May Day Brigade in Cuba: Resisting the Blockade, Building Sovereignty, and International Solidarity - Ep 181

this is Fortress On A Hill, with Henri, Danny, Kaygan, Jo

vonni, Shiloh, Monisha , and Mike

welcome, everyone, to Fortress On A Hill, a podcast about US foreign

policy, anti-imperialism, skepticism, and the American way of war.

I'm Jovanni.

I'm joined with my co-host, Henri.

Thank you all for being here today, who joined us today.

Henri, how you doing today?

I'm doing all right, man.

How about yourself?

I'm, I'm doing okay, just watching what's going on, uh, in our

neighborhood, heh, uh, what's going on in our, in our global neighborhood.

Um, yeah, what's your feeling of what's going on, everything that's been

happening in the last couple weeks?

Uh, it's been crazy.

It's been really, really crazy.

Uh, hard enough for us to keep up.

I don't know how the people that are actually doing it are keeping up with

all, with everything that's going on.

Yes.

Um, so I wanna talk to you about something.

I wanna talk to you about a country just 90 miles off the coast of

Florida, where the pressure from US Washington, from, from, from

Washington is reaching a boiling point.

All right, let's talk about a country just 90 miles off the coast

of Florida, where the pressure from Washington is reaching a boiling point.

We're talking about Cuba and what the United States is doing to it right now.

For months, the Trump administration has been tightening the screws on Havana.

We're seeing a multi-front campaign that combines economic strangulation,

high-level dip- diplomatic pressure, lawfare, sabotage, and

even threats of military force.

Apart from crippling economic blockade, Trump and Rubio have effectively

imposed an oil blockade on the island, choking off fuel shipments.

The result has been devastating.

Severe blackouts, with people reporting as little as two hours of power per day,

food shortages and food rotting due to a lack of refrigeration, a sanitation

crisis, and collapse of the tourist industry, a key source of its income.

Doctors report having to work on patients using only the

lights of their cell phones.

Cuban re- Cuba's renowned medical system has 100,000 Cubans waiting

for surgery, nearly 3,000 dialysis patients with disrupted treatment

schedules, and 300 out of its 395 native-produced medicines unavailable

due to a lack of chemical components blocked by the sanctions regime.

Cuban officials report that even the survival rate of children with cancer

has dropped due to the s- shortages.

Infant mortality has spiked in a country that had the lowest infant

mortality in the hemisphere.

Despite all this, Cubans persevere and show resilience.

Cuba has been living under US sanctions since 1961, and between the first Trump

administration and the second one, sanctions on top of sanctions have been

mounting on the small island nation of a, of a mil- of 11 million people.

This is what Trump calls a maximum pressure campaign, and the intention

is to squeeze and suffocate its people into submission to a point

that either the economy totally collapses or social disturbances

arise to overthrow the government.

And why?

For carrying out a successful socialist revolution 90 miles off the cu- the coast

of the United States, for standing tall in its sovereignty and self-determination,

and for refusing to submit.

After the American attacks on Venezuela on November… on January

3rd and the kidnapping of its sitting president Nicolás Maduro and his wife

and first combatant, Cilia Flores, Trump declared Cuba an unusual and

extraordinary threat to US national security and foreign policy.

Trump cut all, all shipments from Venezuela to Cuba and

threatened any other nation with tariffs if it gave oil to Cuba.

Americans lose their minds if gas prices go up.

Try having no oil for a co- for… Try having no oil in your country

because another country is blocking it.

A military buildup is currently underway, and each day threats of military actions

is coming out from the White House.

Cuba wants peace, but with peace with dignity.

The US demands submission or war.

I recently traveled to Cuba as part of the larger national delegation organized

by the National Network on Cuba.

The delegation was called the MayDay Brigade, and we went to deliver

much needed medical and medical aid sub- and supply, and school supplies

to medical facilities and schools.

There we joined hundreds of delegates from all over the world, from several

countries to the… from several countries in the Americas, including

delegations from Canada, Mexico, and Brazil, from European countries including

the UK, Germany, Sweden, Greece, and Italy, and delegation coming from as

far as South Korea and South Africa.

All came to show solidarity, render sol- render solidarity aid, and reject

the American cruel, ruthless, illegal, inhumane, unconscionable blockade.

I will do a report back on my experience in Cuba with some fellow delegates

who went with me at a later time.

But today I want to… I plan to publish a report back recorded from

fellow brigadista out of Detroit

I'm republishing a recording from Shay, a Detroit-based community

organizer, storyteller, and host of the podcast Radical for Good.

Shay traveled to Cuba as part of the May Day Brigade, delivering medical aid and

school supplies while learning from Cubans about sustain- sustaining resistance,

especially around food sovereignty, which connects directly to her mutual aid and

urban gardening work back in Detroit.

In this episode, she shares what she witnessed, what she learned,

and why solidarity with Cuba matters today more than ever.

Hey, what up, doe?

And a special what up, doe, if you're listening on Blue Moon Radio today.

Welcome to Radicals for Good, a podcast about the quiet

revolutions unfolding around us.

I'm your host, Shay.

We're here at Moondog Cafe, sending them gratitude for

letting us use their space today.

Radicals for Good is recorded on Waawiyaataanong, the lands of the

Anishinaabe peoples, whose presence and resistance continue today.

Detroit liberation is rooted in Black labor, Indigenous survival,

and community love and protection.

We acknowledge those whose resistance made and make our home and people possible.

