May 26th-30th 2026
Imagine a person, a wicked, demonic, hard-hearted person. A person so cruel, so devoid of conscience that the idiom “make evil fair seeming” is an understatement. For the purposes of this writing, we will call this person Satan-incarnate.
Imagine that Satan-incarnate locks you in a glass container with no food, no water, and a dwindling supply of air. Crowds gather around. They see you, and you see them. Your deterioration is noticeable, and your fate is obvious. Everyone knows that you were unjustly confined. And they also know that they have the power to break the glass and set you free.
Some onlookers, however, don’t really care and continue with business as usual. Some do care but are terrified of Satan-incarnate, so they continue to watch. There are one or two that attempt to intervene but, like a Goliath, Satan-incarnate flexes and backs them down with intimidating threats and bullying.
So, there you are hungry, helpless, hopeless, and suffering. Each passing minute, air grows thinner and death inches closer as the world watches on.
This is the story of the Cuban people today.
On May 26th-30th the Institute of the Black World 21st Century’s Pan African Unity Dialogue (IBW/PAUD) under the leadership of Dr. Ron Daniels, a long-time freedom fighter in the liberation struggle, led a 25-member delegation to Cuba for an educational, humanitarian, and fact finding mission. The goal of the “Emergency Fact Finding Delegation for Mutual Solidarity and Engagement” was to get a first-hand view of the impact of the US-imposed blockade on the Cuban people.
Under the reign of Fulgencio Batista, Cuba had strong ties to the US. In fact, Cuba was a destination spot; an escape for wealthy white American elites. Under Batista, capitalism was king. Corruption and exploitation were prevalent, socioeconomic inequalities were vast, privatization was extensive, and organized crime was rampant.
There’s a song the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan wrote in 1960 entitled, “A white man’s heaven is a Black man’s hell”. True to form, while wealthy whites were reveling in their Cuban hedonistic heaven, the vast majority of the Cuban people, most particularly the Afro-Cuban people, were living in a virtual hell. While wealth was enjoyed by only a select few, the vast majority of Cubans suffered under economic deprivation and extreme poverty.
But in 1959, the Cuban people rose up and took their country for themselves. Batista was overthrown, and Comandante Fidel Castro came to power. With courage and vision, Castro got Cuba off her back and on to her feet. But America missed her hedonistic harlot and retaliated.
In 1958, the US imposed the embargo, which the Cuban people have been under now for 67 years. The embargo, which was intended to cripple the Cuban people, imposed real challenges. But like Black America under segregation, with spirit and determination, the Cuban people figured out how to survive and thrive.
Castro declared Cuba an Afro-Cuban country and criminalized racism. Extreme economic disparities were leveled, rent was eliminated, and people were given the homes that they live in for free. Cuba had 80% home ownership. Castro made school and healthcare free for all. Pregnant mothers and babies were given milk for free. During COVID the Cubans developed their own vaccines, which they called “Independence”. Interestingly, the Cuban COVID death rate was notably lower than that of the US.
Under Fidel Castro, Cubans not only actualized their own sovereignty, they supported the sovereignty of other nations as well. Cuba provided vital military support for the liberation struggles of African nations such as Angola, Namibia, Congo, and Ethiopia, as well as to several South American countries. They also provided humanitarian aid to many countries all around the world. They sent medical aid to more than 160 nations including several countries in Europe and Asia. Despite the embargo, Cuba offered medical aid and equipment to the US in response to Hurricane Katrina, September 11th, and COVID.
Under Castro, life was not perfect, but the Cuban people flourished.
In May 2026, under executive order, President Trump expanded the 67-year-old embargo. This is where the suffocation begins. As if 67 years of sanctions were not enough, new restrictions on transacting within US-dominated financial systems, blockades on oil imports and exports, and sanctions and tariffs imposed on any nation that attempts to assist became the new reality for the Cuban people. This collective punishment against the civilian population of Cuba violates international law, and the world knows it.
The Cuban people are in the glass box and Satan-incarnate is looming about seeking whom he may devour. The economic asphyxiation is causing profound, widespread suffering and death that is nothing short of genocide.
I am a witness and can attest to the fact that every sphere of life for the Cuban people has been impacted:
- Lack of running water in their homes because pumps can’t function without electricity
- Up to 42 hours at a time without electricity
- Refrigerated foods spoil
- Companies are pulling out or pausing their business
- Municipal services have been halted: waste collection, water supply, city transport, transport of goods
- School has been reduced to 2-3 days each week and efforts for hybrid learning is significantly undermined due to widespread power outages
- Teachers and doctors walk to their schools and hospitals to work
- 11000 children waiting for surgery
- The annual average of approximately 1.2 million surgeries reduced to 700,000
- 3000 dialysis patients lack transportation to dialysis
- Extreme, prohibitive inflation on food and medicines
- Lack of medications, medical equipment, and medical transport
- Delivering babies with cell phone lights
- No incubators for babies
- Infant mortality rate has risen from 3% to 9%
- Lack of transportation/fuel precludes distribution of medications
- 15000 tons of rice that cannot be transported to the people
- US backed paid protestors promoting pro-Trump rhetoric creating division and contention
- There has been a mass exodus of Cuban who had the financial means to leave
Carlos Fernández, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, in addressing our delegation surmises that the US is inducing a humanitarian crisis that will serve as a pretext for military action. President Diaz-Canal also addressed our delegation. He cited the many lies circulating about Cuba, and urged us to learn the truth and then to share the truth with others.
