Hands off the Caribbean: Minnesotans stand with Cuba and Haiti

Minneapolis, MN – Around 30 people took to May Day Plaza, July 29, to hold signs and banners in a show of solidarity with the people of Cuba and Haiti after a new wave of U.S. intervention attempts. This event came after the Biden administration’s July 22 issuance of new sanctions on Cuba, as well as the July 7 assassination of Haiti’s President Jovenel Moïse.

The financial and administrative origin of President Moïse’s assassination by a group of Colombian and U.S. mercenaries has not yet been confirmed. However, investigations later revealed some of the mercenaries responsible had taken part in U.S. military training programs at the School of the Americas.

“The recent assassination of Haiti President Jovenal Moïse is no excuse for U.S. intervention. That includes the military, the FBI and Homeland Security,” said Sarah Martin, reading from a statement by Marcy Shapiro. She continued, “Every step Haiti has taken for true independence has been subverted.” Martin and Shapiro are members of the Solidarity Committee of the Americas, a subcommittee of WAMM (Women Against Military Madness).

For the past 60 years, the U.S. has subjected Cuba to an embargo that recently has specifically impacted Cuba’s ability to import necessary medical supplies during the COVID-19 pandemic. Cuba was forced to develop their own COVID-19 vaccine but have had limited access to syringes. Since June, U.S. media has explicitly used images of pro-Cuban government protests as examples of Cuban ‘anti-government’ actions in order to justify U.S. intervention.

Speaking on Cuba’s reputation for international solidarity despite crushing sanctions, Tracy Molm of the Anti-War Committee explained, “The U.S. government is threatened by Cuba’s independence and support for other independent countries trying also to break free of U.S. interference.” Molm visited Venezuela in 2019 and saw firsthand the impact of Cuba’s material solidarity with other countries resisting U.S. intervention.

“As we stand on stolen land, and as people rise up against police brutality and murders in our communities, we need to expose this hypocrisy – the U.S. government has no moral high ground to police other parts of the globe or try to impose its will on the people of the world,” Molm concluded.

Organizers of the event encouraged supporters to continue their international solidarity by attending the upcoming protest on August 5 organized by the Anti-War Committee and American Muslims for Palestine to call on Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar to take action for Palestine.

The June 29 event was organized by the Anti-War Committee and the WAMM Solidarity Committee of the Americas.