And because today's episode is specifically focused on the sovereign

land of Cuba, we honor the resilience and resistance of Cubans and all Taino people.

In this episode of Radicals for Good, we experience on-the-ground

resistance to imperialism in Cuba.

This episode is a collection of interviews with Cubans living on the

island and international comrades showing solidarity for the May Day Brigade.

I wanna start off by clarifying our goals with this episode, which is, one, to

dispel common misinformation about Cuba.

Two, draw very real connections between Cubans and Detroiters.

And three, encourage action and solidarity with Cubans.

Even though my perspective from living in the US is very limited, being in Cuba gave

me a chance to investigate narratives and define truth, as my comrade Leo would say.

Hello, my name is Leonardo Palacio.

I am from Oregon, Portland, Oregon, which is unceded Chinook Kaputa peoples' lands.

I am, uh, Chicano, uh, Indigenous and Mexican, and I am in revolutionary Cuba.

I think really I will quote from Comandante, uh, Ernesto Che Guevara

when he said, "One must turn their love for humanity into concrete deeds,

into concrete actions that inspire."

Uh, I think that's something that everyone should learn and to take into

heart because, love is a powerful tool.

Love is something that guides and grows and empowers.

And to leave it just in words and not deeds is, I think, um, something we can't

afford to do right now because of, of, of all of the hate and violence that

just perpetrates throughout the world.

Professor Renzo Llorente said it best when he said, "I see revolutionary Cuba

with all of its shortcomings and flaws as embodying or at least striving to embody

a lot of the values and ideals that I think a really desirable human society

ought to represent." Before we move any further in our episode, I want to define

two terms, sovereignty and imperialism.

Sovereignty is a self-governing state which allows for people to

govern how they choose free from intervention or interference.

For example, closer to home, Waawiyaataanong, the land that Detroit

sits on, was once liberated land, but then it was colonized by the French in 1701.

Its original Anishinaabe people were slaughtered, enslaved, and their

culture was stripped from them.

The resources of the land were extracted and used for the colonial

project that is now the United States.

You may be familiar with food sovereignty.

It's a similar concept.

We create food sovereignty here in Detroit with our urban gardens.

Free from interference, we grow what we want and we feed people as we see fit.

And then there's imperialism.

Imperialism is the extending power over nations through

colonization, economic exploitation, and/or cultural subordination.

Hi, my name is Ari and I'm from the German Youth Brigade and

I'm part of the Socialistic Democratic Students Association.

Because our struggles are deeply connected, not only for Cuba, but

also in the fight of US imperialism, which is basically destroying or

trying to destroy the whole world.

We are seeing it in Cuba.

We are seeing it in Gaza.

We're seeing the attacks on Iran and Lebanon and, like, obviously we

need to fight this, and this is just possible if we do it all together.

There are more than 900 military bases in all over the world from the United States.

160 of them are in Germany, so we have to close them all.

Because if we close them, the military bases, there's no way

that they can do their wars.

And I really hope to learn… Like, the important thing is to learn from

each other from our common struggles because I have noticed that many people

are having, like, this awakening moment that it can't continue like that, that

capitalism, imperialism, exploitation is really dangerous and it's not

gonna bring us forward as humanity.

Cuba is a sovereign land because it's free from the United States'

master plan for the world.

Many countries throughout the globe find themselves trapped inside

an extractive system where the US and its imperial allies conquer

and assert their own will over the land and the people who occupy it.

My name is Hiram.

I am born and raised in Havana, Cuba.

I am an official of the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples.

I work specifically in the North American desk.

And right now we are, you know, working with the U.S. delegation to

the 19th International May Day Brigade.

I mean, I would like them to know that Cuba is A small island in the Caribbean

full with beautiful people, full with talented people who care, people who love,

people who defend not only themselves but others who need help around the

world, people who defend just causes like, the cause of the Palestinian

people, the cause of the independence of Puerto Rico, the cause of the, you know,

independence of the sub-Saharan people.

So Cuba is a place of honorable and good people.

And it is not fair that we have had to suffer all these years under this

blockade just because some government with imperial aspirations of hegemony around

the world has chosen to, not to have a socialist place so close to their shores.

Maybe because it represents an example of a different world that is actually

possible and they don't want their own people to awake to those kind

of ideas and that possibility of a different future for their lives.

So that I would like the U.S. people to know.

And I would like to encourage all of those in the U.S. people who

are just fair and honorable to, you know, just think about us and help

in any ways you feel you can do it.

As Americans, we've been heavily propagandized to

misunderstand Cuba in every way.

It's almost impossible to get away from.

Even I had misinformation about Cuba.

Honestly, I'm still trying to fully understand the economic

system in Cuba, but as radicals, study is necessary and continuous.

So I am the political education chair for the National Network on Cuba.

So I was prioritizing political education in the form of articles,

fact sheets, things that people need to see and read and have access to

when we get back into the empire.

Often the reactionary right wing of capitalism and imperialism will try to

just downplay the successes of the Cuban Revolution, will claim that, um, you

know, they, they had their heyday, and that they're in a Former President Joe

Biden said that Cuba was a failed state.

Yet I, the only failures are brought upon through the imperialist

blockade that denies the Cuban people and the revolutionary project

building supplies, food, medicines.

I mean, really, the essential… Oil, I mean, that's been a very critical one over

the past few months, um, as they've had to shift from relying on fossil fuels, like

every other modern country in the world, to having to rely on renewable solar

panel, you know, solar-based energies.

Hi, good day.

My name is Camilo Ayala, and I'm from Mexico.

