“Imperialism cannot erase the unquestionable social and economic accomplishments of Cuba during decades of the revolution,” said Cuban Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bruno Rodríguez Parilla, at an event in New York City on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly on September 27.
The event, titled “Cuba and the UN: A Fight for the Global South,” was hosted by the People’s Forum, a New York City-based movement incubator, and featured Rodríguez as a speaker. Imperialism, as Rodríguez reaffirmed, “cannot make us abandon the path of socialism.”
Assata Shakur “died a free woman”
Manolo De Los Santos, People’s Forum executive director, opened the event with a tribute to Black liberation fighter Assata Shakur, who had passed away the day prior. As De Los Santos described, Shakur, who had faced relentless persecution by the US government and found refuge in revolutionary Cuba, “died a free woman”. De Los Santos described her as “Assata the maroon, that the entire empire sought to crucify in a witch hunt of repression… against the forces of Black liberation in this country.”
Assata Shakur was granted political asylum in Cuba following her escape from the US prison system in 1979. Of Cuba’s role in providing a political asylum for Shakur, Rodríguez said, “With Assata, we feel we were fulfilling our duty.”
Rodríguez condemns UN inaction on Palestine
Rodríguez expressed that one of the priorities for Cuba during this year’s session of the UNGA was to condemn the Israeli genocide in Palestine. “The Security Council seems impotent in the face of such slaughter,” Rodríguez asserted.
“Should we accept that the UN has no responsibility to protect Palestinians? Or that nothing can be done? Of course not.” Since the triumph of the revolution in 1959, Cuba has been one of the strongest voices in solidarity with Palestine.
As part of Cuba’s long-standing political solidarity with the Palestinian people, Cuba has offered medical scholarships to Palestinian students to study at ELAM, the Latin American School of Medicine, a medical school created by the Cuban government to train physicians from Cuba and from other countries. Palestinian students make up one of the largest delegations of international students to the school.
Rodríguez did not shy away from strong statements condemning those responsible for the genocide of Palestinians. “As we deliberate here, 2.2 million human beings in Gaza are doomed to starve due to the acts of genocide, extermination and ethnic cleansing of the Zionist regime, which counts on the military and financial supplies and the impunity guaranteed by the United States government,” Rodríguez stated.
Cuban officials denounce blockade
Rodríguez also repeated calls to end the US blockade of Cuba. In speaking of the fuel shortages, blackouts, and other difficulties Cuba has faced, Rodríguez said “they want you to believe that it is a fault of socialism, or that it is a consequence of the revolution.” But Rodríguez denounced this line of thought.
Rodríguez quoted from a State Department memorandum, dated April 6, 1960, which reads “The majority of Cubans support Castro,” and that “the only foreseeable means of alienating internal support is through disenchantment and disaffection based on economic dissatisfaction and hardship.”
“This has been the main goal of the US policy against Cuba for more than six decades – to make life as economically difficult, unbearable as possible,” Rodríguez asserted. But imperialism “cannot make us abandon the path of socialism.” said Rodríguez. “We are aware of our responsibilities and we are also aware of the solidarity that we enjoy from all over the world, from the American people, from Cubans living in this country,” Rodríguez said, to applause from the gathered crowd.
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