North West Cuba Vive Rally
Campaign News | Wednesday, 6 November 2024
To celebrate reaching £100,000, CSC held a Cuba Vive rally during Labour Party Conference at the Casa in Liverpool in September. More than 150 people came to support the event which aimed to raise funds for the appeal and celebrate Cuba’s internationalism and solidarity with Palestine.
Opening the speeches, Richard Burgon MP praised the work of CSC in raising awareness of Cuba’s achievements while giving practical solidarity to bypass the blockade, which he described as: “immoral, illegal and unjustifiable.” Richard quoted Cuban national independence hero and poet José Martí, who famously said “Humanity is our homeland,” telling the crowd, “as socialists in this country we should always live by that maxim.”
Assistant General Secretary of UNISON Kevan Nelson recalled the history of UNISON North West’s solidarity, from container appeals in the 1990s to sending ambulances, buses, and fire engines from Liverpool docks. The NW region also took a group of young people to visit Matanzas, the province the region is twinned with, as part of anti-racism work with Oldham Youth Inclusion Project in 2001.
“It speaks volumes about the deep roots of internationalism in our movement during a year when our focus has rightly been on solidarity with the Palestinian people,” he said, and called on unions and branches to support the appeal: “We all know that the world stands with Cuba, but to survive it needs our material support, not just warm words.”
Steve Gillan, General Secretary of the POA, answered this call to practical action by announcing from the stage that POA would support the appeal with a £10,000 donation. The POA moved the last motion on Cuba at the TUC in 2019 and sent members on the May Day Study Tour and Young Members Brigade in 2024.
The Cuban Ambassador, Her Excellency Ismara Vargas Walter, said that it was an honour to be in Liverpool “to stand together for something that is at the core of Cuban values: solidarity. Solidarity that crosses borders, solidarity that builds bridges, and solidarity that heals.”
She said that Cuba Vive was “an initiative that reflects our shared belief that healthcare is a universal human right. A belief that no one, no matter where they are in the world, should be denied access to the care they need, no matter what obstacles they face.”
The ambassador took the opportunity to also reaffirm Cuba’s “unwavering support for the Palestinian people” and their “struggle for self-determination, justice and human dignity.”
She also asked people to challenge the US government’s designation of Cuba as a ‘State Sponsor of Terrorism’.
“Let me be clear: Cuba has always been a nation of peace, solidarity and internationalism. We do not support terrorism, never have and never will. On the contrary, Cuba has been a victim of terrorism, with countless acts of aggression perpetrated against us. Placing Cuba on this list is not only a grave injustice – it is an insult to the many lives we have saved through our humanitarian missions around the world. It is a political decision designed to isolate and further damage our economy, adding another layer to the already devastating effects of the US blockade,” she said.
“Comrades, this is why your support tonight is not just about helping Cuba and Palestine – it is about challenging injustice. It is about standing up to the economic warfare that seeks to punish a small island nation for choosing its own path, for daring to dream of a better, more just world.
“When you contribute to the Cuba Vive medical aid appeal, you are making a statement – that healthcare is a right, not a privilege. You will help ensure that Cuban doctors can continue their vital work at home and abroad. And you are standing up to the injustice of labelling a nation of healers as sponsors of violence. This is not charity, this is solidarity.” You can read the full speech on the CSC website.
Micaela Tracey-Ramos, UNISON national executive representative for young members, focused on Cuba’s internationalism which “had been maintained despite the scarcities of the blockade.”
“Revolutionary Cuba has always been one of the steadfast defenders of the Palestinian people and their struggle,” she said, giving examples from Che’s visit to refugee camps in Gaza in 1959, to Cuba severing diplomatic relations with Israel in 1973, taking the first 500 Palestinian students on free scholarships in 1982, and Cuba’s support for South Africa’s case at the ICJ. “Cuba has been and will always stand with the oppressed people of the world, and we must stand with Cuba.”
Thompsons’ lawyer Phil Liptrot said the firm was “incredibly proud of our international solidarity work and believe that our continuing support is an important part of the work that we do.”
Thompsons has supported CSC’s campaigns with MPs and trade unions, from the release of the Miami Five to “the campaign with education unions to lift the discriminatory policy preventing Cuban students from studying at the Open University.” He called on everyone “to redouble our efforts in campaigning for this blockade to be lifted.”
Editor of the Morning Star Ben Chacko said that Cuba was being “punished by a vengeful US for its peace work: facilitating the peace talks which have done so much to end the longest-running civil war in the Americas.”
He also talked of the example Cuba set, exemplifying the motto “always with the oppressed, never with the oppressors.”
“In a darkening world Cuba is that beacon of hope, the proof that it is possible to do things differently. For that we can never be thankful enough. Viva Cuba!” he concluded.
Mark Rowe, National Officer from the FBU, brought greetings from fire-fighters across the country and called on everyone to join the CSC and support the Cuba Vive campaign. “The FBU seconded the first motion on Cuba at TUC in 2003 and it is absolutely shameful that twenty years later (the blockade)- is still in place,” he said.
Kim Johnson MP for Liverpool Riverside welcomed the attendees to her constituency, praising the city’s “long history of struggle, solidarity and resistance.” Calling for action against the US blockade of Cuba she said “what we need to be doing is making sure that the government, David Lammy, and the minister responsible for Central America is putting pressure on the US in terms of the blockade, because we all know it is a violation of international law.” She said her trade union history had taught her that “an injury to one is an injury to all.”
Bell Ribeiro-Addy MP said it was important to “recognise all the great work that Cuba has done around the world, much of which goes unnoticed.” She paid tribute to Cuba’s medical training programme and role in anti-colonial struggles, including in Ghana where her family originated. “Ghanaian students went to Cuba to study medicine and many of those doctors are active today in Ghana, holding things together in some of the most challenging circumstances,” she said.
General Secretary of the General Federation of Trade Unions Gawain Little closed the rally by reminding people of the example Cuba set of “solidarity, and what happens when you build a society based not on putting profit first but on putting people first.
“Cuba breaks the neo-liberal model that the US attempts to enforce across the world and that is the real threat that Cuba presents through its educational missions and through its health missions.
“The US is determined to crush the Cuban Revolution and the Cuban people through the blockade, which is nothing more than economic warfare, and we must not let that happen,” he concluded.
Films and fundraising raffle
During the evening, films on the impact of Cuba’s inclusion on the SSOT, Cuban internationalism and solidarity with Palestine were shown, and more than £300 was raised for the appeal by raffle ticket sales.
If you want to show films at meetings or Cuba Vive fundraising events, please get in contact and we can send you links and make suggestions.