The message I have for the United States youth is to motivate

more support for the causes.

The entire world, and I assure you, that is truly hopeful that the youth and the

proletariat in the States take a deeper understanding of class consciousness,

and more collectivist consciousness, in solidarity with the rest of the countries.

We have a lot of faith in this, since we already know that you are a strong

people, well organized, and interested in what is happening in the entire world.

Fully committed, it is seen and displayed in every single person

who has come here and is here today, who come from the United States.

I want to encourage you to not believe in the Yankee propaganda

that is surely consumed in your respective countries, that you allow

yourselves the opportunity to learn more and investigate more the official

propaganda through the news channel.

The reality that is displayed to you is not how it truly is.

If you have access to reality just as it is, the more avenues of information,

I trub- truly believe that the youth living in the United States, and the

proletariat youth that hold hearts that are determined to support the

causes, have great hope in these such dark moments that are happening.

I believe that the entire humanity due the, due to the increasing of

many conflicts around the world.

There's a genocide in Palestine, these genocidal measures of

the blockade here in Cuba.

Without a doubt, the spirit and heart are willing to support noble causes

that I see in the North American youth here, of who I am currently with and

perceiving, which fills me with hope.

So I have nothing else to say other than continue to inform yourselves, involve

yourselves, and continue the fight.

With great importance, the proletariat in the United States find themselves inside

the monster of the empire are our greatest

hope.

I spent two weeks in Cuba as a part of the 19th International May Day Brigade,

where more than 250 of us across the globe representing 156 countries and five

continents broke the blockade and stood in solidarity with the people of Cuba.

Collectively, we brought over $700,000 worth of donated materials

to medical facilities and schools in support of the people of Cuba.

We attended cultural events, delivered life-saving materials, added to

the workforce in the fields, and learned from Cubans on the ground.

We celebrated May Day with over half a million people in

La Plaza de la Revolución and six million across the island.

My name's Killian.

I'm from Jackson, Michigan, and I work with Michigan Action for Cuba.

My experience with May Day was really interesting because coming to Cuba, I

had heard a lot of American propaganda and watched Western news, and I

knew that a lot of it was dishonest, but I didn't know to what extent.

And being here, um, actually participating in the May Day activities and seeing how

American media reported on it, I saw just how… In… I saw, like, in real time

how dishonest our media is because, um, different outlets were reporting that

there wasn't a large show-up for May Day.

Um, people were disinterested.

Uh, Cuba, the Cuban people were defeated.

And in real time, I saw that over 500,000 people showed up

for May Day just in Havana.

Uh, 66% of the Cuban population signed signatures saying that they oppose war on

Cuba and they stand with their government.

And so it, it was just a… it was really life-altering to see that in real time.

May Day is an international holiday that celebrates the accomplishments

and contributions of workers.

In liberated lands, May Day is a celebration.

In occupied lands, May Day is a struggle.

So if you haven't heard of May Day, it might be because

workers are not acknowledged or celebrated in your country.

The Polish German revolutionary Rosa Luxemburg said, "As long as the struggle

of the workers against the bourgeoisie and the ruling class continues, as

long as all the demands are not met, May Day will be the yearly expression

of these demands." In Cuba, May Day is incredibly significant, deeply rooted in

history, and celebrates workers' rights.

It is a public holiday where workers rest, relax, and celebrate.

Um, my name is Rachel Tucker.

Um, I am, uh… I live in San Antonio, Texas.

I'm originally from Miami, Florida.

I'm Cuban American and, um, I'm in the multiple organizations.

Uh, my political home is Oppressed Revolutionaries for Worker Power.

I'm also in About Face Veterans Against the War and others You were just in

Mayday where, like, people, it's a, people do not sleep the night before.

They get off work.

They go to march with the rest of their, of their neighbors, and then

they start dancing at 7:00 AM, you know?

And it's not, it's n- like- I have, I, I think that that's so beautiful

because it's, it's just like resistance is not always just militancy, right?

Resistance is community.

Resistance is dancing.

It's, um, sharing and building relationships

In the US, May Day is usually a day where unions and activists hold rallies or

protests to advocate for workers' rights, fair wages, and better working conditions.

As you may know, Cuba has been under a blockade for 66

years from the United States.

The Trump administration has intensified this blockade, which has made it

increasingly more difficult for regular, everyday people to simply

survive, citing the people of Cuba as an extraordinary and unusual threat.

Rhetoric we see repeated about the people in many countries

that resist US imperialism.

Let's get into a historic timeline starting in the 1800s.

In 1823, the US established the Monroe Doctrine, which essentially declares

the entire Western Hemisphere off-limits to foreign powers, particularly warning

European colonization in the Americas.

At the end of the 1800s, US forces aided in the Cuban fight

for independence from Spain.

Following this effort, the US took Guantanamo Bay as its own, a tactic we see

imperial hegemony assert throughout the globe, hence the 800 US military bases.

During the first part of the 1900s, Cuba was mostly an independent

island following the Spanish War with intermittent US occupation.

The US bought up Cuban land and sent military to shoot down any coup attempts.

In 1933, Fulgencio Batista, a US-backed dictator, seized control in a military

coup by pushing Machado out of power.

Batista held control throughout puppet presidents until he

became president in 1940 to 1944, and then he ran again in 1952.

Under Batista, living conditions included landlessness, illiteracy, high mortality

rates, and horrific working conditions for Cubans, but corporations and imperialists

considered it a capitalist paradise.

By 1947, the Cold War began.

