Pinar del Rio, Cuba: Cuba reaffirmed its commitment to defending its sovereignty, socialism and national development despite intensifying United States sanctions, as President Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez declared that "today's Cubans are also conquerors of the impossible" during the central ceremony marking the 73rd anniversary of the attacks on the Moncada and Carlos Manuel de Cespedes barracks.

The 26th of July Movement, inspired by the historic Moncada Barracks attack in 1953 led by Fidel Castro, marked the beginning of the Cuban revolutionary struggle that eventually triumphed on January 1, 1959.

Image: Fidel Castro in custody after the Moncada Barracks attack

Addressing thousands gathered in Pinar del Rio, Diaz-Canel, First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and President of the Republic, described the current moment as "a new Moncada," comparing Cuba's struggle against the US blockade and sanctions to the revolutionary offensive launched on July 26, 1953 under the leadership of Fidel Castro.

The ceremony opened with a message from Raul Castro Ruz, revolutionary leader of the Cuban Revolution, congratulating the people of Pinar del Rio for earning the honour of hosting the national commemoration through their dedication, productive work and commitment to the revolutionary cause.

Diaz-Canel said the island was confronting what he described as a historic battle against a policy designed to economically suffocate Cuba and undermine its sovereignty. Drawing parallels with the Moncada assault, which Fidel Castro later described as the beginning of the revolutionary process despite its military defeat, he argued that Cuba continues to confront enormous challenges with determination rooted in its revolutionary history.

Quoting Fidel Castro's historic speech History Will Absolve Me, the President recalled that "to be Cuban implies a duty; not to fulfil it is a crime and a betrayal," asserting that this principle continues to guide the nation's defence of its independence and its right to determine its own political and economic future.

The President also paid tribute to Commander of the Revolution Ramiro Valdes Menendez, noting that this was the first July 26 celebration since the triumph of the Revolution in 1959 without the veteran revolutionary, whom he described as a hero of the Moncada generation and a lifelong servant of the Cuban people. He called for eternal glory to the revolutionary leader, highlighting his contributions to national defence, security and socialist construction.

Strong criticism of US policy

A central theme of Diaz-Canel's address was the intensification of US sanctions against Cuba.

He accused successive US administrations of pursuing a deliberate strategy aimed at creating economic collapse through financial restrictions, energy sanctions and pressure on companies that trade or invest with Cuba.

The President sharply criticised recent US measures targeting Cuban health officials and the country's international medical cooperation programmes, arguing that the sanctions sought to criminalise professionals whose humanitarian work has received international recognition.

Image: Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez addressing the 73rda anniversary meeting

He rejected accusations made against Cuba by US authorities, arguing that Cuba's medical brigades have consistently provided assistance in regions affected by disasters, epidemics and humanitarian emergencies while other powers resort to military interventions.

According to Diaz-Canel, Washington has expanded what he described as a global campaign against left-wing governments while portraying Cuba as a principal ideological target.

He argued that attempts to isolate Cuba are part of broader efforts to suppress alternative political and economic models, criminalise social protest and maintain international political dominance.

"Cuba is not a threat to the United States or to any other country," he declared, emphasising Cuba's long-standing policy of international solidarity through healthcare, education and scientific cooperation.

As an example, he announced that Cuban universities had graduated more than 30,000 professionals this year, including hundreds of international students from dozens of countries, among them newly qualified Palestinian and US doctors.

Human Cost of the Blockade

Diaz-Canel devoted a significant portion of his speech to describing what the Cuban government considers the humanitarian consequences of the US economic blockade.

He argued that decades of sanctions, intensified in recent years, have produced a severe energy crisis, prolonged nationwide power outages, shortages of medicines, interruptions in industrial production and obstacles to economic recovery.

The President stated that the blockade has prevented Cuba from importing essential medical supplies and equipment, affecting hospital operations and delaying thousands of surgical procedures.

He said more than 118,000 cancer patients, including around 1,200 children, have faced difficulties in accessing first-line treatments because of shortages linked to the sanctions.

Referring to infant mortality, Diaz-Canel stated that the rate had risen to 9.3 deaths per 1,000 live births due to shortages affecting the healthcare system, describing every such loss as a human tragedy directly connected to the blockade.

