary ethics.</p>
<p>Cuban medical cooperation is the most emblematic example of
revolutionary internationalism. More than 600,000 Cuban health
professionals have participated in 165 nations, saving millions of
lives. At home, Cuba achieved an infant mortality rate of 4.9 per
thousand live births and became the first country to eliminate
mother-to-child transmission of HIV and congenital syphilis, certified
by the World Health Organization. That is tangible human rights, not
empty rhetoric.</p>
<p>The Henry Reeve Brigade, founded in 2005 for disasters and epidemics,
supported Pakistan after its earthquakes, fought Ebola in West Africa,
and aided Caribbean nations hit by hurricanes. An international campaign
nominated them for the Nobel Peace Prize. Furthermore, Cuba's literacy
method 'Yo sí puedo' (Yes I Can) was awarded the UNESCO King Sejong
Prize for its contribution to fighting illiteracy. During COVID-19,
while rich powers hoarded supplies, Cuba deployed more than three
thousand collaborators to 35 countries in just three months, including
Italy and Andorra. Furthermore, Cuba created its own vaccines\u2014Soberana
01, Soberana 02, and Abdala\u2014with technology transfer to Iran, Vietnam,
and Venezuela, all despite the blockade. While big pharma speculated,
Cuba shared its science.</p>
<p>But Cuban solidarity is not limited to health. The "Yes, I Can"
literacy method, endorsed by UNESCO, has taught more than ten million
adults in nearly thirty countries, earning UNESCO's King Sejong Prize.
Operation Miracle, launched jointly with Venezuela, has performed
millions of free eye surgeries in 35 countries, restoring sight to more
than six million people. In Jamaica alone, until the government yielded
to U.S. pressures in March 2026, Operation Miracle had restored sight to
nearly 25,000 Jamaicans. In Honduras, the program was cancelled under
the new conservative president Nasry Asfura.</p>
<p>Cuban solidarity has also extended to the military sphere. Operation
Carlota in Angola was the largest internationalist military mission ever
undertaken by a Global South country. Nearly 300,000 Cuban soldiers
helped defeat South African apartheid, paving the way for the liberation
of Namibia and the end of the racist regime. More than 2,000 Cubans
gave their lives in this heroic feat. This demonstrates that Cuban
solidarity, whether with a vaccine, a doctor, or a rifle, has always
been a response to injustice, not a threat.</p>
<p>All this solidarity power is based on solid internal social justice:
free and universal access to health and education are unshakable
conquests of the Revolution. Cuba has committed no injustice, nor does
it deserve to be punished. The injustice is the US blockade, which seeks
to punish a country whose only crime is being an example of dignity and
humanism. While Cuba guarantees tangible rights, its accusers trample
on those same rights with growing inequality, privatized health systems,
educational exclusion, and the repression of its people.</p>
<h2>International solidarity with Cuba: Achievements and contradictions</h2>
<p>Cuba does not resist alone. International solidarity has become a strategic actor, though with lights and shadows.</p>
<p>In material terms, the "Our America" Convoy brought together nearly
300 organizations from more than 30 countries, coordinating shipments of
food and medicine. The "Granma 2.0" Flotilla sailed from Veracruz in
March 2026, transporting more than 30 tonnes of critical supplies,
including nearly 100 solar panels to mitigate the energy crisis.