The truth is that our delegation witnessed first-hand the blackouts, the pervasive lack, the tears, and the despair. It was shared with us that since the blockade, the dominant conversation among the people has been “blackouts and lack of food.” The Cuban people were described as being in a “state of trauma”. The suffering citizens of Cuba apprised us of their experience living without electricity, water, medicine, and food. A sister referred to the current conditions as “psychological war.” There was a group of locals that stationed themselves just outside our hotel, and as we came and went, they would ask for food and money. Some would even hand us a small denomination of their currency with the hopes that we would reciprocate with ours.
Notwithstanding Cuba’s valiant efforts and intentionality to quell racism, our delegation additionally noticed a fairly obvious racial hierarchy, which the embargo expansion has further exploited. Some Cubans had the means to leave the country and did; others have loved ones sending them money and other necessities from overseas; and then there are those who have no means and no external support, most of these are Black Cubans. It is the Black Cubans, and most particularly Black Cuban women, who are bearing the brunt of this asphyxiating embargo.
Although sparse, there has been some effort to support the Cuban people. In April, Russia sent a barge of oil, but according to President Diaz-Canal, it only lasted for 15 days. Grenada has reaffirmed its relationship and solidarity with Cuba. Mexico wants to support but is getting pressure from the US, and CARICOM is pledging to assemble humanitarian aid to Cuba. Cuba is also working hard to increase its food and energy sovereignty and is currently expanding its solar capacity.
A stressed but resolute President Diaz-Canal expressed to our delegation that Cuba has always been open to a dialogue with the US, just as long as there is no imposition on their sovereignty. He referenced how Cuba and the US have had dialogues and agreements in the past and that although Cuba would deliver, the US would always fail to keep her promise.
IBW/PAUD Delegation members:
- Ron Daniels- IBW President and Convener of the National African American Reparations Commission (NAARC)
- James Counts Early- Cultural Democracy/ Smithsonian (Emeritus)
- Milton Allimadi- Black Star News, Founder
- Haki Ami- IBW Board of Directors
- Louis Romain- IBW/ Justice Crew Consulting, Founder
- E. Faye Williams- World Council of Mayors, Senior Advisor
- Denise Rolark Barnes- Washington Informer, Editor and Publisher
- Nisa Islam Muhammad- The Final Call Newspaper, Senior Staff Writer
- Michael Henry Spencer- The Final Call / Media Support
- Julienne Malveaux- President Emerita, Bennett College, economist, and author
- Monique Swift Muhammad- The Association of Black Psychologists, President
- Renata Hedrington-Jones- National Association of Black Social Workers, President
- Kim Poole- Teaching Artist Institute, Founder and Director
- Herb Boyd- Amsterdam News, Senior Staff Writer
- Johnny Mack- National Action Network, International Affairs Chair
- Mel Foote- Constituency for Africa (CFA), President and CEO
- Nii- Quartelai Quartey- FoxSoul / KBLA Talk 1580
- Baba Greg Akili- Black Lives Matter Grassroots, Director
- Thandiwe Abdullah- Black Lives Matter Youth Vanguard, Co-founder
- Darryl Gray- Rainbow PUSH / Progressive National Baptist Convention (PNBC), Director General
- Linton Hinds- I Never Knew TV, Creator and Producer
- Bill Lee- Award-winning photographer and chronicler
- Dr. Robert Turner- National African American Reparations Commission (NAARC) / Empowerment Temple AME, Senior Pastor
- Karen Juanita Carrillo- The Amsterdam News
IBW/PAUD delegation activity:
- Diplomatic audience- Miguel Díaz-Canel, President of the Republic of Cuba
- State Diplomatic briefing- H.E. Mr. Carlos Fernández de Cossío Domínguez, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Cuba.
- Roundtable discussion with Cuban Civil Society leaders and organizations- let by Ambassador Norma Goicochea Estenoz, President of the Cuban Association of the United Nations (ACNU)
- Briefing- Esteban Lazo Hernández, President of National Assembly of the People’s Power, the speaker of Cuba’s Parliament
- Hermanos Ameijeiras Clinical Surgical Hospital physicians’ panel- Documenting the impact of the commercial blockade on pharmaceutical supply chains, advanced medical technology access, and systemic public health administration in Cuba.
- Latin American School of Medicine (ELAM)- chaired by Dr. C. Leiram Lima Sarmiento, Rector, and Dr. Jorge Carlos Abad Araujo, Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs- Institutional briefing detailing the historic history of the scholarship network allocated for Black and Brown students from the US and around the world
- Guided Field Study at Casa de África– Cultural resistance frameworks, African Diaspora identity matrix, and the institutional preservation of sacred ancestral traditions
- Karibuni Local Development Project– Dialogue with resident community organizers
- Historical Field Study at Centro Fidel Castro– detailing international relations and structural ties with the African American civil rights movement and historical liberation struggles.
“Giving is only a matter of willingness, not of wealth“- Swahili proverb
Let not what you cannot do tear you from what you can do.- African proverb
Additional informational references from our delegation:
IBW/PAUD Cuban Delegation Press Conference (6/9/2026):
Black Star News: When Doctors Cry: Cuba’s Agony Under Siege
https://blackstarnews.com/when-doctors-cry-cubas-agony-under-siege/
Nii on impact of the embargo
https://www.instagram.com/p/DZF1ckNDgRz/
Cuban discussing the lack of medication, fuel, and work- https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1KbQALfwqs/
Ambassador speaking about racism and the death from the blockade
https://www.facebook.com/reel/1688801805579507
Africa house drumming & dancing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rYDUxvOfDyWQm-w30788AsFC3sCAWBTR/view?usp=drivesdk