In 1952, expecting an electoral defeat, Batista organized another

military coup and seized control of Cuba once again, establishing a

de facto military dictatorship and suspended the Constitution of Cuba.

For the next decade until 1959, Fidel Castro, alongside Che Guevara, Celia

Sanchez, and other revolutionaries, attempted several times to remove

Batista's dictatorship of the island.

Throughout this time, the revolutionaries were imprisoned, many killed and

exiled, but they continued training.

On July 26, 1953, they stormed the Moncada Barracks, and even though

this was a failed attempt, the July 26 Movement is commemorated and recognized

as the spark of the Cuban Revolution.

In 1956, Fidel and the rebels set sail for Cuba, but were quickly defeated

and spent years forming a base in the mountains of Sierra Maestra.

Finally, on January 6, 1959, after two years of warfare, Batista was

defeated and fled the country.

Fidel and revolutionaries walked into the cheers and rejoice of the Cuban people and

established the Communist Party of Cuba.

Uh, my name is Sohaila.

I am from Canada, and my background is Egyptian.

I've read a lot about the Cuban Revolution.

It's something that gives me a lot of hope to see a people stand up for

themselves and and, and truly believe and, and have that come a reality.

And so I came in with only the highest expectations, and I think it's, it's

been surpassed in every way possible.

A lot of the reading that I've done, obviously, is, is by leaders of the Cuban

Revolution Che Guevara, Fidel Castro.

I think there's a, a big reverence, uh, for those figures here and a big

emphasis on them abroad and, and the work that they put into the revolution.

But what I was surprised with coming here and, and, you know, you hear

them talk a lot about the Cuban people and, and, you know, their,

their gratitude to the Cuban people.

And when I've… When I came to Cuba is when I really, really started to

appreciate the depth of the revolutionary spirit amongst the Cuban people that

these leaders, as phenomenal as they are are a representation of, of the

people and an extension of them.

It's not like, you know, this, you know, just figures that came out of nowhere

and, and were able to accomplish a lot.

It was an uprising of a whole entire people and the depth of the

revolutionary spirit, not just from the Cuban Revolution in the 1950s,

but even beyond that and before.

And so I think it's something that you learn about, but to be

in Cuba and to experience it and to talk to people is an experience

that I truly can't put into words.

it's something that you have to be present to see how, no matter how hard

things are, and Cubans are not ashamed, they're not too proud to admit that

things are very difficult and that this is a very, very challenging time.

But even amongst all this, there will be no bowing down.

There will be people are going to live, and they're gonna live with dignity, and

they're always gonna fight for themselves, and they're… It's, it's, it's amazing.

I don't know.

Soon after, Fidelis established the Agrarian Reform Act of 1959, which

reallocated agricultural land and dispersed foreign-owned land into hands

of Cubans and redistributed the wealth into healthcare, education, and housing.

Around this time, a literacy campaign mainly led by revolutionary women

was launched to help the island go from 40% to 100% literacy rate.

On April 6, 1960, Lester Fuckin' Mallory, Deputy Assistant of Secretary

of State for Inter-American Affairs, defined the philosophy of the U.S.

blockade against Cuba in the memorandum titled The Decline and Fall of Castro.

In 1961, motivated by the Mallory memo, President Eisenhower set a strategy for

six decades of U.S. imperialism and signed an embargo which prevented the exchange of

goods and services from entering Cuba from the United States or any of its allies.

This also prevented the travel to Cuba for Americans.

I

mean, the U.S.

blockade is, as you probably know already, been there for a long time.

So more than 66 years now since the early 1960s.

1962 could be like the starting point, even though there were already some

sanctions being applied before, but that's the year when President Kennedy

signed like a, full body of sanctions into just one code that was applied.

And it's something that, people sometimes think about it in an abstract way,

but it has like real implications.

And it's been hardened and reinforced throughout the years.

For instance, in 1992, Torricelli Act was signed, which added like a

lot more measures to the blockade.

Then in the late 1990s, President Clinton also signed a new act, Helms-Burton

Act, that added a lot more sanctions, if you want to call it that way, but also

codified the blockade and that whole body of sanctions into law, which only Congress

can lift or modify in a certain way.

And afterwards, well, we had Trump first administration, which added

like 240 something new measures.

And then we had Biden who did nothing to change that.

And then we had Trump second administration just right now adding new

executive orders, finding every little gap of things they haven't done yet to Cuba so

they could fill, they can fill those gaps and strangle Cuba in any way possible.

So it's really, really hard.

And you always think about it at the macro economical level, like how it affects the

whole country, the macro economy in Cuba.

But it also has a reflection on people's daily lives.

So whatever scarcities we face as a person, since the moment you

open your eyes and you are, let's say, with no electricity, right?

Or it's hard for you to put bread on the table.

Or if you, I don't know, you're feeling bad and you go to the doctor and there

are not the proper medicines to treat you.

So these are like, you know, very specific examples on how it

impacts on someone's daily life.

But it is a lot, a lot more than that.

So people debate whether it's a blockade, whether it's an embargo,

different terms with different, concepts.

But what it really is, is economical warfare, right?

And it is also an act of genocide by the definition of international law.

So it is really hard for us living under these conditions.

It's been hard all these years, but right now specifically because it has

an accumulated impact for over 66 years, and it's really hard to, develop a

whole country under those conditions, even though we Cubans are really

strong and we keep moving forward.

We keep trying to find ways to, you know, survive and sort all

obstacles but it's really hard.

It's really hard.

