What's going on in Cuba - alternative media archive
Campaign News | Thursday, 20 January 2022
Pro-government supporters on 11 July. This image was used by multiple news agencies who captioned it as representing anti-government supporters
What the main stream media won’t tell you about recent US intervention in Cuba. We've compliled an archive of videos, podcasts and writing on what's happening in Cuba: the reasons behind the protests on 11 July and planned protests in November, US government funding and involvement, press and social media manipulation, and more.
Please share widely to help to counter the misinformation and US government narrative about Cuba which is being used as an excuse for more sanctions and intervention. And if you can afford to please join CSC or donate to help our work.
You can also donate to our COVID-19 Medical Appeal for Cuba which has already raised more than £80,000 and sent several shipments of medical aid since April.
NOVEMBER US INTERVENTION
Protest in Cuba: Why it failed (CounterPunch)
Cuba is far more complex, its citizens’ views far more nuanced, than the simplistic media caricature suggests write Stephen Kimber and John Kirk as they explain why the much publicised anti-government protests on 15 November failed to materialise.
The United States is Organizing a Color Revolution in Cuba for November 15 (MINTPRESS)
It remains an open question as to how successful the upcoming action against the Cuban government will be. But who is behind the protests is hardly in doubt. The US government is directly involved in financing and planning the overthrow of the Cuban government writes Alan Macleod writes for MintPressNews.
Cubans definitely want change — but not necessarily regime change (Salon)
Cuban dissidents and their U.S. backers pushed for big anti-government protests this week. Why didn't they happen asks Medea Benjamin
Hands Off Cuba, Niki Franco (Venus Roots) interviews Manolo De Los Santos
Interview with Manolo De Los Santos, a Caribbean popular educator which discusses the November 15th protests in Cuba, what narratives we should be mindful of in hopes of supporting the lives of Cuban people on the island, and the dangers of advocating for US intervention. (Podcast)
New evidence confirms pressures for regime change in Cuba (Prensa Latina)
Recently released video footages shows that organisers of protests in Cuba have attended courses run by the US National Endowment for Democracy dedicated to transformation and the role of the armed forces.
"It is one more trick in the arsenal of the united States." (TeleSur)
Exclusive interview with Rene Gonzalez, one of the Cuban Five Heroes, on the latest provocations in Cuba by the counterrevolution. (YouTube)
Private Facebook Group that Organized the July Protests in Cuba Plans Bigger Ones Soon (MINTPRESS)
The involvement of foreign nationals in the domestic affairs of Cuba is on a level that can scarcely be conceived of in the United States. Alan Macleod joined the online community organising the not so "peaceful" protests in Cuba.
U.S.-Backed Terrorists Supporting Unrest in Cuba (Break Through News)
The US is backing protesters in Cuba who are working with literal terrorists in Miami. A leaked phone call revealed that the organizers of the #15NCuba protests, a supposedly progressive, grassroots movement, is collaborating with a right-wing Cuban-American extremist. BT's Kei Pritsker breaks down the phone call and the US motives for supporting the protests. (Video)
How US interference in Cuba creates a false picture of its society (Peoples Dispatch)
The latest in the US’ determined campaign to overthrow the Cuban revolution will likely be on November 15, as US-funded groups and US officials have taken to social media to build hype around alleged “civil liberties” protests write Manolo De Los Santos and Vijay Prashad
U.S. Continues To Funnel Millions of Dollar To Cuban Opposition Groups (Peoples Dispatch)
Through USAID, the US government has funneled millions of dollars into Cuban opposition groups as part of their desperate attempts to overthrow the revolution. Rosa Miriam Elisalde reports on recent US government funding for "regime change" in Cuba.
Cuba grant recipient: “So hungry they ate their fear” (Cuba Money Project)
Tracey Eaton lists the recipients of almost $7 million in US government grants to destabilise and undermine Cuba according to the US government's own website.
CSC statement against US intervention in Cuba
The US government has escalated its involvement with, and funding for, opposition groups both on and outside the island, and is openly supporting anti-government protests in Cuba. Pro-blockade US politicians and right-wing Cuban American groups based in Florida are pushing for increased sanctions and calling for further US action, including intervention.
Taking page from regime change playbook, it’s back to confrontation with Cuba (Responsible Statecraft)
Washington’s active support for dissidents puts everything in peril, most importantly, the people it wants to help writes William LeoGrande.
JULY 11 EVENTS
WATCH:
What’s going on in Cuba? (Cuba Solidarity Campaign)
Speakers from Cuba, Bolivia and Britain discuss recent events on the island: the misreporting, the role of US economic warfare and funding in fuelling unrest, and the urgent need for aid, solidarity and an international campaign against US intervention.
