[This is Part 1 of a two-part series. Part 2 will be published in the next issue]

A DELEGATION including AIKS General Secretary Vijoo Krishnan, AIDWA President Sreemathy Teacher, CITU Secretary Meenakshi Sundaram, AIAWU General Secretary B Venkat, AIAWU Joint Secretary N Chandran, AIIEA President Dharamraj Mahapatra and BEFI President S.S.Anil visited Cuba during August 10-17, 2026, to take part in the four-day event, 'First International Colloquium: Fidel, Legacy and Future', held in Havana on the birth centenary of Comrade Fidel Castro. The delegation spent three additional days visiting different historic places, meeting common people, workers, farmers and the Cuban Institute for Friendship with Peoples (ICAP).

STAVING OFF A GENOCIDE, CUBA OFFERS A RAY OF HOPE

The delegation landed at the Jose Marti International Airport, Havana, in the early hours of August 10. The delegation carried cartons of cancer and cardiac medicines, fully aware of the inadequacy of the effort, yet understanding the importance of the gesture. Cuba that has provided free healthcare to its people, and whose doctors had selflessly moved to conflict zones or places in several countries hit by calamities or contagious diseases including during the COVID 19 pandemic, is being subjected to a genocide by US imperialism which through an inhuman blockade stops oil, food, life-saving medicines and medical equipment to Cuba. Over 700 ships with aid meant for Cuba are stranded in ports around the Caribbean Sea in different countries due to the blockade. It is now more than 10 months since any ship carrying oil could reach Cuba.

The blockade against Cuba violating the basic tenets of international humanitarian law was set in motion almost immediately after the revolution and Lestor Mallory, the US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State had drafted an internal memorandum on April 6, 1960, which did not hide their intentions:  “(...) every possible means should be undertaken promptly to weaken the economic life of Cuba (...) a line of action which, while as adroit and inconspicuous as possible, makes the greatest inroads in denying money and supplies to Cuba, to decrease monetary and real wages, to bring about hunger, desperation and overthrow of government.”

The Helms Burton Act of 1996 codified the trade embargo and penalised companies including shipping companies doing business with Cuba. Under the Trump regime, the attack has created a human tragedy of untold proportions. This naval blockade is an act of war and genocide threatening lives and livelihoods of millions. Cuba has survived the imperialist blockade for nearly seven decades and it has stood defiant against US Imperialism for nearly 4 decades after the collapse of Soviet Union. But the situation now is like never before. It calls for the most resolute global solidarity actions.

The delegation soon came face to face with the impact of the energy blockade imposed by the USA. The airport was devoid of the flashy lights that dot airports around the globe and the route to the hotel, except for a few occasional flashes of lights, was reminiscent of a black-out. On reaching the place of stay the delegation found that there was neither power nor running water available; each of the delegates was handed two bottles of water, and water had to be carried from a pool to the first or second floor where they were accommodated. Although the problem was resolved the same day, one could visualise what it meant for the masses in Cuba for months together in the hot, humid weather. They are enduring 20 or more hours of gruelling power cuts. This is despite the fact that they have managed to restore 1,400 MW of capacity across their thermal power plants. The acute fuel shortages due to the blockade are stalling their ability to generate electricity at full capacity. In the absence of such deliberate fuel shortages created by USA, the power cuts across Cuba would have been reduced to barely three hours. China’s help in expansion of solar energy, though significant, is still not enough to supplement the shortages from thermal power plants.

FIDEL’S LEGACY LIVES ON

The delegation soon came to terms with the situation created by the inhuman imperialist blockade and reached the venue of the Colloquium. The programme featured meetings of the Fidel Castro Ruz Chairs, a symposium on the Cuban Revolution, alongside youth, parliamentary, and women’s forums. It encompassed keynote addresses, thematic presentations, round-table panels, paper presentations, book launches, and documentary screenings. The inaugural session was addressed by Miguel Diaz Canel, First Secretary of Communist Party of Cuba and the President of Cuba, the leaders from different nations who came out in full solidarity with Cuba and its people, to send a clear message to US Imperialism and its lackeys.

Miguel Diaz Canel explained: “How has Cuba responded in the face of such adversity? We responded exactly as Fidel taught us: through creative, defiant resistance. We developed our own indigenous vaccines to confront the pandemic with total sovereignty. To circumvent shortages of fuel and chemical fertilizers, we expanded urban and rural agro-ecological farming models. Beyond arms and fighter jets, we reinforced our popular defence lines fortified by sheer conviction and unity. Our scientists, teachers, doctors, farmers, and workers proved that collective human ingenuity is vastly more potent than imperialist wealth. Above all, we never abandoned our internationalism. We continue to dispatch medical brigades to the most impoverished corners of the world; we share our educational and scientific methodologies; and we remain an island that builds bridges of solidarity. Yes, we face severe material constraints: blackouts, water shortages, inflation, and exhausting queues weigh heavily upon us. Yet, no material deprivation has ever succeeded in extinguishing the flame of solidarity that burns within the Cuban people. We advance without compromising socialist principles and without buckling under external coercion. Our mission is to construct socialism on a small island confronted by the most colossal imperialist power in world”.

The Indian delegation had the opportunity to meet the President as well as Gerardo Hernandez, one of the Cuban Five - the leader of the Wasp Network who spent sixteen years in US prisons. He holds the important post of the National Coordinator of the Committee for the Defense of the Revolution (CDR) which works to politicise the people and build anti-imperialist consciousness. The delegation also interacted with Che Guevara’s daughter Aleida Guevara who is familiar to Indians.

A concert was held on August 11, at the National Theatre of Cuba with renowned performer and pianist Frank Fernandez and the National Symphony Orchestra blending Cuban musical traditions with classical styles celebrating Fidel’s centenary. The closing ceremony of the Colloquium was on August 13, at Havana's Karl Marx Theatre—a historic event attended by Comrade Raúl Castro. Karl Marx Theatre bore witness to another revolutionary milestone opening the gates of history: an unforgettable evening marking both the centenary celebration of Fidel Castro's birth and the conclusion of the 1^st International Colloquium: Fidel, Legacy and Future.

The visit to the Museum of Fidel Castro Ruz showed how alive Fidel was in the minds of the people, including children. To our pleasant surprise, children aged 6-14 years were explaining different panels and exhibits with the depth of clarity that good historians of many years standing would have exhibited. The visit to the Revolution Square (Plaza de la Revolucion Jose Marti) with the imposing memorial to the great Cuban revolutionary Jose Marti, facing the giant steel outlines of Che and Camilo Cienfuegos and the slogan Hasta La Victoria Siempre (Until Victory Always), the Museum of Revolution which has the boat Granma that brought Fidel and other revolutionaries to Cuba, the Che Guevara Garrison were all a great inspiration. A notable feature which gave a feeling of something being amiss was the absence of mass mobilisation.

To be continued