100 years of Fidel and the reason Cuba holds

A Bronx delegate in blockaded Havana

The feat accomplished by the Cubans in hosting the international colloquium “Fidel: Legacy and Future” from Aug. 10 to 13 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Fidel Castro’s birth was awe-inspiring. 

More more than 1,500 delegates participated. These included more than 900 foreigners from 63 countries — from progressive movements, unions and governments from countries around the globe — who shared reports and engaged in discussions with the Cubans. They talked about Fidel’s goals of solidarity with all the world’s people: to wipe out illiteracy, provide education; universal free health care; the development of medical resources and science – to eliminate poverty.    

There, as a delegate from the Bronx in New York City, I shared two contradictory observations. 

For years I have been awed by the vibrant enthusiasm of visitors returning from Cuba. The persistence of widespread support for the Cubans and their socialist government is surprising, coming from the U.S., where people are taught to believe that communism is their great enemy. This popularity has endured for 67 years in spite of U.S. official disinformation, the military blockade, and other acts of war against the Caribbean island whose greatest offense is its stubborn independence. 

Cuba needs to import almost all of its oil and gas. In January 2026, after U.S. forces kidnapped Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and First Combatant Cilia Flores, they threatened any country selling oil to the island. The one country that could ignore the threat was Russia, already under sanctions and with nothing left to lose in the dollar economy. On March 31, a Russian ship came through with 730,000 barrels of oil. Since then fuel and practically  every other shipment has been blocked by Trump.

So, from the start, as a delegate in the Colloquium I was prepared to expect conditions of scarcity caused by decades of the U.S. blockade. Unless you experience hardship yourself, it’s impossible to fully know its ramifications. Also, the experience of the international participants was colored by the Cubans’ gracious preparations. We were buffeted by the provisions of good housing, busing to cultural events and ample food.

Even so, the signs of harsh deprivation were evident everywhere. Every effort by the Cubans to improve their lives is stymied by shortages, including food and sanitation. Crews could be seen working in the streets to clear refuse, because they lack the fuel needed to drive garbage trucks. 

I don’t want to elaborate on the hardships which are being reported more accurately elsewhere. Instead, I want to say why I believe the Cubans have been able to endure, and this is my second observation:

It is difficult to define, but during my visit to Cuba I experienced a sense of personal freedom and optimism – as if I were living outside the stifling culture and all-too-often toxic personal relations that characterize my daily life in the U.S. I thought about the free societies of escaped African captives in the Americas. Of reports of Indigenous people who manage to exist outside of capitalist social relations.

The ingenuity of the Cubans working to survive – to create and improve durable living conditions for each other and with oppressed peoples around the world infuses the social life. It is possible while in Cuba to experience a sense of being at the fulcrum of a great international socialist movement.