Eyewitness Report From Havana: Cuba's Struggle Against US Imperialism
(Break Through News)
Reporter Reed Lindsay and Manolo De Los Santos, Co-Director of The People’s Forum & Researcher with the Tricontinental Institute for Social Research, explain the realities on the ground for people living in Cuba, and the destruction that the US blockade has wrought on the Cuban people.
What's Behind the Anti-Cuba Twitter Bot Campaign? (Break Through News)
There’s clear evidence of US involvement in the Cuba protests. People have noticed fake videos of protests circulating and social media bots spamming anti-Cuba messages. BT’s Kei Pritsker goes through the evidence and reviews the history of US meddling in Cuba.
Cruel US Blockade Causing Misery and Unrest in Cuba (Break Through News)
Protests were immediately weaponised to push for a regime change narrative against Cuba. Rania Khalek is joined by Manolo De Los Santos, researcher with Tricontinental who spent six years living in Cuba to discuss the protest double standards, to the blatant efforts at meddling and sabotage, to the pure hypocrisy from those in power.
Interview with Cuban journalist Cristina Escobar (CSC)
Cuban journalist Cristina Escobar talks about recent events on the island, the economic situation, misinformation in international media reports, US government policy and the impact of the US blockade, and what can be done to support Cuba during the pandemic.
What’s happening in Cuba? (Geopolitical Economy Research Group)
A major disinformation campaign is re-interpreting the current unrest in Cuba as anti-government, even claiming photos of pro-government demonstrations as anti-government. How are the Government and people dealing with this new challenge? Panel discussion.
Interview with Liz Oliva Fernandez and Reed Lindsay from Belly of the Beast
Katie Halper interviews Belly of the Beast Cuba reporters on what the foriegn press gets wrong about Cuba's current situation and why it refuses to talk about the effect of sanctions.
SOS Cuba: An Extensive Web of CIA Plots & Propaganda (Empire Files podcast)
Cuba faces a new surge of attacks that can only be understood through the history of US regime change operations and the forces behind the "SOS Cuba" protests. Abby Martin is joined by Gloria La Riva to discuss.
Radio Havana broadcasts in English
READ:
The Bay of Tweets: Documents Point to US Hand in Cuba Protests (MINTPRESS)
The US government can cause economic misery for the Cuban people, but it cannot, it appears, convince them to overthrow their government says Alan McCleod
Media Play Up Protests, Play Down Effect of US Sanctions in Cuba (FAIR)
Cuba’s cultural counter-revolution: US gov’t-backed rappers, artists gain fame as ‘catalyst for current unrest’ (The Gray Zone)
Painting itself as a grassroots collective of artists fighting for freedom of expression, the San Isidro Movement has become a key weapon in the US government’s assault on the Cuban revolution writes Max Blumenthal.
Eye Witness account for US attempts to destabilize Cuba (People's Voice)
As a Canadian with family members that live in Cuba, who was in Cuba during the anti-government protests that occurred on July 11, I found myself in a unique and disturbing position where I could see and feel the disconnect between what was being reported by the mainstream media back home and what was really happening on the ground in Cuba says Kathryn Guerrera.
René González of the Cuban Five on Cuba’s Challenge and Washington’s Hypocrisy (Jacobin)
An interview with the Miami Five hero who talks to Jacobin about the blockade and what his trial told him about the US's concern for human rights in Cuba.
The recent unrest in Cuba: a textbook example of fake news and media warfare (Morning Star)
Marc Vandepitte explains how forces outside the island helped start the unrest and why the Western media then misrepresented events as they unfolded.
The Only Way to End Economic Hardship in Cuba Is to Lift the US Blockade (Tribune)
For 60 years, Cuba has lived under siege from the most powerful nation on earth, denying it basics like food, medicine and building equipment – anyone who cares about economic hardship must call for it to end writes Francisco Dominguez.
Fake Social Media Operation from Abroad Catalyzes Cuba Incident (TELESUR)
The renowned Spanish analyst Julián Macías Tovar investigated the intense social media campaign articulated in digital social networks against the Cuban Revolution in the last few days. It was launched from abroad and has had as its referent the Argentinean Agus Antonelli, a right-wing
Cuba’s mass protests are driven by the misery of COVID and economic sanctions
(THE CONVERSATION)
Emily Morris, Research Associate at the Institute of the Americas, UCL writes on the background to Cuba’s economic difficulties which are causing hardship on the island and why the US government should reverse Trump sanctions to ease them.
Miami Mayor calls for air strikes on Cuba (Morning Star)
Miami Mayor Francis Suarez has called for US air strikes on Cuba as he pressed the case for military intervention to force regime change on the socialist Caribbean island.
Statements/Opinion:
Cuba Solidarity Campaign statement
Unite the Union statement on Cuba
Grahame Morris MP - The Time to End the US Imposed Blockade of Cuba is Long Overdue
'I live in Cuba, I love my people, and I will defend our Revolution' by Aleida Guevara March