Fast-forward to 2015, President Barack Obama lifted portions of the embargo

and removed this US classification of state-sponsored terrorism, which

allowed for commercial flights to return to Cuba as well as some small

trade, ushering in an era of Cuban thaw.

In 2017, Donald Trump stopped this Cuban thaw, and Biden did nothing to change it.

In January 2026, Trump reinstated the Monroe Doctrine, what he is calling the

Dundroe Doctrine, which re-declares that the Western Hemisphere is the US' priority

sphere of influence, aiming to pursue full occupation, war, and environmental

extraction of the Western Hemisphere.

This approach is proving to be incredibly violent, influencing increasing levels

of state violence and adaptations of organized crime throughout Latin America.

Since then, Cuba has only received one tanker of oil from Russia and other

life-saving resources from China.

Hi, I'm Shadan.

I'm based in the UK.

I'm here representing United Tech and Allied Workers, but also Cuba

Solidarity Campaign I think it's how the blockade manifests in,

um, people's daily lives in Cuba.

Uh, no one's exempt whether it's the pharmacy with empty shelves

or the community ce- center not having enough art supplies for

their programs, um, for children.

But also large groups of people I think exploring Old Havana, there

were quite a lot of people asking for money, which isn't out of the

ordinary in whatever country you're in.

But I think someone mentioned to me because the volume o- of tourists

isn't there like it used to be, you're feeling it a lot more.

So I'm, I think you're experiencing people's desperations, uh, head-on,

and it was really hard to digest.

Just last month, an international campaign started aiming to end

the blockade and any further destabilization of the lower Western

Hemisphere, declaring no war on Cuba.

The people of Cuba are a masterclass on resilience.

Despite decades of suffocating embargoes, Cuba's literacy rate is 99.8%.

They have made extraordinary contributions to science and technology, like

developing a cure for Alzheimer's, and is in the process of achieving energy

sovereignty with renewable sources like mass solar panel installations.

Let me tell you a little bit about my time in Cuba, especially in the healthcare

and school systems while I was there.

While in Cuba, we visited Hermanos Americas Hospital

and a maternity facility.

As a public health professional, I really enjoyed witnessing a public health

model based on prevention of diseases be embodied by an entire country.

Through their central planning system, the island operates on a

unified tiered health system model.

The first tier is the public family clinic being the most

important and the most accessible.

Specialists are encouraged to visit a patient at their public health clinic

to reduce the burden on the patient.

This is really unheard of in the US.

I don't know about you, but I travel 40 miles just to see my neurologist.

A care plan is curated for all patients regardless of risk level or wealth.

Health insurance isn't needed.

Everyone can access the healthcare system.

It doesn't determine what kind of care you receive, and you can't

be denied care because of that.

We were informed by doctors that due to the blockade, life-saving medications

and equipment are extremely limited.

Unlike here in the States, patients are not denied a procedure that could

save their life because of the cost.

In Cuba, they are only denied because of the lack of equipment or medications Cuba

is known for their prestigious medical training and well-trained doctors that

they send worldwide, as well as their contributions to science and technology.

I often overheard a quote from Fidel, in a time when the rest

of the world is building weapons, Cuba is building doctors.

Just waking up every morning and just go on, carry on with your life is an

act of resistance against the U.S. blockade because you have to face all

these challenges I was just mentioning.

The resist, resistance shows in the fact that people or most people in

Cuba, because I don't want to, you know, generalize, but most people

in Cuba rather, keep the struggle instead of yielding to the U.S.

government interests, which is like to overthrow the Cuban revolution.

Yeah.

You know, finding ways to sort different obstacles, like, you know, if there is no

specific medicine, for instance, people try green medicine or they go back to,

you know, your grandparents', uh, recipes to treat certain diseases with, you

know, herbs and, uh, things like that.

Or I don't know, in your workplace, if there is a certain spare part for,

uh, for an equipment that is broken, uh, we Cubans find ways to, you know,

build a new one or, or adapt something to it that w- it will ma- it will

make this equipment keep working.

So many things like that.

And it is also one of the, um, one of the main ideas our leaders have

been sharing with us for the last I don't know, 10 years, which is,

like, not only resisting, but do it, doing it in a creative way, right?

So trying to find solutions to every problem we, uh, face, trying to find

those solutions at home, in Cuba, instead of, you know, trying to get them from

abroad, because it is hard, because the, uh, US blockade on Cuba has an

international extent that affects not only us Cubans and our ability to relate

economically and commercially with the world, but it also affects other peoples.

Because, for instance, one of the things that are happening is that

it's not just a blockade, right?

It is a whole campaign designed to discredit Cuba internationally

in many different fronts, and it's all part of the same thing.

And for instance, one of the things, uh, the US government has been doing

since Marco Rubio is, uh, Secretary of State, is that they have enhanced

the, uh, critiques or media campaigns or, social media efforts and also

official actions to, to discredit our medical missions abroad, right?

And that, of course, has had as a result that many countries have

decided to, you know, just send the Cuban doctors back to Cuba and

not having those services anymore.

And that implies losses in terms of money for Cuba because those are

services that are commercialized and represent an income for our country.

But it also affect the populations of those places who will be

left with no medical attention.

Mm. But because, I mean, Cuban doctors are are going in these places to the

most remote areas in which no other doctor- Yeah … chooses to be, so these

people will be left with no medical care.

Mm. That affects them.

The blockade affects not only the Cuban people, but also the US people.

Yeah.

You know?

So- Can you

speak a little bit louder just 'cause the engine?