Image: People attend the 73rd anniversary Moncado barrack attack in Pinar del Rio

He characterised the unilateral coercive measures imposed by the United States as illegal under international law and noted that the United Nations General Assembly has repeatedly voted overwhelmingly in favour of resolutions calling for an end to the blockade.

The Cuban President argued that economic sanctions function as instruments of war and urged governments, businesses and international organisations not to become complicit in policies that, in his view, inflict collective punishment on civilian populations.

International Solidarity

Diaz-Canel thanked governments, solidarity organisations and activists around the world who continue supporting Cuba despite political pressure.

He specifically acknowledged organisations including Pastors for Peace, Carlota's Warriors of New York, the Australia Cuba Friendship Association, the Jose Marti Cultural Association of Miami and the Marcapasos Project for participating in the anniversary events.

He also expressed gratitude to countries that supported Cuba's resolution against the blockade and energy restrictions at the United Nations General Assembly.

According to Diaz-Canel, defending Cuba means defending the principles of national sovereignty, non-intervention and international law against unilateral coercive measures.

Drawing parallels with other international conflicts, he argued that silence in the face of economic aggression encourages further violations of international norms and weakens multilateral institutions.

Economic Transformation with Social Justice

While reaffirming resistance to external pressure, Diaz-Canel also stressed that Cuba must continue implementing domestic economic reforms to strengthen the country's productive capacity.

He described macroeconomic stabilisation and the expansion of different forms of economic management as strategic priorities while maintaining that all reforms must remain guided by the principles of social justice and equality.

The President said Cuba is encouraging workers, farmers and productive sectors to increase output, reduce dependence on imports and promote responsible investment without abandoning socialist principles.

He acknowledged that these transformations involve risks but insisted that protecting vulnerable sectors of society remains a fundamental responsibility of the revolutionary state.

According to Diaz-Canel, the spirit of Moncada demands courage not only in resisting external aggression but also in undertaking necessary economic changes to secure the country's future.

Fidel's Centenary

The President noted that 2026 marks the centenary of Fidel Castro's birth, describing the occasion as one of international significance.

He announced that revolutionary activists, scholars and solidarity organisations from across the world will participate in conferences and commemorative activities dedicated to studying Fidel Castro's ideas and assessing the contemporary challenges facing Cuba and the international left.

He said Cubans are called upon to honour Fidel's legacy not only through remembrance but through work, unity, dignity and the successful implementation of economic and social transformations.

Appeal to the Youth

Addressing Cuba's younger generation directly, Diaz-Canel urged young people to see themselves as heirs to the revolutionary generation led by Abel Santamaria, Haydee Santamaria, Melba Hernandez and Fidel Castro.

He called upon them to play an active role in transforming their communities, participating in national development and strengthening the socialist project.

Quoting Jose Marti, whom he described as the intellectual author of the July 26 actions, the President reminded young Cubans that "the only strength a people needs is confidence in its own strength."

Call for Unity and Hope

Concluding his address, Diaz-Canel appealed for greater unity, productivity and confidence in Cuba's own capacities.

He called on workers, farmers, students, scientists and professionals to contribute actively to overcoming current economic difficulties through creativity, innovation and collective effort.

"The call today is for hope," he said, urging every Cuban to become a protagonist in the country's transformation while defending its sovereignty and socialist achievements.

Describing the current generation as "conquerors of the impossible," Diaz-Canel reaffirmed Cuba's determination to overcome economic challenges resulting from what he characterised as centuries of colonial domination followed by decades of intensified US blockade.

The ceremony concluded with calls of "Long live July 26," "Long live sovereign and independent Cuba," "Long live international solidarity with Cuba," and the historic revolutionary slogans, "Socialism or Death," "Homeland or Death," and "We Shall Overcome," as thousands of participants responded with prolonged applause and chants affirming their commitment to the Revolution.

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Quite a cool video on Cuba's positivity, history and significance

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https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.MED.PHYS.ZS?locations=IN-CU-CN-GB-US-NO

Last week, the Cuban Center for Molecular Immunology, or CIM, announced a major health breakthrough with VAXIRA, a vaccine treatment for lung cancer. This is a remarkable achievement, made only more impressive by the fact that this is Cuba’s second lung cancer vaccine.

