The fight to save Cuba is the fight to save us all, writes José Luis Granados Ceja. We cannot let Cuba stand alone at this moment.

A powerful 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck Ecuador on April 16, 2016, shortly before 7 PM local time. I was working for teleSUR English in Quito at the time and was sent that same night as part of the crew to cover the aftermath on the coast, the area of Ecuador most affected by the disaster. Being based in the country meant we were among the first journalists to arrive. We witnessed the Ecuadorian state mobilize to respond, and offers of help from friendly countries poured in.

But it was the Cubans who were among the first to arrive.

While covering  the earthquake, I interviewed Col. Lázaro Herrera Hernández of the Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces, who told me a phrase that has become a political maxim of mine: “It is not about providing what is left over, but sharing what we have.”

Conceding to imperialism in the short term puts Mexico at risk over the long term. Trump’s vulgar form of imperialism is going to pick off each country one by one if we do not unite immediately

Cuba, the island country subjected to a brutal decades-long economic blockade, has consistently been among the first to extend its hand in solidarity to peoples of Latin America and the world and to share the little they have. Cuba occupies a special place in the hearts of millions of people across this region not only for their unconditional solidarity but also because of the example its people and their Revolution set for us. Cuba showed us that imperialism was not invincible, that we could stand tall and defeat Washington right here in our  own hemisphere.

Latin America would not be the same today were it not for the Cuban people’s determination to defend their revolution and their decision to chart their own way. But today, Cuba is in the White House’s crosshairs.

This could very well be the most decisive moment ever for the Cuban Revolution. After the kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, Delcy Rodríguez’ interim government has been forced, at the barrel of a gun, to suspend oil shipments to Cuba. This critical lifeline has been cut off virtually overnight, with the Financial Times reporting that as of late January, Cuba has just 15 to 20 days of oil left.

Meanwhile, Trump has signed an executive order declaring Cuba an “unusual and extraordinary threat” that comes with hardened sanctions, which includes a tariff on countries that sell oil to the island. The US is exerting tremendous pressure on other countries to stop providing oil to Cuba in order to enforce this illegal and criminal blockade. Mexico’s PEMEX, which had over the last few years steadily been increasing its shipments to Cuba, has already suspended a planned shipment. President Claudia Sheinbaum nonetheless assures that humanitarian aid to Cuba will continue.

“We will find ways to maintain solidarity with the Cuban people without putting Mexico at risk,” said Sheinbaum.

The trouble is that conceding to imperialism in the short term puts Mexico at risk over the long term. Trump’s vulgar form of imperialism is going to pick off each country one by one if we do not unite immediately.

Amilcar Cabral & Fidel Castro, Tricontinental Conference, Havana, 1966

Our need for a regional response to US imperialism was the overwhelming message coming out of the Nuestra América Summit held in Bogota Colombia, organized by Progressive International. Kurt Hackbarth and I were there representing the Mexico Solidarity Project. The first thing that Carlos de Céspedes Piedra, the Cuban ambassador to Colombia, expressed to us upon learning we were from Mexico was his appreciation for Mexico’s consistent solidarity with Cuba.

We cannot let Cuba stand alone at this moment.

In his speech at the closing session of the Tricontinental Conference in Havana in 1966, Fidel Castro issued a warning that we would be wise to heed today:

The imperialists’ correlation of forces on this continent, the nearness of their home territory, the zeal with which they will try to defend their dominions in this part of the world require, on this continent more than anywhere else, a common strategy, a joint, simultaneous struggle.

José Luis Granados Ceja is a journalist and political analyst based in Mexico City. He currently covers Latin America for Drop Site News*. He is the co-founder of MSP’s Soberanía podcast and a presenter on the show* Sin Muros on Mexico’s Canal Once*. He focuses on political issues, social movements, elections and human rights. Follow him @GranadosCeja*

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