Cuba, Venezuela Foreign Ministers Visit Harlem, Speak Against Imperialist War

On Saturday, September 28, the foreign ministers of Cuba and Venezuela spoke alongside US leaders and intellectuals, part of the growing Palestine solidarity movement in the country. The event was held at the historic Apollo Theater in Harlem and titled “Latin America Speaks: Solidarity Versus Empire”. It highlighted the deep connections between the struggles in Lebanon, Palestine, and Latin America for self-determination. The event took place amid the United Nations General Assembly and aimed to connect the people of Latin America and the United States through shared bonds of friendship and solidarity.

Hours before the event kicked off, the Lebanese resistance group Hezbollah announced that Israel had assassinated the group’s Secretary-General, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, in a massive act of war that sent shockwaves throughout the world. As Israel further expands its genocidal war into Lebanon, speakers emphasized the need for international solidarity against imperialist war. 

The event was convened by the People’s Forum, and all proceeds were donated to the Middle Eastern Children’s Alliance (MECA) as part of the international fundraiser “The People Stand with Gaza,” coordinated between MECA and the Shut It Down for Palestine coalition. Speakers at the event were Manolo De Los Santos of the People’s Forum, Bruno Rodríguez, Foreign Minister of Cuba, Lameess Mohammed, organizer with the Palestinian Youth Movement, Yván Gil Pinto, Foreign Minister of Venezuela, and Vijay Prashad, executive director of the Tricontinental Institute for Social Research.

Speakers also emphasized the importance of the venue, the Apollo Theater, for its historic significance in being a home for Black American art and culture. “I feel moved standing in the heart of Harlem on this stage for the first time in this iconic theater of African American artistic culture,” said Rodriguez.

Each foreign minister extended bonds of solidarity with one another as both socialist states face merciless US sanctions. 

“We condemn the blockade that has lasted for 60 years in Cuba,” said Pinto. “The country that is truly promoting terrorism in the world, is putting Cuba on the list of those who promote terrorism,” he articulated, referring to Cuba’s continued inclusion on the US’s list of State Sponsors of Terrorism, a designation which results in devastating economic crises on the island. 

Rodríguez mentioned the ongoing attempt to overthrow the presidential election results in Venezuela by imperialist forces. “Today imperialism is also attacking Venezuela,” Rodriguez condemned. “It is the right of Venezuelans to defend a revolutionary and truly independent process against the attacks of imperialism. Long live the Chavista and Bolivarian revolution!”

Attendees at “Latin America Speaks: Solidarity Versus Empire”. Photo: Micah Fong

“It’s not just with bombs that the United States wages war, the United States punishes the sovereign and independent people of the third world,”described Manolo De Los Santos. “The US targets over a third of the world with these so-called sanctions.”

Speakers also touched on the genocidal war Israel is waging across Palestine and Lebanon.

“Israel can kill but it cannot win,” said De Los Santos. “Our dear Ghassan Kanafani reminds us, bodies may fall, but ideas endure.”

Each speaker touched on the genocidal war Israel is waging across Palestine and Lebanon. “There is no doubt that what is going on in Palestine today in Lebanon, the killing and genocide is the worst event since the second world war and holocaust against the Jewish people. And the only source of this aggression is US imperialism,” said Yván Gil Pinto, Venezuela’s foreign minister. “We no longer say that imperialism is behind the killing. Imperialism is leading the killing.”

Pinto highlighted Venezuela’s own struggle against imperialism, manifested through the US’s sanctions against the socialist country. “What happens in Lebanon and Palestine with bombs, happens in Venezuela with sanctions, which are also killing human beings, trying to submit them to their will.”

Bruno Rodríguez, Cuba’s foreign minister, also detailed the many crimes of imperialism. “Imperialism commits genocide against entire populations. The crime of genocide that imperialism is committing against the people of Palestine, using the government of Israel, has no parallel in recent history. It is the great crime of the 21st century,” Rodriguez said. “Free Palestine!”

“Imperialism has not ceased to attack Cuba,” Rodríguez continued. “The impact of just 25 days, only 25 days of the cost that the blockade imposes on the Cuban economy is equivalent to the total price of the medicine and drugs that our public health system requires to meet the basic needs of the population for one year.”

Lameess Mohammed, a lead organizer with the international Palestinian diaspora organization the Palestinian Youth Movement, also highlighted the deep solidarity that exists between the people of Gaza and Latin America, a solidarity that Gaza will need in its struggle against genocidal war. 

“To rebuild Gaza, we will need doctors, we will need engineers,” Mohammed articulated. “We will need people with a fervent commitment. And those doctors and engineers are being trained today in Cuba and Venezuela.”

Vijay Prashad emphasized the contrast between the socialist projects of Cuba and Venezuela and the imperialist war machine. 

“Why are they afraid of Cuba? They are not afraid of Cuba, they would like to absorb Cuba. They are afraid of the Cuban revolution!” Prashad declared. “Either we move to socialism or we have the common ruin of contending classes. Either we move to socialism, or we destroy the world.”

The event ended with a performance by the Cuban Children’s Theater, La Colmenita.