Participants range from trade unions in Brazil and Argentina to
religious groups in Canada and feminist collectives in Mexico.</p>
<p>In the narrative battle, solidarity acts as an antidote to media
poisoning. The study Solidarity Does Communicate recorded 3.3 million
mentions of Cuba in March 2026 on digital platforms. Activists
articulated a coherent three-layer narrative: the blockade as the cause
of suffering; concrete humanitarian aid as a response; and solidarity as
political legitimation. Among others, figures like Jeremy Corbyn and
Pablo Iglesias participated in events, generating emotional content on
Instagram and Facebook. Solidarity successfully competes against the
most powerful disinformation machine in the world.</p>
<p>On global political pressure, the UN General Assembly has condemned
the blockade 33 times between 1992 and 2025. In the last vote (October
2025), 165 countries voted in favour, 7 against, and 12 abstained\u2014a
slight erosion due to US pressure, but still an overwhelming majority
confirming global support for ending the blockade.</p>
<p>The International Court of Justice has established that unilateral
coercive measures violate the UN Charter when applied
extraterritorially. The National Network on Cuba in the United States
(NNOC), with more than 70 organizations, coordinates vigils, lobbying,
and car caravans in US cities. Even within the aggressor country, there
is organized rejection of White House policy. In March 2026, the
Pan-African movement issued a letter signed by 33 organizations from 16
countries, calling the blockade "a persistent act of war and a crime
against humanity." Global support for Cuba is real and majority, but its
effectiveness clashes with the U.S. veto in the Security Council, which
paralyzes any binding action.</p>
<h2>The structural limitations of global support and solidarity</h2>
<p>No serious analysis can hide the deep limitations facing
international solidarity with Cuba. It is not just about the
ineffectiveness of certain actions, but the very structure of the
international system, where impunity for Washington's acts remains the
norm. This impunity has been visible in Gaza, Lebanon, and Yemen, where
despite global condemnation and UN resolutions, the US and "Israel's"
war machines continue to operate without consequences. The same pattern
applies to Cuba: unanimous condemnations at the UN have not lifted a
single 'sanction.'</p>
<p>The first major limitation is the political, financial, and tariff
pressure Washington exerts on any government or entity that dares to
support Cuba. The Treasury Department has fined European, Asian, and
Latin American banks for processing Cuban transactions. Title III of the
Helms-Burton Act allows lawsuits against foreign companies that
'traffic' in nationalized properties, creating a climate of financial
terror. Added to this is the U. control of the SWIFT banking system,
turning any act of solidarity into a risk of ruin. Furthermore, the
arbitrary inclusion of Cuba on the US State Sponsors of Terrorism list\u2014a
designation widely rejected by the international community\u2014severely
restricts access to correspondent banking, international financing, and
humanitarian purchases, imposing collective punishment on the entire
population</p>
<p>The result has been a wave of cancellations of medical cooperation
agreements under direct US pressure. Jamaica ended a nearly 50-year
agreement in March 2026. Honduras did not renew its contract, leaving
thousands of rural patients without care. Guatemala closed a 30-year
program involving 412 Cuban collaborators. Guyana, Antigua and Barbuda,
and the Bahamas also suspended or cancelled their agreements. Cuban
Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez has denounced that Washington pressures
and extorts governments to end the presence of Cuban medical brigades,
aiming to besiege the Cuban economy. To legitimize this, Washington
labels the program "forced labour" and "human trafficking," which Cuba
rejects since Cuban doctors serve voluntarily, driven by ethical
conviction. The mechanism is clear: the power of the dollar, control of
banking, and extraterritorial US laws force small countries to sacrifice
their public health for Washington's geostrategic interests.</p>
<p>The second limitation reflects the asymmetry of world powers. China
and Russia maintain diplomatic and economic relations with Cuba, vote
against the blockade at the UN, and have offered credits and political
support. However, they have not put a limit on aggressive U.S. policy
against Cuba. No power has been willing to challenge the U.S.-led
political and financial order without risking confrontation. Solidarity
from great powers is real in diplomatic discourse, but its capacity to
reverse the blockade encounters the same structural limitations faced by
the entire Global South. It is the suffocating reality of an
international order where the U.S. veto and financial dominance impose
rules.</p>
<p>The third limitation is systemic impunity. The United States has
abandoned any pretense of rules-based leadership: it vetoed ceasefire
resolutions in Gaza, threatened the International Criminal Court, and
ignored fundamental treaties. The blockade against Cuba is not an
anomaly but another expression of that impunity. The UN General Assembly
can condemn it 33 times, but as long as the Security Council is
paralyzed by the US veto, those condemnations remain symbolic. The world
condemns, but no one dares to stop the aggressor for fear of reprisals.
