{"id":447739,"date":"2026-08-30T03:37:16","date_gmt":"2026-08-30T03:37:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/447739\/"},"modified":"2026-08-30T03:37:16","modified_gmt":"2026-08-30T03:37:16","slug":"eyes-on-cuba-a-conversation-about-humanitarian-conditions-facing-cuba-in-midst-of-crippling-u-s-blockade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/447739\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Eyes on Cuba\u2019: A Conversation About Humanitarian Conditions Facing Cuba in Midst of Crippling U.S. Blockade"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Carla Thomas and Ken Epstein<\/p>\n

Community members gathered last weekend for an \u201cEyes on Cuba\u201d conversation with two representatives of the Cuban embassy in the United States, focusing on the terrible suffering inflicted on the Cuban people by the intensified U.S. blockade and also discussing the historic connections between Black freedom movements in the U.S. and struggles for justice in Cuba.\n<\/p>\n

Held in downtown Oakland Saturday, Aug. 22, at the office of Oakland Rising, the event featured presentations by representatives of the Cuban embassy\u00a0in Washington, D.C., First Secretary Sulia P\u00e1ez Chacon and Second Secretary Gabriela Castillo, who spoke and answered questions about the harsh realities of conditions on the island, with a population of about 11 million, while also highlighting the historic resilience and perseverance of the Cuban people.\n<\/p>\n

The gathering was held in honor of the annual commemoration of Black August, a month of remembrance, education, and reflection on Black resistance, political prisoners, liberation movements, and the continuing pursuit of justice.\n<\/p>\n

For more than 60 years, Cuba has faced a blockade designed to cripple its economic growth and overthrow its government, going back to the 1959 revolution against the colonial regime imposed by the U.S. But the recently intensified blockade has cut off the island\u2019s fuel supply, creating an energy and humanitarian crisis that is strangling the country.<\/p>\n

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With the lack of oil previously supplied by Venezuela and the U.S. threat of high tariffs on countries that dare to ship petroleum to Cuba, the impact on water, sewage, healthcare, food, and medical supplies has been devastating for the country, according to the speakers.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are 100,000 patients now waiting for healthcare services,\u201d said\u00a0Chacon.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are 32,000 pregnant women whose care has been disrupted. This is criminal and a collective punishment. This is genocide \u2013 If this blockade continues, it will lead to a silent Gaza,\u201d said Castillo.\n<\/p>\n

Organizers framed the conversation around humanitarian conditions, international solidarity and the importance of building connections among Black communities across national borders.\n<\/p>\n

The speakers shared that the country now experiences 12-48-hour blackouts that affect the transportation of goods, hospital services, and even people\u2019s sleep patterns.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is impacting the lifesaving (kidney) dialysis services, special needs kids lacking hearing aids, and even supplies crucial for fixing machinery such as ultrasound machines,\u201d said Castillo.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cCuba is a Black country,\u201d said Castillo. \u201cEven if you are blond-haired and blue-eyed, your genetic heritage is African.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

Cuba has long held a unique place in conversations about race, revolution and international Black solidarity. Its history has intersected with African liberation movements, anti-colonial struggles and debates about social equality throughout the Americas.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cEyes on Cuba\u201d offered participants an opportunity to explore those connections while discussing the current crisis.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have 7,000 containers of supplies already paid for by Cuba, but the companies now refuse to send the shipments for fear of U.S. sanctions on their countries,\u201d said Chacon.\n<\/p>\n

Chacon and Castillo spoke about how the country has rebuilt itself since the 1990s and created healthcare and education systems so robust that they rival and even surpass those of many so-called advanced countries.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are from a generation born in crisis, and we rebuilt, but today the pressure we are under is extraordinary,\u201d said Chacon.\n<\/p>\n

Castillo explained that the relationship between Cuba and the U.S. government \u201chas always been very complicated.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\u201c(But) the relation between the people of Cuba and the people of the U.S. is something that we cherish, that we carry in our hearts, that is way older than the Cuban revolution itself: the cultural ties, the social ties, historical ties, the political ties. We\u2019ve always had a lot in common.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

Castillo said that the blockade on Cuba is more than economic; it seeks to erase the people\u2019s identity.\n<\/p>\n

There are, she said, worldwide disinformation campaigns against Cuba and its people, \u201cmainly centered in the lie that Cuba is a threat to the U.S. \u201c\n<\/p>\n

The mainstream media says that \u201cCuba is a country on the brink of collapse, that our government is not competent enough to run the economy,\u201d she said. \u201cBut they almost never say that the root of everything is the blockade. They don\u2019t say that despite the hard situation right now, the country is not paralyzed. We have reorganized the whole economy.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\u201cFor many young people, for Black people in Cuba as well, if it weren\u2019t for the revolution, we wouldn\u2019t be here,\u201d said Castillo. \u201cMy grandmother from my father\u2019s side, when the revolution triumphed, was 12 years old, and she was cleaning houses with her mom. She only had the possibility to study through elementary school. (After the revolution), she had the possibility to go to high school, and because of the revolution, she was able to study at the university and become a professional. I think that most of us in Cuba have the same story.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

At the close of the event, speakers recommended that, for more information, people watch the recently released documentaries on Cuba, \u201cTeresita\u2019s Dream\u201d and \u201cCuba After Castro.\u201d Local organizers will schedule follow-up discussions to plan solidarity actions.\n<\/p>\n

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