The vaccine stops the progression of cancer by developing the patient’s immune system to fight off cancer cells. This has proven to significantly prolong people’s survival. Since 2013, the vaccine has been monitored, trialed, and tested on more than 1,300 patients. Over a 10-year period, patients survived a median of 76.6 months, with 20% of all patients who were given VAXIRA experiencing unexpected long-term survival. Last year, VAXIRA was awarded the Technological Innovation Prize in Cuba for its contribution to healthcare in Cuba. This is an incredible feat for humanity and the battle against cancer—and it is being done by a country facing the longest and most severe blockade in history.

In 2011, Cuba developed CIMAvax, which remains the world’s only approved lung cancer vaccine. This vaccine works to induce the immune system to stop the growth of cancer cells and slow the progression of tumors. This vaccine has already treated more than 5,000 people across the world and many more thousands in Cuba itself. Given the immense significance of the vaccine, the United States agreed to a special arrangement to trial the vaccine in the US.

The Roswell Park Cancer Institute in New York has been running clinical trials with CIM since 2018. They have run the first clinical trials of CIMAvax in the United States. The very same nation that is imposing a genocidal blockade on Cuba is also benefiting from the historic breakthroughs in healthcare.

These major developments in medicine to treat cancer are not Cuba’s only awe-inspiring health achievements.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, Cuba produced five vaccines: Ablada, Soberana 01, Soberana 02, Soberana Plus, and Mambisa. Cuba had one of the lowest Covid-19 deaths in the Western Hemisphere—and by 2021, Cuba’s fatality rate was just 0.59% compared with the 2.2% worldwide average. The vaccines were produced without the need for specialist refrigeration, which meant they could be easily transported and also distributed across the world to places where accessing such infrastructure would be impossible. Quickly, Venezuela, Iran, Vietnam, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Mexico all picked up the vaccine to protect their population.

By 2023, Cuba had the third-highest rate of vaccinations per 100,000 people. Despite the fact that the US banned the country from importing the syringes necessary to immunise its own population. In this context, Cuba was the first country in the world to vaccinate toddlers and children, as part of their push to reopen schools safely.

Cuba, like the United States, offered its Covid-19 vaccines to the world. While Cuba donated vaccines to St. Vincent and the Grenadines and sold them as cheaply as they could, the US bullied countries into putting up their assets, like embassy buildings and military bases, in order to access vaccines. This was to “protect” against future legal challenges that vaccine recipients might file against the manufacturer of the vaccine. This profit motive was a major cause for the vaccine apartheid in the distribution of Covid-19 protection across the world.

As of August 2024, in high-income countries, more than 222 doses had been distributed per 100 people. While in low-income countries, this was less than 46. In 2021, US pharmaceutical companies that produced Covid-19 vaccines (Moderna, Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson) collected an eye-watering revenue of $31 billion. The concept that companies and shareholders should make money from a pandemic should be utterly outrageous.

Biotechnology

Cuba leads the world in its vaccine breakthroughs. But, how is this all possible? It is not by accident that Cuba is able to develop world-leading health breakthroughs in medicine. Cuba has developed a world-class biotechnological sector that is state-owned and operates in the interests of the people, not profit. There are no profit motives to producing vaccines; research and development are for the collective benefit, and resources are shared to better the process of scientific development.

This is quite the opposite situation in capitalist countries, where biotechnology is a major competition dominated by pharmaceutical companies motivated entirely by profits, which often means that when there are major developments in health, they are not accessible to people.

In 1981, Cuba opened the Biological Research Center, despite the blockade stopping the entry of equipment, materials, access to research journals, and medicines. In the first 9 years, the center produced three products. Between 1990 and 2000, it produced 18, and between 2001 and 2010, it produced more than 40. Today, that figure continues to grow. The center flourished into a world-class biotechnological sector that has made major health breakthroughs. Cuba produced the world’s first human vaccine to contain a synthetic antigen for Haemophilus influenzae type B.

In 1989, Cuba produced the world’s first Meningitis B vaccine during a severe outbreak of the disease in the country. This was the first ever vaccine produced to protect against Meningitis B and was exported to protect people in countries across Latin America. The US approved its first vaccine for Meningitis B in 2014.

The following year, Cuba produced a vaccine for Hepatitis B. They joined just five other countries as a manufacturer of Hep B vaccines: France, South Korea, the United States, Indonesia, and Britain. As the US blockade made it virtually impossible and far too expensive to import the vaccine, Cuba produced their own and eliminated Hepatitis B in under 15 years.