Yeah.

The engine.

Uh, so there's a lot of things Cuba has, for instance, in biotech

industry that could be helpful to treat diseases in the United States.

Right.

And things you cannot access because of the US blockade.

US citizens are not allowed to legally do tourism in Cuba because it i- it

represents an income, uh, for our country, uh, and a possibility to develop our

economy, but that's a violation of your constitutional rights and freedoms, right?

So it's, uh, many things.

And resisting creatively, which is what we do on daily basis, is trying

to find ways to sort, like these big obstacles, but every little

obstacles you find on your daily life.

Like, hey, if I don't have electricity right now or I don't

have gas, how would I cook my meals?

Yeah.

Well, we use charcoal, wood, whatever we can find.

Even eye health is very important because it connects to the literacy campaign.

If you can't see, you can't read.

Fidel was very intentional about contributions to science and medicine,

even donating his own blood and visiting scientists during the testing of vaccines.

It occurred to me that true revolutionaries are extremely generous.

True leaders do whatever it takes to take care of their people.

This brings me to education.

I mentioned earlier that Cuba's literacy rates are extraordinary.

99.8% of the population can read.

In comparison, in the US, we only have a literacy rate of 79%.

Hi, I'm Jessica Plichta.

I'm with MAC.

I'm also with Palestine Solidarity Grand Rapids and Grand Rapids Opponents of War.

What I'm doing here today, I'm on the May Day Brigade with the

US delegation Um, my experience was, has been absolutely amazing.

Um, I've learned so much.

I have so much to take back, especially with the Cuban schooling system.

I have so much that I think should be implemented in the US to center

our children's learning, our children's mental and physical health.

There are… All children here have access to doctors, free healthcare, and

for any disabilities, they have services provided for them for free and accessible.

And so that's something that I think sh- we need here in the US and we need abroad.

And so learning so much, doing so much for the Cuban people has been

the greatest experience of my life.

The intention around the literacy campaign launched in 1960 was the

investment in people, recognizing that humans are a country's greatest capital.

It was important to Fidel that people could lead themselves and participate

in the political process fully.

And the first part of that was that they needed to be able to read, with

a special emphasis on reading land contracts, medical records, legal

documents, and others in order to have that self-sovereignty and dignity Our

brigade visited several schools while we were there to donate materials

and learn from teachers and students.

One of the schools was a previous US military barracks for 30 years, but

after the revolution it was transformed into a liberation school with the city

built around it named Liberation City.

This is something you will notice across the island.

Casinos turned into union halls, mansions turned into museums and community centers.

This is after the revolution.

Young people are taught about the world as it is.

We had a chance to talk with a dance group who were learning

Afro-Indigenous dances, mostly girls.

When we asked them what they wanted for their future, they talked

about an end to the US blockade.

One thing that stuck with me was speaking to an American comrade

them talking about them going to a school for disabled children in Cuba.

And the kids were talking about Palestine and this comrade was thinking, "Oh,

they're keeping up with the news, too." But the teacher explained to them,

um, "No, we actually are explaining to them what is happening in the world,

and especially in Palestine at a level that they can understand," which was

shocking t- for them and shocking for me to hear, uh, mainly because of how they

actually respect the children regardless of their ability, including them.

And I think that's where the resistance in letting them know in, letting them

know what's happening in the world and rather than coddling them and blocking

them from, um, what's happening in the world and kind of expanding their horizon

despite the p- increasing blockade and military threats from the US.

But also thinking about, like, the UK and, and like I'm hearing from friends about

how they're being punished, uh, about wearing any, like, reference to Palestine

in the workplace, or the fact that university students are being monitored

and reported on to the authorities.

And if, schools and education weren't a place of resistance, they

wouldn't be doing so hard to stop it.

When interviewing a secondary school teacher how they teach their students

to be revolutionary, they simply said, "We aren't raising them to be

revolutionaries. We're teaching them to be whole humans and members of society."

Ah, this is the mic.

I'm from South Korea, and my name is Lee Jinhee.

First, we studied Cuban society before we arrived.

However, the information available was very lacking, especially

aspects about peace and solidarity.

Celebrating the 100th anniversary of Fidel Castro's birth became a grand

occasion for us to make a visit, honoring his spirit and the wisdom of his work.

Now

that we're here, I came to feel that many people from around the

world feel deeply connected to Fidel Castro's history and that of José

Martí, who we heard about today

I was able to once again think deeply about the wise spirit

and work of Fidel Castro

It seemed like everywhere I went on the island, I was reminded of home in Detroit.

I witnessed similarities in food sovereignty and community gardens,

worker organizing, and energy.

Detroit breeds resistance in so many ways.

These same ways I witnessed in Cuba.

Our communities were starving, so we gardened and we fed people for free,

and now we're known nationwide as the gold star for our urban gardens.

Cuban farmers have food sovereignty on a much larger scale.

They typically know where their food is going.

They know it will feed someone, and they can sell some at an affordable price.

Food is not grown for the sole purpose of making a profit.

There is no big business standing in the way between the farmers and their food

and a separate big business standing between the food and your hunger.

Inside empire, you might recognize names like Monsanto, who make it difficult

and illegal to grow from certain seeds.

You'll find a third-party middleman between nearly every part of a transaction

that should be extremely simple.

Today, we find ourselves working in an urban garden where vegetables

are grown and cultivated.

We're removing the weeds that grow by the crop so that it

can grow and develop quickly.

Precisely, the people who consume in the nearby locale can have

these food items on their tables.

