Photo composition showing Aleida GUevara next to an iconic photo of her father Ernesto Che Guevara. File photo.
Cuban Doctor, Aleida Guevara’s, interview with Brazil de Fato in the context of the G20.
Following in the footsteps of her father, the Cuban Revolution guerrilla Ernesto Che Guevara, Aleida studied medicine in Cuba, specializing in pediatrics. But above all, she is a communist revolutionary, as she likes to describe herself. Present at the G20 Social Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Aleida Guevara, 63, gave an exclusive interview to Brasil de Fato, in which she talked about the economic blockade against Cuba, its effects, the change of government in the United States, and Brazil’s position on the elections in Venezuela.
The latest news that arrived from Cuba to Brazil was precisely about the passage of Hurricane Rafael and the whole situation generated, mainly about the energy shortage.
What is the impact of the economic blockade in this type of situation?
Aleida Guevara: The United States prevents oil tankers from reaching Cuba. Last year, they sanctioned more than 25 shipping companies and more than 60 airlines. In other words, it is impressive that somehow these companies came to sell us oil—not to donate it, but to sell it. Even so, we could not do it because the United States imposes millions of dollars in fines. And they are afraid of them. So, the oil is not coming to Cuba. Oil is coming from Venezuela, Mexico, and Russia, above all.
You mentioned a general cost of the blockade for the Cuban economy. What is this cost?
Aleida Guevara: Enormous. It is tremendous because, after the pandemic, we exhausted the reserves the State had because we had to produce vaccines. Who would sell us vaccines? Nobody. So, we had to produce, and that meant that we consumed a whole series of resources that we had in reserve.
In addition, of course, we made the population stay at home for months, and they were paid their full salary. The State was left without resources and was in a very bad situation. Tourism has declined significantly because the whole world has suffered from the pandemic, and the economic crisis is international.
But there is also a lot of pressure from the United States, inventing false arguments, inventing things against tourism. Therefore, it causes fear and a lot of economic pressure on the companies that bring tourism to Cuba. There is an example worth mentioning, which is a Spanish company, Meliá, which started with two hotels in Cuba and today has many hotels because it won this right. Yes, it was the first company that stood up to the United States and said: “I am not going to stop doing business with Cuba. If you want to close the two hotels I have in Miami, pay me the millions you owe me, and that’s your decision.” The U.S. then realized it wasn’t that easy, but only because Meliá had the honesty to stand up for its rights as a company. It’s not socialist or anything like that, but it has dignity. And that has been very important for us. Today, Meliá does not have two hotels; today, it has, I don’t know, much more than 20 hotels in the country, and if it can have more, it will have them because it has truly earned that right.
So, by losing this number of tourists, in a way, the country’s coffers are still half empty. So, how do we pay for things? Because you have already seen that the blockade makes all products in Cuba more expensive. We have to have three or four intermediaries for someone to sell us something. And these intermediaries increase the price, and when it reaches us, it is much higher. And we have to pay for the blockade simply because of that. We say that if the United States does not want to trade with us, we should respect it, because that is a decision of a country. But what we cannot accept is that this country tries to act so that no other people in the world trade freely with Cuba.
Can the Cuban people imagine what this country would be like if the blockade did not exist?
Aleida Guevara: It is clear! Every day of your life, but until when? Also, imagine the amount of possibilities we would have because the United States is 90 miles from Cuba. Of course, they would be our most natural trading partner. And in the South, there is a great food production, sometimes a super-production that cannot be sold, and we would be magnificent buyers. It would be a 24-hour business. But we would also sell our tobacco, which they love, our coffee, our rum. We could make thousands of exchanges, but they don’t have the desire to do it.
And the change of government that will take place in the United States, the Democrats are leaving, the Republicans are coming back to power. Does it change anything for the Cubans?
Aleida Guevara: We say it’s the same dog with a different collar. The question is that this gentleman [Donald Trump] is crazy, right? So we don’t know what he can do. Maybe he will come with the news that, as a businessman, he wants to do something with Cuba, who knows… Because that’s the way this gentleman is; he is unpredictable. But in any case, he is a danger, a serious danger, not only for Cuba, but for humanity, because this country [the United States] has a destructive power, and now that power will be in the hands of a person who does not reason. This could be very dangerous.
Is it possible to draw a parallel between what Cuba has experienced during the last 65 years, and what is happening now in Venezuela, Nicaragua, Iran and so many other countries unilaterally sanctioned by the United States?
