Solidarity gathering for Cuba
A special event on “Cuba and the U.N.: A Struggle for the Global South” was held at the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan on Sept. 27 to welcome Cuba’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla and the Cuban delegation to the United Nations. The delegation entered the hall to a standing ovation as the packed crowd chanted “Cuba si, Bloqueo no!”
Bruno Rodriguez, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Cuba, speaking in New York City, Sept. 27, 2025. (WW PHOTO: Joe Piette)
Manolo de los Santos with People’s Forum chaired the program; he opened the event with a moving tribute to U.S. political activist Assata Shakur, who died on Sept. 25. In 1984, Shakur was granted political asylum by Fidel Castro after escaping a New Jersey prison in 1979. She lived in Havana until her death.
In introducing Parrilla, Manolo noted that he opened his speech at the United Nations General Assembly by talking about the genocide in Gaza, whereas U.S. President Donald Trump’s speech was more arrogant than any previous U.S. president’s.
Manolo raised that the U.S. unjustly putting Cuba on the list of “state sponsors of terrorism” has led to an economic war that in 2025 alone resulted in the theft of over $7.5 million from Cuba’s economy.
Manolo concluded: “Tell Trump, [Marco] Rubio and all the other war criminals in Washington that you will fail. You cannot destroy people who have a quest to be free like the Palestinian resistance. You cannot defeat the people in the Sahel, Haiti, the Congo, Sudan. The world is changing, moving in a different direction. No empire can hold back the change that is coming.
“Mobilize to end the war on the Cuban people — not just because it is a good fight, but because it is one and the same as the struggle here at home. … We have to fight for a world we want, a world without blockades, without sanctions, without the U.S. empire.”
Rodriguez Parrilla denounced the U.N. Security Council for failing to put a halt to the slaughter in Palestine which is now a full-fledged member of the U.N. General Assembly, calling for Palestine’s right to its 1967 borders and the right to return of all Palestinian refugees.
He raised: “The nations of the South have faced many challenges and threats from the economic order inherited from colonial conditions that are unfair and unsustainable. The priority for the U.N. is to create a new international order that guarantees peace and solidarity, international cooperation and the end of use of force, economic blockades and sanctions.
“The U.S. military in the Caribbean is not aimed to fight drug trafficking but to establish military threats to countries in the region, particularly Venezuela. The Monroe Doctrine was rejected by the people of Latin America and the Caribbean. We give full support to the people of Venezuela and the government of Nicolás Maduro.”
The Cuban delegation’s priority at the U.N. was to denounce the U.S. aggression in Cuba, applied and reinforced by severe economic sanctions that have created suffering and hardships for the people of Cuba, including regular power shortages, water quality issues, the lack of medicines and more. The program posted links to a Cuba Report Against the Blockade that provides details on the current situation, breaking down the cost over time. Go to tinyurl.com/bde3frnw for the report.
But Rodriguez Parrilla noted: “Anyone who knows Cuba understands that we will not be intimidated. We are ready to face all threats and slanders without wavering on our duties and solidarity.”
He highlighted that Cuba has medical teams in 56 countries. In addition, Cuba’s Latin American School of Medicine has given free education to over 250 students from other countries.
He concluded his remarks by noting that Cuba is celebrating the centennial of Malcolm X’s birthday this year and will commemorate 100 years of Fidel Castro in 2026, ending, “Forward ever, backward never. Victory to those who fight!”
The program opened with poetry and music by Kindred Business and ended with a performance by singer Desiree Jaha, who also paid tribute to Assata Shakur.
