International Solidarity - Cuba

I have always found the achievements of the Cuban Revolution inspirational and it was an amazing experience to get the opportunity to visit Cuba back in October. I remember when Fidel died in 2016 and saw how he had great solidarity for the Irish Republican cause, I knew that I had to go and visit it. I said to myself in 2018 just before my leaving certification that 2019 was going to be the year I go and experience the Cuban revolution. Luckily the opportunity arose when I was selected for the Sinn Féin solidarity delegation. As Irish Republicans we look to Cuba for international solidarity with our cause but we also look to Cuba as being a successful socialist revolution. 

Achievements of The Revolution

After Fidel Castro, Che Guevara and the 26th of July movement overthrew the US backed dictatorship things began to change. They redistributed land, they built hospitals in rural areas and brought literacy to 99.7% of the population. Healthcare and education were now free to the population and today Cuba’s healthcare and education is considered as one of the highest in the world. Homelessness has been eradicated due to public housing schemes, unemployment is at about 1.5% and there have been much more social programs that have been used to reduce extreme inequality. Women’s empowerment has been another huge achievement of the Cuban Revolution with 53% of their National Assembly consisting of women.

Experience of The Cuban Revolution

When we had arrived in Havana, one of the first things that was visible was the symbolism of their revolution. Murals and billboards remembering Cuban heroes and promoting things such as healthcare were very common. This reminded me of how Republicans remember our struggle through murals of our dead patriots, but the key difference was that they achieved their nation’s freedom. The next day we had met with Fernando Gonzalez, one of the Cuban five. He ran us through the situation with US aggression and their embargo. It was a pleasure to meet Fernando who is considered a hero to the Cuban people, while he thanked Sinn Féin for their support while he and comrades were in prison. After this we visited the monument dedicated to the ten Republican hunger strikers of 1981. One of the delegates had laid a wreath to remember those ten men. It was a proud moment to be standing at a monument dedicated to our Irish patriots in a nation so far from home. We met with the central committee of the Cuban communist party and had discussed certain aspects of Cuba, such as education, the legal system, trade unions, housing, employment and the empowerment of women. One thing that was very noticeable about the Cuban people was a sense of a strong community. At night you’d walk down by the sea wall and see hundreds of local people sitting around having conversations with each other or having a sing song. It was something that just amazed me and I well believe it was achieved by ending the toxic nature of capitalism. 

Our delegation met with elected reps of the National Assembly and a local municipal assembly. This is where we got a run down on the participatory democracy that Cuba has. Basically representatives are from various organisations or community groups rather than political parties. Politicians do not get paid but work in their normal profession. Grass roots organisations cooperate with both the national and local municipalities. When a new constitution was developed by the Cuban government, 10,000 grassroots community organisations had discussions on it, so instead of the public being kept in the dark by what representatives do like here in Ireland, they are consulted and have a say about every aspect that affects their lives. There was an explanation of the Cuban economy and the effects of the economic embargo. The economy is a mixture of state ownership, cooperatives and small businesses. Money generated by the state owned companies creates the development of social programs. The man who delivered this talk was Ramon Labanino, another member of the Cuban five. Our meeting with the young communists was a great way to understand the role of youth in Cuban society. The youth are involved in local communities getting involved with solving issues they face. There are over 300,000 in the UJC and almost all young people are in trade unions. The youth also promote the revolution among young people and try to counter pro US propaganda. One of the main focuses of the trip was to show solidarity to a school in Havana. Many places in the third world have not given children the proper access to education. But this is not the case in Cuba as it was evident that you could see people going to school rather than roaming the streets with no hope for the future.