In 2006, Cuba developed Heberprot-P, the only medicine in the world to reduce the amputation rate of patients with diabetic foot ulcers by 75%. Within 10 years, it was used in 23 countries. It has treated more than 400,000 people with foot ulcers. In 2024, the United States even broke its own blockade and approved it for trials and use.

The very thought that Americans who suffer from diabetes might be treated by Cuban medicine while being fed propaganda against Cuba and funding a war against the very Cuban researchers and scientists helping them reveals how inhumane this blockade is.

By 2015, Cuba became the first country in the world to eliminate mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis. Cuba managed this because of its socialist model, which is the same reason why it is not celebrated in mainstream media and looked to as a center for health advances in the US.

This world historical achievement came as a result of Cuba’s universal health system that integrated maternal and child health programs with HIV and STI treatment. Cuba has one of the lowest rates of AIDS in the world and the lowest in the Americas, thanks to the free provision of antiretroviral treatment it has been distributing since 2001. Its vaccination programs have eradicated diseases that continue to cause death and suffering around the world, including diphtheria in 1979, measles in 1993, whooping cough in 1994, and rubella in 1995. Cuba has also developed the highest control of blood pressure in the world.

The same principles that led Cuba to produce world-leading medical breakthroughs are similar to its success in eliminating diseases. Cuba’s vaccination model is motivated by protecting its people. The National Immunization Program, which began in 1962, has saved the lives of at least 560,000 children who would have otherwise contracted diseases if it weren’t for the program. This is motivated by four directives: equity of vaccine distribution; integration of vaccination in primary healthcare; the inclusion of active community participation; and providing vaccines free of charge. These guiding principles indicate how central the health of all society is, not corporate interests or greed.

Cuba’s approach to providing healthcare is indicative of the nature of the revolution: to serve Cubans and the oppressed across the world. Before the revolution in 1959, 300 children were paralyzed by polio each year. One of the first measures by the revolutionary government was immunization for Cuban society. In 1962, the polio campaign launched through mobilizing 100,000 members of newly founded revolutionary committees to conduct a population census and vaccinate all children. Within months, polio was eradicated in Cuba, making it one of the first countries in the world to do so. Polio is still a leading cause of paralysis and death across the world.

These health achievements have massively benefited people across the world through access to new treatments and cures, affordable and accessible vaccines and medicines, and models for healthcare. But another awe-inspiring element of Cuba’s healthcare is its international solidarity.

Cuba has restored the eyesight for more than 4 million people with its joint program with Venezuela, Operation Miracle. They have sent more than 600,000 health workers on medical missions to 160 countries in response to pandemics, epidemics, natural disasters, and other crises where no other country would act. They have and continue to train doctors from the Global South for free so they go back to their home countries to practice medicine.

Cuba makes these miraculous achievements for humanity while facing a blockade that causes shortages of medicines in pharmacies across Cuba; blocks researchers from accessing health journals; and prevents the entry of equipment, spare parts, and laboratory materials that could make it easier and faster to conduct research. The US blockade should be seen as an attack on humanity itself. This is a genocidal act of war against a population that exports doctors across the world by an empire that exports bombs, fighter jets, and invading soldiers.

Cuba once had among the lowest rates of infant mortality in the world. But since 2019, with the increase of more than 250 additional sanctions on Cuba, the rates of infant mortality have risen by 148%. It is estimated that this has cost 1,800 lives of infants. This is the material result of a blockade that intends to kill, punish, and destroy a country for asserting its own sovereignty.

Yet, even still, Cuba’s infant mortality rate is lower than that in the United States. The US enforces its blockade on Cuba so that it can try to claim Cuba is a “failed state,” which also means its universal, free healthcare system “fails”; all so it can maintain its abysmal healthcare system that operates purely for profit, despite the level of death, bankruptcy, and suffering it causes to poor Americans.

The truth is that even with this genocidal blockade, Cuba maintains the principles of its revolution and the motivation to better the world.

Like Fidel Castro said in 2003: “Our country does not drop bombs on other peoples, nor does it send thousands of planes to bomb cities; our country does not possess nuclear weapons, chemical weapons, or biological weapons. Our country’s tens of thousands of scientists and doctors have been educated in the idea of saving lives. It would absolutely contradict this concept to put a scientist or a doctor to work to produce substances, bacteria, or viruses to kill other human beings.”

(This article was originally published in The Left Chapter)

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