Skip to main content
Work with the NEU
Cuba is living proof that a different world is possible
LAUREN HARPER reports from a young trade unionists’ May Day brigade visit to Cuba

THE first thing that struck me about Cuba was the language in which they refer to their healthcare professionals. They are constantly referred to as “heroes” and they genuinely mean it all the time — not like how we were encouraged to clap for the NHS during Covid, only to be told healthcare staff don’t deserve a pay rise today.

Additionally, the language they use is always collective. Never once were we told “I designed this vaccine” or “this team designed the vaccine” — it was always “we created five vaccines against Covid-19.”

Rightfully, the country is incredibly proud of the work it completed during the pandemic to save lives, all in the face of a brutal blockade enforced by the imperialist US.

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
Similar stories
FIRM REBUKE TO THE US: Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel shows the number of signatures against the blockade and war at the MayDay gathering in Jose Marti Anti-Imperialist Square in Havana on Friday
Latin America / 4 May 2026
4 May 2026

ADRIAN WEIR charts the intercontinental trade union solidarity with Cuba and its desperate predicament

People sit along the edge of an abandoned swimming pool across from a tanker terminal along the port of Matanzas, Cuba, March 30, 2026
Features / 4 April 2026
4 April 2026

CLAUDIA WEBBE says the US is tightening the noose to destroy Cuban socialism — the need for immediate, international solidarity is urgent

HIGH SPIRITS: During a school activity in a park in Havana on March 4 2026 while a man holds up a photo of Fidel Castro with an ‘in my heart’ message
Latin America / 14 March 2026
14 March 2026

As the US intensifies its economic and political pressure it is now vitally important to demand the British government intervene to end US aggression, writes GEOFF BOTTOMS

Two people are shown through the wall of a home damaged by Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, October 19, 2005
Features / 30 August 2025
30 August 2025

While ordinary Americans were suffering in the wake of 2005’s deadly hurricane, the Bush administration was more concerned with maintaining its anti-Cuba stance than with saving lives, writes MANOLO DE LOS SANTOS