Solidarity with Cuba

The Canadian Labour Congress strongly condemns the U.S. government’s aggression toward Cuba. We stand in solidarity with the Cuban people and workers as U.S. policy puts their very survival at risk.

The U.S. declaration of Cuba as an “Unusual and Extraordinary Threat to the Security of the U.S.” and the imposition of a fuel blockade are bullying tactics that violate the UN Charter and the rights of Cuba to national sovereignty and self-determination.

Victim of the decades-long economic sanctions by the United States, Cuba now faces extensive hardship under Trump’s fuel blockade. Prior to the U.S. takeover, Venezuela provided a significant portion of Cuba’s fuel needs. That source has been cut off, and the U.S. further threatens to sanction any country that provides fuel to Cuba. The consequences are severe. The country’s health and hospitals, electricity generation, sanitation and water systems, transportation, and food production and distribution are all impacted.

“Trump’s action to impose collective punishment against the people of Cuba is cruel and inhumane and a violation of basic human decency,” says CLC President Bea Bruske.

The CLC calls on the Government of Canada to stand with Cuba and defend the Cuban people’s rights to sovereignty and self-determination.

We call on the Government of Canada to vigorously denounce U.S. aggression and defend the principles of international law. The U.S. must remove the fuel blockade and end the economic embargo against Cuba.

We further demand that the Government of Canada act swiftly to provide immediate humanitarian aid to the people of Cuba.

The CLC is a member of the Trade Union Confederation of the Americas, please see their statement, Urgent Solidarity with the Cuban People.