Turmoil in Cuba

[Ravenlocke]

Sovereign Media

Sep 23
CUBAN DELEGATION AT UNGA WALKS OUT AFTER TRUMP INSULTS

US President Donald Trump addressed the UNGA, the United Nations General Assembly, boasting about a soon-to-be “free Cuba” and how Washington will not allow foreign adversaries on their doorstep, ending by saying that Cuba is a failed state. The Cuban delegation subsequently walked out during Donald Trump‘s speech.

The reality is that Cuba has experienced over six decades of endless blockades and sanctions from the United States, which has recently thrown even more sanctions on the island and cut off fuel supply from reaching Cuba by threatening all countries supplying it. This has led to many blackouts, with the latest being among the worst the island has experienced.

Reportedly, Marco Rubio is attempting to negotiate with the current government. The Cuban people are effectively under an economic and health collapse as citizens have no electricity and are running out of food, medical supplies, and basic necessities.

Donald Trump fails to mention U.S. sanctions and fails to mention the reason why Cuba is collapsing, and instead points to the problems within its government rather than the siege warfare the United States has waged against it.

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez rejected remarks made by Trump. In a post on X, Rodríguez accused Washington of being “incapable of accepting” Cuba’s independence and sovereignty, and dismissed Trump’s claims as false. He also condemned the U.S. economic blockade on Cuba, describing it as a form of “collective punishment” against the Cuban people.

https://x.com/sov_media/status/2102825749560561696

[Ravenlocke]

Sovereign Media

BARBADOS PM EXPOSES THE HUMAN COST OF CUBA’S BLOCKADE

At the UN General Assembly, Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley expressed deep concern over the worsening humanitarian situation in Cuba. She called for an end to the US blockade and other unilateral coercive measures, and urged dialogue grounded in sovereign equality and international law.

Cuba’s support for Barbados and the wider Caribbean gives her appeal particular weight. Cuban doctors and nurses helped Barbados during the COVID-19 pandemic, and Cuba continues to offer full scholarships to Barbadian students. Across the region, Cuban medical teams have supported healthcare systems, while its Operation Miracle programme has provided eye care to thousands of Caribbean people. Facts that Mottley is all to aware off and has referenced in previous speeches

https://x.com/sov_media/status/2103576424397275642

[Ravenlocke]

Max Blumenthal

Gustavo Petro infuriated representatives of the Venezuelan government by referencing an October 6 article in Resumen Latino.

The article featured an interview with a Cuban military officer who guarded Nicolas Maduro and described being abandoned by his counterparts in the Venezuelan military as he and his comrades valiantly attempted to hold off an overwhelming US assault.

Venezuelan diplomats have lashed out at Petro while maintaining a monk-like silence about Trump's boastful recollections of the January 3 abduction of Maduro.

Here's the Resumen Latino article, in part:

Yohandris Torres was part of Nicolás Maduro's security detail when the American helicopters descended on the Venezuelan capital. During a tribute to his 32 fallen comrades, he spoke for the first time. "We inflicted more losses on them than they admit," he asserted.

Yohandri Varona Torres is a Cuban military officer. On January 3rd, when the United States attacked Venezuela and kidnapped its president, he had only been with Nicolás Maduro's Personal Security for two months and six days, upholding his country's internationalist tradition championed by Fidel Castro and the revolutionary government.

At midnight that January 3rd, he took up his post, tasked with a six-hour guard duty. And although everything seemed calm, Yohandri knew that the greatest danger lay in overconfidence. That's why he carried out his watch with a zeal bordering on excess.

It was nearly 2:00 a.m. when he spotted the first of the American commando helicopters that would land in Caracas that night to abduct the head of state of the Bolivarian Republic.

He barely had time to leave his post, take cover a few meters away, and begin firing. He owes his life to that decision, or perhaps to sheer luck. As if guided by a map of millimeter precision, the attackers directed their fire on the guard post he had occupied just seconds before.

“They had far more firepower than us,” Yohandri recounts, “we who only had light weapons. Their other advantage was that they seemed to know where everything was. So they fired on the posts and dormitories where we Cubans were holding out, and they managed to kill the leaders among the first.”

“We had to fire and fire. Defend and kill,” he declared.

“We fought there against the planes that were strafing us. Despite our lighter weaponry, we didn’t stop fighting; we confronted them. I have my training and I know how to fight, but they were superior to us. At that moment, my only thought was to fight.” “We had to fire, and I started to do it,” he recounted.

“Everything was dark,” he continued. “If a helicopter comes overhead, the only thing you can do is fire at it and defend yourself. That’s what happened. We kept firing until the very last moment.”

“Despite their firepower advantage, I’m sure we inflicted losses on them. More than they admit. We fought hard. We kept firing until almost all of us were down, dead or wounded,” he described.

It wasn’t a quick or easy fight, as Trump and his spokespeople initially tried to portray it. As the days passed, it became clear that only death and a lack of ammunition were able to extinguish the Cuban resistance.

He will never forget the battle, he says, but especially the hours that followed, during which the group's survivors had to carry the bodies of their fallen comrades.

“We loaded them up and carried them to a building that had sustained damage but still allowed us to shelter them. It was very difficult, because these were men we knew, men we had lived with until just a few hours earlier. But we carried them all; we didn't leave a single one behind.”

“Our comrades are a source of pride for all of Cuba. They were my brothers. They worked with me. I saw them all fall, and I carried them all. There was no one to help me there, but not a single body was left on the battlefield. We kept them safe in our dormitory. I can't describe the pain. But at least no one remained in Venezuela. They are here, in our homeland.”


Translated from Spanish
🇨🇺🇻🇪 PETRO SPEAKS IN MEXICO about the truth of the 32 CUBANS fallen in VENEZUELA amid shouts from representatives of the current Venezuelan government: “a Cuban survivor gathered their corpses so they wouldn’t fall into the hands of the US”

https://x.com/MaxBlumenthal/status/2109796132213628946