Venezuela sends aid to Cuba in response to Hurricane Rafael

“We are sending a ship with humanitarian aid that will arrive in Cuba in four days. We are preparing a second shipment with additional aid,” Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said, referring to a load of approximately 300 tons that includes supplies, construction materials, and first aid equipment.

“Solidarity and brotherhood will continue to be the fundamental principles uniting our nations,” Venezuelan Foreign Affairs Minister Yvan Gil affirmed from La Guaira port.

Cuba goes immediately into recovery after Hurricane Rafael leaves the island

By Leticia Martinez Hernandez

Nov. 7 — As soon as Hurricane Rafael began to leave Cuba, the National Defense Council, headed by President Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, met to evaluate the steps to be taken after the strong impact of this meteorological phenomenon.

We are going immediately to the recovery, with no time to lose, from the early hours of Thursday, said President Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, when heading, on Wednesday evening, the meeting of the National Defense Council, in which the next steps were evaluated, after the strong impact of Hurricane Rafael.

From Cuba to Louisiana: Two paths after slavery’s end

By Gregory E. Williams

This author visited Havana as part of the U.S. Friends Against Homophobia and Transphobia delegation in May 2023. Being from southern Louisiana, this author was struck by how much the old city looked like the New Orleans French Quarter. The architecture is similar – Spanish colonial. But there was one tremendous difference. The beautiful old houses were being used as homes. Colonial mansions were transformed into the headquarters of democratic mass organizations like the Federation of Cuban Women and the National Center for Sex Education (CENESEX). There were no homeless people.

New Orleans’ French Quarter used to be residential, but today is an adult Disneyland. Very few people can afford to live there, and tourist shops and short-term rentals take up the historic buildings. Contrasting Cuba and the U.S. South – and U.S. society generally – shows what happens for the common people when the exploiting classes are expropriated vs. what happens when they are not. 

Statement by the Network in Defense of Humanity on Brazil’s veto of Venezuela at the BRICS 2024 Summit

The Network of Intellectuals and Artists in Defense of Humanity (REDH) rejects the decision of the Government of Brazil to veto the incorporation of Venezuela as a partner country to the BRICS bloc.

The veto against Venezuela indicates that the Brazilian government not only yields to Washington’s pressures to exclude Venezuela from an international articulation that would link it, in a coordinated and programmatic way, to a sphere of power of alternative forces, determined to organize and make possible a new world order and balance, but also demonstrates its disagreement with the rest of the founding powers of the BRICS with respect to Venezuela.

NYC rally demands: “Stop the U.S. blockade of Cuba!”

By Struggle-La Lucha New York bureau

Oct. 27 — A rally at Grand Central Terminal in midtown Manhattan demanded an end to the cruel U.S. economic war against Cuba. Just within the last year, U.S. sanctions have cost the Caribbean country $5 billion.

The sanctions prevented Cuba from replacing transformers and other equipment, which resulted in the recent electrical outages there. The rally was held a few days before the United Nations is scheduled to again overwhelmingly pass a resolution condemning the blockade, as it has done for over 20 years.

Join the 24 hour global online picket to end the U.S. Blockade on Cuba!

Oct 29-30

Register Here

24-hour Global Online Picket to End the U.S. Blockade on Cuba! + Remove Cuba from the so-called “State Sponsors of Terrorism” list!

24 HOUR GLOBAL ONLINE PICKET:
Starting Tuesday October 29, 2024
8:00 pm (ET - Havana time)

Special Celebration & Wrap-up:
Starting Wednesday October 30, 2024
 7:00 pm (ET - Havana time)

Send video messages in solidarity with Cuba for the 24-hour Global Online Picket action:
Telegram / WhatsApp: +1-778-882-5223
Email: info@us-cubanormalization.org

Register here:
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_dcotoDWZRm-1UBsFn3ubfg#/registration

Event will also be live broadcast on Facebook: 
https://www.facebook.com/events/474571148702025

On October 29-30, 2024 Cuba will bring a resolution to the United Nations General Assembly to end the U.S. Blockade on Cuba for the 32nd year!  While the government of the U.S. votes “no” to ending the inhuman and illegal blockade, the people of the United States & the world vote “YES, end the blockade now!”