Aleida Guevara: Yes, of course, we can compare, because it is the same problem. It is the same technique that is trying to surround us, but that is not the case now. Look, there is a memorandum from an American admiral in the 19th century that already says that Cuba should be completely blockaded with its ships, close the possibility of trade, cause famines, and therefore diseases, decimate the population, so that they could rule. And this is the technique that they have used for centuries and that is being used today for any country that says no, that says no and thinks of its country, its people, and its dignity. This is what is happening.
Brazil’s position after the elections in Venezuela has been widely questioned by popular movements here in Brazil and in Latin America, because it questions the security of the electoral process. How do you assess this position?
Aleida Guevara: This only serves the enemy. This makes me very sad. I am very embarrassed that Lula has fallen into this situation. First of all, because he has just recognized that he does not even have the right to give an opinion on a problem of another country, because he would not like us, nor any other country in the world, to give an opinion on Brazil. So, if you don’t like something, how are you going to do it with someone else? It is a basic principle of coexistence, pure and simple. He may have his criteria and his way of seeing the world, which must be respected. I have nothing to say about that. But you have to respect, you have to learn to respect your neighbor, who is next door, even if you don’t like him. We, for example, want to have relations with the United States, although we have nothing to do with their government. But we can make an effort and be in solidarity and respect the other country, as long as it respects us, because it is a mutual principle. If you want respect, you have to learn to respect. It is that simple.
That’s why it hurts so much. Brazil’s position in relation to the BRICS also hurts so much, because Brazil refuses to allow Venezuela to join the BRICS. This is unprecedented, truly unprecedented. And it is simply playing into the hands of the United States of America, the enemy of all our people. And Lula is not just any president. Lula is a president who comes from the grassroots, who comes from the union struggle. Therefore, Lula has to know what he is doing. This is very painful for us, really. I say it sincerely. This hurt us very much and left us deeply disappointed with Lula’s attitude towards Venezuela.
Finally, what is the role of popular movements and popular organizations in the face of all these contradictions and this reality we have just talked about?
Aleida Guevara: Social movements are essential in the times we live in. Often, the parties, especially those of the left, lose their popular support because they stop working with the social movements. This is fatal, because we, who consider ourselves leftists, exist for the good of the people, and if the people do not recognize us, I always say: the left must have the support and understanding of the people because we fight for them.
But of course, people are also tired of hearing things that do not materialize. I say that the only thing people believe without seeing is religion; the rest has to be demonstrated. That is why we have to work in this direction. If we are telling a humble population that we are fighting for public health, then, gentlemen, let us try to make these people feel what public health is. The hospital that we have to build, that we are going to work in this hospital and improve it, and we are going to make public health a human right, which is what we want—that is our objective. We have to start with grassroots work with our people, with our people. That is why popular education is very important, really, essential.
Here you have unique men, unique in that sense, so we have to be guided by them, we have to work with them together with the people. I always say that this is an enviable country because of the number of beautiful human beings it has. I am referring, for example, to my friend and brother João Pedro Stedile. For me, he is one of the most complete men I have ever met. And he is not a communist—of course, I am. But for me, he is more than a communist because he is a consistent man who dedicated his whole life to his people.
But well, in short, I really believe that here in this country there are wonderful and extraordinary men and women. We have to make these life stories better known to the people, to the new generations, so that they feel proud to be Brazilian. It is not only the music and the carnival that are important; it is much deeper. It is those human beings who dedicated the best of their lives to try to make Brazil more dignified, more complete, more beautiful.
When I came to Brazil for the first time, there was tremendous fear in the streets, tremendous violence in São Paulo, with the windows closed, all these things. I was stunned and said: it is better to die trying to change this than to die of hunger. Then I started to think and said: well, I have a communist ideology, I come from another country, with a somewhat regular culture, so it is possible that I am the only one who thinks like that. Wrong! When I went to Rio Grande do Sul, there was a sign on the wall that said: it is better to die conquering land to feed my children than to die of hunger.
So said Rosa, a woman from the Landless Workers Movement. She was not a communist, perhaps she did not even have a high school education. But that didn’t matter. She was as much a woman and as much a mother as I am, and she reacted to life because of that. That is why I tell you that there are many life stories of simple men and women of this people that fill one with pride, that fill one with strength, and that must be rescued for the new generations, so that a Bolsonaro never comes back.