When Washington imposes sanctions on European banks that trade with
Cuba, those banks comply. Impunity is not an accident; it is a
structural feature of the imperial order.</p>
<p>This combination of factors\u2014direct coercive pressures, interests of
emerging powers, and systemic impunity\u2014explains why, despite decades of
solidarity, the blockade not only persists but hardens. It is not that
solidarity is useless; it fights on a battlefield where the rules are
set by the aggressor. The lesson is clear: the defence of sovereignty
cannot be delegated to any external solidarity. Fundamental resistance
lies on the island.</p>
<h2>The communication battle</h2>
<p>Greater coordination of campaigns on social networks is essential to
neutralize the lies launched by the United States. Imperial
psychological warfare knows no borders. The digital offensive against
Cuba uses three techniques: framing (presenting Cuba as a "threat"),
agenda setting (creating a sense of imminent collapse), and gaslighting
(making Cubans doubt their own reality). The objective is to poison
public opinion and break resistance from within.</p>
<p>To neutralize the empire's lies, it is key to build a global
communication front based on seven axes: articulate a unified
three-layer narrative; prioritize emotional content on Instagram and
Facebook; coordinate posting times to create trends; ally with content
creators; systematically dismantle false accusations; create a global
directory of digital activists; and leverage international events. The
communication battle is a decisive trench. When solidarity is
coordinated on a global scale, it can successfully compete against the
most powerful disinformation machine in the world.</p>
<h2>In conclusion: fundamental resistance lies on the island</h2>
<p>Washington's recipe is old: strangle the economy to generate
discontent and, amidst the suffering, facilitate an intervention. The
unjust accusation against Raul Castro is nothing more than the latest
piece in that machinery: criminalize the leader to delegitimize the
Revolution and pave the way for military aggression, while working to
create a humanitarian crisis in the country. But as we demonstrated at
the Bay of Pigs in 1961, during the 1962 missile crisis, in the special
period of the 1990s, and every single day of resistance since then, the
Cuban people, their Revolution, and their sovereign example are not
negotiated; they are defended. International solidarity\u2014from the
flotillas breaking the blockade to the content creators amplifying our
truth on social networks, from the governments condemning the siege at
the UN to the unions sending solar panels\u2014is a necessary and valuable
complement. But the heart of the resistance beats on the island, in
every Cuban who, despite shortages, endless lines, scheduled blackouts,
and media poisoning, refuses to kneel and is willing to give their life
in defense of the homeland, if necessary.</p>
<p>But Cuba's struggle is not only for its own survival. It is a
fundamental trench in a much larger battle. Halting the aggressive and
predatory advance of the empire before it engulfs the entire planet is a
shared responsibility of all conscious humanity. At stake is the very
possibility of a multipolar world, respectful of sovereignty and social
justice. Therefore, while the threats of Trump and Rubio and the
infamous accusation against Raúl Castro resonate in international
headlines, the Cuban people continue working, studying, producing, and
defending their right to exist with dignity.</p>
<p><strong>References</strong>:</p>
<ul><li>Cuban News Agency. (2021, April 6). Cuban president and FM denounce
the genocidal policy of the US blockade.
<a href="http://www.cubanews.acn.cu/cuba/13196-cuban-president-and-fm-denounce-the-genocidal-policy-of-the-us-blockade">http://www.cubanews.acn.cu/cuba/13196-cuban-president-and-fm-denounce-the-genocidal-policy-of-the-us-blockade</a></li><li>Cuban News Agency. (2023, April 6). Cuba condemns validity of the
Mallory Memorandum.
<a href="http://www.cubanews.acn.cu/cuba/20917-cuba-condemns-validity-of-the-mallory-memorandum">http://www.cubanews.acn.cu/cuba/20917-cuba-condemns-validity-of-the-mallory-memorandum</a></li><li>Prensa Latina. (2026, April 6). Cuba no está sola, afirma activista
boliviano ante bloqueo de EEUU.
