More than 300 US activists attended the International Solidarity for Cuba seminar at the Palace of the Revolution, in Cuba. Photo: Studies of the Revolution.
This year marked the largest delegation of people from the US in decades to be in Cuba for May Day International Day of Workers events. Over 350 people from the United States participated, with youth the largest contingent. Many were visiting revolutionary Cuba for the first time.
On May 3, as delegates returned home, some were harassed and detained by US Customs and Border Patrol in multiple cities. One reported that several of them traveling with the International Peoples Assembly (IPA) and the LA Hands off Cuba Committee were forced into secondary questioning about their political motives. At least two people had their phones confiscated. All have since been released.
Imagine being harassed for taking a legal trip to the island to make friends with the Cuban people and to witness the conditions Cubans have endured under a unilateral blockade. A blockade has been maintained by 13 presidents no matter which capitalist party was in power.
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Many of may remember the battles at the borders to get symbolic aid to Cuba in defiance of the blockade on the Pastors for Peace Caravans, but this level of harassment has not been seen in years.
If the Biden administration thought that this would intimidate our growing movement in solidarity with Cuba, it is wrong. What I have seen this past week in Cuba is a government more concerned about the well-being of the next generation of US youth than the US government. The US system marginalizes the young by constricting access to jobs with a living wage, makes access to education nearly impossible without student loan burdens, and incarcerates youth at a rate beyond any other country in the world.
As of now there has been no comment from the White House about the detentions, but the president of Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Canel, has expressed his concern by sending out the following message on his twitter account:
Ánimo, muchachos, estamos con ustedes. Gracias por la valentía, por apoyar a #Cuba y por enfrentar en las propias entrañas del monstruo el odio de quienes no pueden soportar que la Revolución Cubana tenga el apoyo de los jóvenes más progresistas. Les mandamos un fuerte abrazo. https://t.co/N6K2H92CaX
— Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez (@DiazCanelB) May 4, 2023
“Cheer up guys, we are with you. Thank you for your courage, for supporting Cuba, and for facing the hatred of those who cannot stand the fact that the Cuban Revolution has the support of the most progressive youth in the belly of the beast. We send you a big hug.”
(Resumen Latinoamericano – English) by Bill Hackwell
