The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) reiterates its unwavering solidarity with the people of Cuba and supports the growing international call for the immediate and unconditional end to the decades-long economic blockade imposed by the United States. The recent boast by Donald Trump regarding the tightening and continuation of the embargo is a reminder that the policy remains one of the longest-running and most unjust systems of economic punishment imposed against a sovereign nation in modern history.
The embargo against Cuba was formally imposed in the early 1960s following the victory of the Cuban Revolution, when the revolutionary government led by Fidel Castro overthrew the U.S.-backed dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista. After the new Cuban government nationalised land, industries and foreign-owned corporations, including many American companies, the United States moved swiftly to punish the country economically. In 1962 the United States formally imposed a comprehensive economic embargo designed to isolate Cuba economically and politically.
The intention behind the embargo was never hidden. The United States government openly stated that the objective was to create economic hardship severe enough to provoke internal instability and ultimately force political change. The blockade was deliberately structured to deprive Cuba of trade, credit, fuel, investment and access to international markets in order to generate “hunger and desperation” among the population and undermine the revolutionary government. It was, from the beginning, an act of economic warfare intended to punish a people for choosing sovereignty over submission to American economic and political control.
Over the decades the blockade has grown into an elaborate system of sanctions that extends far beyond bilateral trade restrictions. Laws such as the Helms–Burton Act expanded the reach of the embargo by penalising foreign companies and financial institutions that attempt to do business with Cuba, effectively weaponising the global financial system against the nation. These measures, while having been suspended for a while, were reenacted by Trump in 2019. They have continued to make it extraordinarily difficult for Cuba to purchase food, medicine, fuel, spare parts, medical technology and basic industrial equipment, even from countries willing to trade with it.
Despite this sustained economic siege, Cuba has historically stood as one of the most principled nations in the global struggle for justice, international solidarity and anti- imperialism. From the early years following the revolution, the Cuban government adopted a foreign policy grounded in solidarity with oppressed peoples across the Global South.
Cuba’s internationalist commitments were most powerfully demonstrated in Africa during the liberation struggles against colonialism and apartheid. In the 1970s and 1980s, Cuba deployed tens of thousands of troops to support the independence of Angola and to defend the country against invasions by apartheid South Africa and its allies. Cuban forces played a decisive role in the historic Battle of Cuito Cuanavale, a confrontation widely recognised as a turning point in the military balance of Southern Africa that accelerated the independence of Namibia and hastened the collapse of apartheid in South Africa. Cuban soldiers did not fight for territory or profit, but in solidarity with African liberation movements seeking freedom from racist domination. Cuba has also demonstrated remarkable solidarity through international medical assistance. For decades, Cuban doctors have served in countries such as Haiti, Venezuela, Brazil, and across numerous African nations, providing healthcare to communities that would otherwise have no access to doctors. During the global COVID-19 pandemic, Cuban medical brigades were deployed across the world to assist countries whose health systems were under immense strain.
It is therefore a profound injustice that a nation which has given so much to the liberation and wellbeing of the world continues to face relentless economic aggression. The United States has behaved as a global bully, using its economic power to punish smaller nations that refuse to submit to its political will. Instead of correcting this historic injustice, Donald Trump has chosen to boast about tightening these cruel measures, and worsening the suffering of ordinary Cuban people.
The EFF rejects this arrogance of imperial power. History has already demonstrated that even the most powerful empires can be defeated by the determination of oppressed people. The victories of the Cuban people during the revolution, and the victories won alongside African liberation movements at battles such as Cuito Cuanavale, show that justice ultimately prevails over domination.
The EFF aligns itself with the overwhelming consensus of the international community expressed repeatedly at the United Nations where the vast majority of nations have consistently voted for the immediate end of the embargo against Cuba. We therefore call for the unconditional lifting of the United States blockade and for the full normalisation of economic and diplomatic relations with Cuba. The Cuban people must be allowed to develop their country free from economic strangulation and external coercion.
The EFF is often viewed as a radical alternative to traditional political parties in South Africa.
venious
Fun South African Fact: South Africa has three capital cities
Ella of Light
Whoever said “quiet as a mouse”, has obviously never stepped on one