I'm not going to attribute myself to providing an exuberant amount of support.

I'm giving the most and best that I can, of course.

However, those who deserve the acknowledgement the most for the work

done in the community garden and labor that is done day in and day out to sustain

the nutritional intake of the Cuban people are the Cuban gardeners, who we

should be immensely grateful for, who we should express many admiration for the

humanistic work that they fulfill daily.

Aside from this being direct support, this displays the moral support that we

have as international brigadistas we are offering to the Cuban people, reminding

and telling them that Cuba is not alone.

Telling Cuba that the entire world is observing what's happening.

The world offers its presence so you have the certainty that we will be with you.

That's my message to Cuba, at least with my presence and with

these tasks and this volunteer work

Hi, I'm Sandhya and I'm from Michigan and I organize with anti-capitalist,

um, organizations in Michigan, including the Michigan Action for Cuba Committee.

Um, and today a few of us have come as a contingent with the May Day Brigade to

work on an organopónicos in Cuba, which is an organic garden where we're seeing

a lot of greens and beets being planted with the usage the creative usage of

marigolds and oregano being planted as pest control and to attract pollinators.

So this is one of the ways that, by us doing a little bit of weeding,

we're offsetting some of the labor of the garden workers here.

And it also shows us the participatory process of Cuban socialism and

how food growth works here.

So one big way that the Cubans participate in this aspect called

creative resistance is by Creating alternatives to inaccessible medication,

um, because of the blockade, the 66-year-old blockade on Cuba.

So one way that happens is by using oregano to create tinctures, to

create syrups, to create treatments for respiratory conditions in Cuba,

especially for infants that wouldn't be accessible through the limitations and

restrictions on the purchase of medicines like expectorants on the Cuban people.

In Cuba, all farms became organic after the revolution because they could not

access pesticides and even the surrounding coral reefs have become more healthy.

My name is S. Uh, I'm with the Palestinian Youth Movement based in uh,

Raleigh and Durham in North Carolina.

I am Lebanese and Honduran.

Uh, yeah.

You know, Cuba again is in solidarity with Palestine and I

do a lot of work around Palestine.

And so for me, like for example this morning we did like work in an urban

garden and it was really interesting to see like how like they're able to,

you know, with like able to have like these massive things without pesticides.

And I grew up in, in North Carolina, in rural North Carolina where like

farmland and agriculture is a very huge thing, but it's all run under

like a very capitalist system.

So it's very like interesting to see like when like farm workers are

genuinely supported and it's like meant to like genuinely help feed the people.

Um, because like we have like such a like a issue with like, um, like a, like food

crisis here in the United States even though we have like abundance of food.

And so like Cuba actively is like working towards that.

Cuba is powered by its workers.

Decisions are made by workers and workers are organized.

In Detroit, our unions are powerful forces and for a moment in time

almost everyone belonged to one.

It was second nature.

Yeah.

So I focused, um, a lot on meeting and interacting, engaging with

members of international delegations.

There's people from all over the continents, from Asia, from Africa,

from the Caribbean, from Latin America, from Europe, and we're all here under

the same banner to stop the war on Cuba, to halt military attacks by

creating political agitation when we go back to our countries, especially

those of us in the imperial core.

So I spent a lot of time meeting with people and really discussing

and strategizing on how we need to rebuild a mass movement and make Cuba

important to every struggling, and oppressed, and colonized person on Earth.

The other thing that I focused on while I'm, while I've been here,

um, has been to really learn about how the Cuban people organize.

So learning what the importance is of getting every person organized into a

union, into a woman's organization, into an Afro feminist organization into a

block association, like the CDRs here and how that functions to train people

in tasks, how that functions to employ people, how that functions to uplift

their political consciousness, and how that also functions to mobilize people.

So we learned about some of the bomberos and the firemen here and, uh,

how they've, like, worked to offset, uh, what the US military would do or

would fail to do in the US, which is to take care of the people after the

imperialist attacks, um, that had happened in the past with Playa Girón.

Um, and that's one of the main ways, too, that we learn how

the Cuban people organize.

They are organized for armed resistance and to protect their land from attacks

if, if that's what the US comes to.

So yeah.

I visited the National Association of Small Farmers, also known as

ANAP, and one of their producers, Guava Farms, while I was there.

ANAP has a cooperative model with over 100 producers.

This allows them to keep their land even if they leave the co-op, and benefit from

shared resources like trucks, tractors, equipment, livestock, and others.

This also allows them to organize the produce.

Farmers are treated with the same respect and dignity as doctors.

Buen día.

My name is Mosiah.

I'm Theo.

I'm Neil.

And

we are with the May Day Brigade, with the international delegations

in solidarity with Cuba.

So we're on a co-op right now, and we're gonna do an interview.

I would like to know what is a co-op, and what is its relationship

to the Cuban Revolution?

¿ Qué es un cooperativo y cuál es su relación con la Revolución Cubana?

A cooperative is an organization where all the farmers gather, and revolution

is the fundamental thing we produce for.

For the revolution, yes.

And what is grown here, and how many people does it employ and feed?

¿ Qué se cultiva aquí en este cooperativo?

¿Cuántas personas trabajan aquí y cuántas personas comen de

lo que ustedes producen?

We planted various crops, different varieties.

Every different month and different cycles is sown for different

things to cultivate the land.

I have five workers, and what is produced is for everyone, families and

neighbors who helped with the production.

Maybe

you should tell them to pass.