With 90 days left for the Biden Administration it is time for us to make a renewed push for Biden to remove Cuba from the so-called “State Sponsor’s of Terrorism” (SSOT) list and to end to the cruel U.S. blockade. The situation in Cuba is urgent, with a nation-wide blackout this week and an ongoing crisis in Cuba’s electrical power grid the impact of over 60 years of brutal U.S. sanctions and blockade on Cuba is clear. This has been coupled with devasting and unexpected floods from Hurricane Oscar in the province of Guantanamo, which have killed 7 people. While the Cuban government and workers are organizing to repair damage, improve safety, and to solve these urgent problems, the U.S. government continues to try to strangle Cuba. 

This week folks will be taking to the streets, signing petitions, mailing postcards, printing an ad in the New York Times, and mobilizing ahead of the UN vote on Cuba’s resolution to end the criminal and illegal U.S. blockade. 

We hope you will send a video message for Cuba and join us live for the 24 Hour Global Online Picket to End the U.S. Blockade on Cuba October 29-30, let’s reflect the important work being done and raise our united voices around the world for Cuba!

Organized by the U.S.-Cuba Normalization Conference Coalition
https://www.us-cubanormalization.org

While some world media distort the information about the energy situation in Cuba and forget the U.S. blockade, we suggest getting information through Cuban official media to keep updated about what is happening in our country.

Via Cuban Embassy in US

Hurricane Oscar: Foresight, solidarity and unity in the face of any contingency

https://www.granma.cu/

Preserving people’s lives is the priority in the face of the onslaught of Hurricane Oscar, said Joel Queipo Ruiz, a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and president of the Provincial Defense Council.

This governing body, activated in full composition, just like that of the municipalities, reviewed the provisions with which it acts in the current phase of cyclone alarm in which the territory finds itself.

Here, according to the assessment, the population protection commissions are activated up to the CDR level, with emphasis on the transfer of people to the homes of relatives and friends, and evacuation centers determined for these cases.

The actions aimed at ensuring the lives of our fellow citizens, although they have been accelerated in recent hours, have been based on rational movements that are made from the most distant and difficult-to-access sites, while taking into account residents in coastal flood zones.

Also taken into account are those who live near riverbanks, as well as in areas that may be covered by water due to rainfall, and in areas downstream of reservoirs, especially in the municipalities of Moa, Sagua de Tánamo and Frank País.

In addition, the protection of inhabitants in mountain communities and rural areas that may be isolated is being monitored, and they have been advised to move them to caves or engineering works near these sites.

The guidelines included strict restrictions on access to risk areas such as rivers, streams, canals, reservoirs and bridges, areas of potential landslides and waters below dams.

The municipal defense councils were required to increase the supply of drinking water to the most remote populations and those that depend on water trucks, while they were instructed to carefully follow and comply with what was established for the protection or evacuation of material resources stored in facilities with structural vulnerabilities.

Regarding the actions to be undertaken in the recovery phase after the passage of the meteor, among other things, it was decided to collect the vegetables and other agricultural products that the winds and rains could destroy, and at the same time speed up the harvest of those that could be damaged, which will be followed by the immediate sowing of short-cycle crops.

Regarding the handling of the storm in tourist resorts, where thousands of foreign visitors are staying, the authorities in the sector reported that all of them, as well as the nationals staying there, are protected.

It was also learned that in all coastal municipalities instructions were given for the return to land of vessels that were carrying out work at sea, so that they could be transferred to points that offer them safety.

Particular attention was paid to the availability of food, with agricultural authorities stating that instructions had been given to supply the markets with food and other products, and that their entities had been instructed to prepare soups and ajiacos, among other things, to sell to the population.

The actions undertaken to speed up the sale of the products in the standard family basket and to protect those in the warehouses were specified. In the province, actions continued for the distribution of fuel to the municipalities, so that the operation of the emergency generators can be assured, which guarantee, above all, the vitality of the medical services, the supply of water to the population and communications. Likewise, the sale of liquefied gas to the population continued.