In Santa Clara we would attend the final resting place of Che Guevara and those who were killed in Bolivia. It was a surreal feeling to be standing at the resting place of one of the most famous revolutionaries in the world. As we traveled through the country we got to see more and more of what the revolution had to offer. In the various cities we began to see how regular Cubans lived their lives. They were a huge emphasis on art, music and culture around the country. In Cienfuegos they were an art studio and it was explained how the artist makes his living and how people appreciate his work and it made me think of people in Ireland whose talents are not appreciated due to consumer trends. When we had met with young singers they told us how the state gives them support in establishing themselves. This is similar with most leisure activities in Cuba for example the government pays for children to go to Dance lessons. Again this was amazing to think that a third world country could provide young people with an opportunity to pursue their hobbies. It was evident that these children were extremely talented.,

Cuba has been seen as having one of the most sustainable economic models when it comes to the environment. We were informed on how Cuba runs electricity through sugar rather than coal. This is a material Ireland could definitely use for an alternative to coal. In Trinidad they were a party held for us by the Committee for the Defense of the Revolution (CDR). CDRs are basically an organisation that maintains their local districts through maintenance and promotes various campaigns in their communities. The CDRs also review legislation that the National Assembly discusses, this is how the participatory model of democracy works. Most Cuban citizens are members of their local CDRs (estimated 88%). In Santiago we visited Moncada barracks that Fidel and Raul led a group of revolutionaries on the 26th of July 1953 (the movement they led in ‘56 was named after that date). Later we would visit the grave of various revolutionaries including Jose Martí. But this was also the final resting place of Fidel and since I was the youngest I had the opportunity to lay two roses at his grave. On the 10th of October we decided to commemorate the anniversary of Che’s death at a monument dedicated to the triumph of the revolution. 

After we arrived back in Havana we visited the Jose Martí museum on revolution square. We had then met with ICAP to discuss our experience over the two weeks that we were there. After this it was on to a meeting with the trade unions where it was discussed how trade unions are the voice of workers and allow a representative to have a voice on the running of state enterprises. The museum of the revolution was full of artifacts from the 1950s Revolutionary period including tanks, planes and of course the Granma yacht which was used to carry the rebels from Mexico. The last two days we had just relaxed as we were all tired out from the heat and the busy schedule.

Effects of US Aggression Towards Cuba

Cuba is faced with serious challenges and has faced some of the worst US aggression. In a museum dedicated to over 3000 victims of the US promoted counter revolution it was clear some of their dirty tactics. Purposely bombing civilian aircraft, bombing places used by Cuban civilians and carrying out gun attacks on the population are a few examples. They had also attacked crops with chemicals that caused Swine flu and defects to the body. 14,000 children were sent from Cuba after US propaganda spread myths of their children being turned into canned meat by the Soviet Union. Evidently this was untrue, but those who sent their children to the US would never see them again and in many cases they ended up with clergy who sexually abused them. Sanctions against both Cuba and Venezuela has seen a fuel shortage in Cuba. you could see many people were left waiting for buses and lifts due to the shortage. US propaganda also continues to interfere with Cuban life, as it is evident some young people have taken the achievements of the revolution for granted and expect that the US can offer better. After talking to a few people around my age, they were blown away by the fact in Ireland students end up in debt, our healthcare isn't free and the other austerity measures we face., 

Overall Thoughts

It was a brilliant experience and I’d recommend anyone to go, but anyone who does go should try and go and experience the political environment. As stated the achievements are inspirational and people should look to the achievements of a socialist economy. Everything isn’t perfect but they’ve gotten most of it right. The effects of the blockade are noticeable, it is clearly trying to destroy the lives of the Cuban people and strangle the Cuban economy. one thing I took from the trip most is that it is important that we in the international community must highlight the injustice of this blockade. It is clear that the Cuban economy would be much better off if the blockade was lifted. They would be even more social investment towards social programs that would improve people's lives. As Irish republicans we know that international solidarity and we owe our solidarity to Cuba. However as I said to comrades that were on the delegation the biggest form of solidarity we can give the Cuban people is for us to deliver a 32 county socialist republic. Because only when the free nations of the world stand together can we defeat imperialist domination. 

le Adrian Gallagher