And, uh, what are Cuba's food sovereignty goals, and how has that

been established from the local level up to the national level?

¿ Cuáles son los objetivos con la soberanía de la comida aquí en Cuba, y cómo se han

establecido esos objetivos desde el nivel

local hasta el nivel nacional?

The target is the population, and the production is destined for a larger part

for hospitals, schools, social centers

who need support.

And finally, what would you say to farmers in the United States as a farmer in

the, um, in Cuba, in revolutionary Cuba?

to support everyone who deserves it.

Gracias,

hermano.

ANAPE reminds me a lot of the Detroit Black Community Food Sovereignty Network

working towards food sovereignty and supporting urban gardens across our city.

Cuba is on a path to energy sovereignty, something that also very much

reminded me of Detroit and something we can work towards in our city.

After the revolution, Fidel made it a priority to improve the energy

grid across the island, which was a major problem under Batista's reign.

As of now, the energy grid covers 98% of the country.

The solar, uh, their energy system that Cuba is developing or has been developing

over many years, but due to the recent intensification of the blockade and not,

them not being able to have access to oil they have had to really, uh, ramp up the

amount of solar energy that they produce.

They ha- I mean, it's just impressive what central planning does because they have,

first of all, they have like 100-year plan for climate change adaptation and

mitigation, and then they have they want to be I believe it's, uh, solar

just, um, indepen- independent from imported fossil fuels by 2030, I believe.

And then by 2050, have the whole island on renewable energies and like that

just gives me goosebumps, um, to have that planning and that foresight.

In 2014, 98% of energy was from imported fossil fuels.

But as of February 2026, 15% of the energy is now from internal renewable sources.

By 2050, Cuba aims for all of their energy to be from internal renewable sources,

eliminating any need for external imports.

However, the Trump administration has made this goal a bit more

complicated by signing a very recent executive order blockading any

donations of solar panels and anything that could provide electricity.

As Detroiters, we've been fighting for energy sovereignty for a

long time, and it continues.

DTE is the only electricity provider in the city, and it is unreliable,

ranking in the bottom 25% of energy reliability in the US, and has some of

the most expensive rates in the country.

It's almost as if we have DTE imperialism.

When preparing for my trip to Cuba, our leads kept saying, "Be prepared

for rolling blackouts, and we may not have electricity for days at a time."

And my response was, "I'm a Detroiter.

I'm used to it." Every time we have a storm or heat wave or freezing

conditions, we experience blackouts due to aging infrastructure.

It's not news that low-income majority Black areas experience more

frequent outages and slower repairs.

Before Trump's second term, we seemed to be on a road towards more renewable

energy in the city as solar panel and wind projects were launching

left and right, even groundbreaking entire solar neighborhoods.

But in 2025, Michigan lost more than $1 billion in clean energy

funding and more than 6,200 jobs.

However, fellow Detroiters, do y'all remember when we were lit- left without

streetlights in 2011, specifically in Highland Park, and a nonprofit started

building solar panel streetlights that operated completely without DTE?

I do.

I was a brand-new community organizer at this point, and

I thought it was brilliant.

Neighbors determined to bring back the light completely off the grid despite

being buried in a hole by corporations.

I know that project has evolved over the years, but I think it's

a testament to our tenacity.

Energy sovereignty is possible.

A whole country is proving it.

Their resolve their integrity dignity thr- while fighting for your

rights and to maintain your rights.

We have a different fight in the US because imperialism has not given

us our rights, whereas in Cuba, they are maintaining their sovereignty.

They're fighting for their self-determination as a socialist country.

And in the US, we're, we have to fight this system and turn it up on

its head and seize the power into the hands of the working class.

And so we have a long fight ahead of us, but Cuba shows us that it is possible.

I say this time and time again that, you know, the Palestinian people woke

us up, the Venezuelan people taught us how to fight, and Cuba shows us what's

possible and why we must go forward.

Cubans and Detroiters share many things.

We are some resilient ass people who cannot be bullied into compliance.

Here are some ways that you can step outside of your comfort zone and continue

learning and advocating for Cuba.

These are also listed in the show notes.

I'd suggest that you start off with reading We Are Cuba by Helen

Yaffe, and The Revolution Within the Revolution is also another great book.

Check out Belly of the Beast.

They are a film studio doing incredible work getting inside Cuba and really

telling the story of Cubans on the ground.

Listen to The Revolution Within the Revolution podcast.

Upstream Podcast also does a really great series on Cuba, and the

International Solidarity Podcast.

All good podcasts doing deep dives on Cuba.

Get involved with the National Network on Cuba, and if you're

in Michigan, come join me in our Michigan Action for Cuba committee.

You can commit to solidarity with Cuba right now with the No War

on Cuba international campaign.

And if you feel compelled, donate materials or cash to upcoming brigades.

The reality is, is that Cuba is under attack by the current administration,

and now is the time to act.

Cuba has a right to choose and defend their political system.

Cuba is a country of peace, and they've made it very clear that they do not

want war with the United States.

If you are someone who cares about the sovereignty of land and

people, lands like Cuba should be protected with all that we have.

What happens to lands like Cuba will eventually happen to us all.

As the late activist who spent her final days in the refuge of Cuba,

Assata Shakur teaches us, "You should never let your enemy tell you who

your enemies are." Thank you so much for sharing space with us today.

Share this episode with someone and talk about it with your neighbors.

And remember, the revolution may not always be televised, but it's likely in

your own backyard or even within yourself.

Thank you to all my comrades who helped with this episode.

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