Responding to the Trump regime’s blockade of international oil deliveries to Cuba, some 650 delegates from 33 countries and 120 organizations began arriving in Cuba on March 20, as part of the solidarity, Nuestra América Convoy to Cuba. About 20 metric tons of food, medical supplies and solar panels arrived by air and sea in an effort support the people of Cuba who have suffered under a six-decade American economic embargo and more recently, from constant electricity blackouts that have resulted in the inability of hospitals to store critical medicines and provide care for newborns, their mothers, the elderly and the sick.
The convoy, organized by Progressive International, Code Pink Women for Peace and dozens of other non-governmental organizations, included four members of the European Parliament, French, Spanish and Columbian legislators, as well as Jeremy Corbyn, former leader of Britain’s Labor Party.
Between The Lines’ Scott Harris spoke with Andy Shallal, owner of the Busboys and Poets restaurant, bookstore, bar and progressive cultural hubs in Washington, D.C., in the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia and a delegate on the Nuestra América Convoy, who talks about the importance of supporting the people of Cuba with humanitarian aid in defiance of the Trump administration energy blockade.
ANDY SHALLAL: It affects everyday people, of course, on a regular basis. It affects hospitals, it affects research centers, it affects schools, it affects after school care, it affects art companies, dance companies, you name it. I mean, everything depends on lights and electricity and power. And when you cut that off, it’s a huge impact on everything that we do. We sort of take for granted that we just flip a switch and light goes on, but they cook also with gas and oil and electricity. And of course, if you’re living in an apartment, I was told first as someone that lives in an apartment, they said they wish they lived in a house, at least they could cook with wood that they can scavenge and cook with it. We’re talking about sending a whole population back decades and decades, if not a hundred years, in how we operate. I mean, they have to gather wood in order to cook their meals.
Imagine that. And of course, electricity also runs water purification systems. It runs sewage systems. It runs everything that we do. So that’s really become a huge problem. Cuba has gone through these periods before. You had a period that’s been referred to as the special period, which happened right after the collapse of the Soviet Union back in ’91. And that lasted for many, many, many years until the Bolivarian revolution that happened, of course, with Venezuela to bring in Chavez into power. And when Chavez came into power, of course, they started producing oil and giving it to Cuba. So it raised the standards back up again. But then you have this current situation that’s been completely out of control. Not only have they blocked oil from Venezuela, but they blocked any oil from anywhere. And not only that, but they have a complete blockade around the island that no one can bring any products in.
So things like basic food products, very, very expensive for ordinary Cubans that are living there. So it’s been very difficult. I’ve seen the deterioration. We’ve been going there for almost 15 years and I’ve seen it year after year after year where things have started to become more problematic for ordinary Cubans.
SCOTT HARRIS: Andy, tell us about the international activists, those coming from the U.S. and Europe. I had heard that there were four members of the European Parliament, Jeremy Corbin, the former leader of the UK’s Labor Party, Pablo Iglesias, former leader of Spain’s Podemos party and others. Give us a general overview of this delegation and what they brought to Cuba in terms of humanitarian aid.
ANDY SHALLAL: Everyone that goes to Cuba almost has to bring something. We bring bags full of medicine and supplies for young people like coloring pencils and paper. Paper is a shortage. You can’t find paper. I remember even a couple of years ago, my wife was feeling ill when we were in Cuba and she had to go to the hospital and they didn’t have bandaids. I mean, the syringes, they have to reuse them. They have to autoclave them and reuse them, so they don’t have disposable syringes. These are really basic things that people need nowadays to be able to function as a normal society. All these things have been blocked. There were over 400 delegates from all over the world that were there, people that came to say “No to the blockade, let Cuba live.” Had a huge plenary with the president and other folks from the government to talk about this issue.
And really the solidarity was quite beautiful to see it. People spoke from different countries. There’s lots of representation, different flags from different countries and all of them stating the same thing, that the United States has played an outside role in blocking even some of those countries from doing what they want to do as far as humanitarian aid to Cuba.
So the United States right now is at war with almost every single country in the world. And it’s not always a hot war; it’s also an economic war. So using tariffs to blackmail countries from doing their thing, like being sovereign. It was wonderful to see so many people from so many different countries and solidarity to really speak up and let the Cuban people know that they’re not alone because a lot of times I think in these kinds of situations, having delegations there and having presence there really brings hope to the folks that are there to know that they’re not alone.
There are people that see them and hear them and are fighting on their behalf. So that’s really exciting to see.
For more information, visit Nuestra América Convoy to Cuba at nuestraamericaconvoy.org.
Listen to Scott Harris’ in-depth interview with Andy Shallal (21:14) and see more articles and opinion pieces in the related links section of this page. For periodic updates on the Trump authoritarian playbook, subscribe here to our Between The Lines Radio Newsmagazine Substack newsletter.
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