Díaz-Canel: Cuba is experiencing an exceptional situation

The First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba and President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, stated at the conclusion of the meeting of the National Defense Council that the country is experiencing an exceptional situation, marked by two fundamental and complex events: the energy emergency and, on the other hand, the hurricane alarm phase for the eastern provinces.

Regarding the energy emergency, the president stressed that the situation stems from the unavailability of fuel, a fact exacerbated by the economic war waged by the United States government against our country. “This includes financial and energy persecution. We have not had stable fuel supplies so that the system can operate at its full capacity and with all its stability.”

This situation, Díaz-Canel stressed, caused a disconnection incident last Friday. “Immediately, work was carried out and a connection level was achieved. But another disconnection occurred yesterday and work was carried out all night and early in the morning. This morning and afternoon, when the situation seemed more favorable, a disconnection occurred again and work is being done again to seek greater stability for the system.”

He also commented that, according to experts, the worst incident that can occur in a country is the disconnection of a system, such as the one that occurred last Friday. “This is where all the professional and operational potential of the electrical energy system is at work. We have had the opportunity to be with other colleagues in the national office and you have to see the level of knowledge and precision with which the colleagues in the national load dispatch work in communication with the provinces.”

He warned that at the moment work is being done in two fundamental directions: stabilizing the system and managing to obtain fuel supplies that will allow us to work in a better situation during the next few weeks.“

He also stressed that efforts are being made to obtain spare parts to gradually recover distributed generation, which has been severely affected.

Be ready for Oscar

Referring to the impact of Hurricane Oscar, the President stressed that the country’s Civil Defense, as well as the Municipal and Provincial Defense Councils, have been working very seriously. 

“Due to the complexity of the situation, it has been decided to activate the entire structure of the defence councils in all provinces, because although there are five or six that could be affected by the cyclone, the rest are also affected by the energy emergency. 

It was also decided to send a group of the country’s leaders to the place where the cyclone is forecast to hit. The group is headed by the Deputy Prime Minister, Inés María Chapman Waugh , and is made up of other ministers and deputy ministers from different agencies. 

This group must also prepare ideas for recovery. “You have to be prepared for a cyclone that can cross the eastern territory for more than 24 hours and depending on its course, the damage that will occur will be greater or lesser, especially in agriculture, housing and other infrastructure.”

The revolution will never tolerate this type of behavior

At another point in his speech, he highlighted the understanding and behavior of the people, emphasizing values ​​such as solidarity at the community level.

He also welcomed the handover of the staff of the national electrical energy system, which is working under great tension to achieve a stable supply of electricity to the population in the shortest possible time, he said.

In his remarks, he acknowledged Party cadres and officials, as well as other political and mass organizations that have been in the most complex places, addressing each of the situations of our population. 

“The only thing that contrasts this determination of unity of our people is that on occasions, particularly last night, a small number of people, most of them in a state of intoxication, have behaved in an indecent manner. They have tried to provoke disturbances of public order, they have tried to commit vandalism and disturb the peace of our people. This opportunity is also being taken advantage of by those who are working under the guidance given to them by the operators of the Cuban counterrevolution from abroad.”

In this regard, he confirmed that the revolution will never tolerate this type of conduct and that everyone will be prosecuted with the corresponding rigor. “There is a great capacity from the Party and other organizations to respond to the concerns of the population, as long as it is done in a decent, organized, civilized and disciplined manner.

"We will not allow anyone to act in such a way as to provoke acts of vandalism, much less disturb the peace of our people.”

Cubans march for peace in solidarity with Palestine

Thousands of Cubans of all ages marched in Havana Oct. 14 demanding an end to the genocide committed by the Zionist Government of Israel against the Palestinian people and its attacks on other nations in the Middle East.

Participants in the march, led by Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel and other top leaders, denounced the complicity of the United States in the Zionist military onslaught that has killed more than 42,000 people in the Gaza Strip, including many women and children, and more than 2,000 in Lebanon.