Let Cuba Live
Early History
Although Cuba is today a sovereign nation, for many centuries it suffered greatly under colonial rule. Soon after Columbus arrived in 1492, the Spaniards killed off the island’s native Taino people. Afterwards, they kidnapped Africans to serve as slaves on the island. For more than 500 years, the Spaniards controlled every aspect of life in Cuba.
In 1898, as Cuba was nearing its final battle in the War of Independence from Spain (referred to in the US as the Spanish-American War), the United States stepped in and declared itself the victor. For the next 60 years, the U.S. supported a series of corrupt leaders in Cuba, including the brutal dictator Fulgencio Batista.
The Revolution
On the last evening of 1958, a people’s revolution triumphed in Cuba, and Batista fled the island with more than $300 million. He left behind a country marred by inequality, racism, and extreme poverty.
The revolution’s leader, a young lawyer named Fidel Castro, quickly set about making changes. Three months after the revolution, all rents were reduced by 50 percent, nearly eliminating homelessness. All Cubans were given free healthcare and education. An agrarian reform law gave those who worked the land ownership of their plots. In the countryside, campesinos or peasants finally received running water and electricity. In 1961, a nationwide campaign raised Cuba’s literacy rate from 75 to 99.8 percent, where it remains today. A gender equality law guaranteed women the same salaries as men. Maternity leave was expanded, and low-cost childcare centers were set up across the island. The Constitution was rewritten to prohibit racial discrimination. US-mafia-run casinos were shut down. The island’s petroleum industry was nationalized, which meant that US oil companies were no longer able to operate in Cuba.
The Embargo
In response, the US government attempted repeatedly and unsuccessfully to kill Fidel Castro. In 1962, they enacted what the US State Department refers to as “a comprehensive economic embargo” against Cuba. This embargo and the many sanctions that have arisen from it (including more than 200 new ones imposed during the Trump regime) have made it illegal for US citizens and businesses to trade with the island, as well as severely restricting the ability to travel there. Other countries that wish to trade with Cuba are often discouraged from doing so by threats of retaliation from the US. For example, in the 1970s when the country of Bangladesh suffered a devastating flood, the US denied them humanitarian aid until they cut off trade relations with Cuba.
Today the Cuban embargo is the longest-running embargo in the history of the world. Since 1991, the United Nations General Assembly has held an annual vote to declare a resolution to end the embargo. Each year 191 countries vote in favor of the resolution, and only two— the US and Israel— regularly vote against it.
As a result of the embargo and, apparently, as a direct goal of it (see the declassified document linked below), average Cubans suffer unnecessary hardships and shortages of basic necessities such as medicine, construction materials, and gasoline. In an April 6, 1960 declassified internal US government document, it is stated that “every possible means should be undertaken promptly to weaken the economic life of Cuba. If such a policy is adopted, it should be the result of a positive decision which would call forth 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 the government.”
The US government’s 60-plus year Cold War against Cuba has succeeded in every one of these goals except the final one.
The 2026 Oil Blockade
In January of 2026, to up the ante on the widespread suffering caused by the embargo and its sanctions in the hopes of inciting the Cuban people to overthrow their government; the US imposed an oil blockade. Countries attempting to deliver oil are threatened with tariffs, and their tankers are chased away from Cuban ports by the US Coast Guard. This blockade has killed many with health conditions that require electric supportive devices. It has caused hunger because produce cannot be shipped from farms to communities because of lack of fuel. There is no fuel for trash pick-up, causing the build-up of garbage and an increase in disease. Many on the island no longer have running water because Cuba uses electrical pumps to deliver water to houses. Nationwide multi-day blackouts are common and, on good days, there is only enough fuel for four hours of electricity.
How You Can Help
Beyond participating in a humanitarian aid delegation (see “How to Go” page), there are many actions you can take from home to help the Cuban people, including:
Tell Congress to Stop the Siege on Cuba
Support Life-Saving Humanitarian Aid to Cuba
Contribute to Global Health Partners’ Suture Campaign
Contribute to The Hatuey Project’s Cancer Medication Drive
Below, also, is a list of some of the many organizations working to end the embargo, all of whom welcome volunteers.
Alliance for Cuba Engagement and Respect
Bay Area Cuba Solidarity Network
Boston-Cuba Solidarity Coalition
Building Relations with Cuban Labor
Cuba US People to People Partnership
Cuban-American Friendship Society
Democratic Socialists of America International Committee
International US-Cuba Normalization Coalition Committee
Los Angeles Hands off Cuba Coalition
Massachusetts Peace Action Subcommittee on Cuba
New York-New Jersey Cuba Sí Coalition
Pittsburgh Matanzas Sister City Organization
Seattle Cuba Friendship Committee
US Women and Cuba Collaboration
Vancouver Communities in Solidarity with Cuba
Wisconsin Coalition to Normalize Relations with Cuba