<a href="https://www.prensa-latina.cu/2026/04/06/cuba-no-esta-sola-afirma-activista-boliviano-ante-bloqueo-de-eeuu/">https://www.prensa-latina.cu/2026/04/06/cuba-no-esta-sola-afirma-activista-boliviano-ante-bloqueo-de-eeuu/</a></li><li>(2025, January 15). The United States adopts measures in the right
direction, but the blockade remains.
<a href="https://en.granma.cu/cuba/2025-01-15/the-united-states-adopts-measures-in-the-right-direction-but-the-blockade-remains">https://en.granma.cu/cuba/2025-01-15/the-united-states-adopts-measures-in-the-right-direction-but-the-blockade-remains</a></li><li>(2026, February 16). Cuba is not a threat! <a href="https://en.granma.cu/mundo/2026-02-16/cuba-is-not-a-threat">https://en.granma.cu/mundo/2026-02-16/cuba-is-not-a-threat</a></li><li>Juventud Rebelde. (2022, March 28). Organismo de Naciones Unidas
premia a gestores cubanos de vacunas
antiCOVID-19.<a href="https://juventudrebelde.cu/index.php/ciencia-tecnica/2022-03-28/organismo-de-naciones-unidas-premia-a-gestores-cubanos-de-vacunas-anticovid-19">https://juventudrebelde.cu/index.php/ciencia-tecnica/2022-03-28/organismo-de-naciones-unidas-premia-a-gestores-cubanos-de-vacunas-anticovid-19</a></li><li>(2020, October 4). Medical brigade that worked in Dominica returns
to Cuba.
<a href="http://en.cubadebate.cu/news/2020/10/04/medical-brigade-that-worked-dominica-returns-cuba/">http://en.cubadebate.cu/news/2020/10/04/medical-brigade-that-worked-dominica-returns-cuba/</a></li><li>(2026, May 20). Cuando Leonard Weinglass interpeló al Gobierno de
Estados Unidos sobre Hermanos al Rescate.
<a href="https://www.granma.cu/mundo/2026-05-20/cuando-leonard-weinglass-interpelo-al-gobierno-de-estados-unidos-sobre-hermanos-al-rescate-20-05-2026-13-05-34">https://www.granma.cu/mundo/2026-05-20/cuando-leonard-weinglass-interpelo-al-gobierno-de-estados-unidos-sobre-hermanos-al-rescate-20-05-2026-13-05-34</a></li><li>Prensa Latina. (2026, May 20). Estados Unidos, culpable del derribo
de avionetas, entonces y ahora.
<a href="https://www.prensa-latina.cu/2026/05/20/estados-unidos-culpable-del-derribo-de-avionetas-entonces-y-ahora/">https://www.prensa-latina.cu/2026/05/20/estados-unidos-culpable-del-derribo-de-avionetas-entonces-y-ahora/</a></li><li>(2026, May 20). La acusación contra Raúl es fraudulenta y carece de
fundamento legal, político y moral.
<a href="https://www.granma.cu/cuba/2026-05-20/la-acusacion-contra-raul-es-fraudulenta-y-carece-de-fundamento-legal-politico-y-moral-20-05-2026-22-05-40">https://www.granma.cu/cuba/2026-05-20/la-acusacion-contra-raul-es-fraudulenta-y-carece-de-fundamento-legal-politico-y-moral-20-05-2026-22-05-40</a></li><li>(s.f.). Enmienda Platt. <a href="https://www.ecured.cu/Enmienda_Platt">https://www.ecured.cu/Enmienda_Platt</a></li><li>Cuadernos Artesanos de Comunicación. (s.f.). Informe sobre
votaciones en la ONU. <a href="http://www.cuadernosartesanos.org/cdm1.pdf#21#13">http://www.cuadernosartesanos.org/cdm1.pdf#21#13</a></li></ul></div></div></div>
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