WE CAME to Cuba in the middle of the most intense period of the continuous illegal blockade by the US since 1960.

Cubans are suffering loss of power for over 23 hours a day, loss of mains water supply for days on end and severe disruption to public and private transport because of the lack of fuel.

As a senior member of the Cuban Communist Party said to us, “How can you run a country without electricity?”

And yet Cubans are fighting back with enormous determination, resilience, social solidarity and resourcefulness.

We brought £2,000 worth of non-prescription analgesics, anti-inflammatories, insect repellent and other essential supplies which have been blocked from entering Cuba by the United States sanctions.

Donald Trump’s executive orders impose a strict economic embargo targeting Cuba’s energy and finance sectors. These include oil and energy sanctions, penalising foreign countries through tariffs if they sell oil to Cuba and sanctioning Cuba’s state-owned oil company, Union Cuba-Petrolio.

Financial and travel restrictions as well as secondary sanctions on foreign banks that do business with Cuba have effectively cut the country off from the global banking system.

Trump has also issued targeted sector sanctions authorising asset freezes for individuals or companies operating in Cuba’s energy, defence, mining, financial services and security sectors.

This has had a devastating impact on Cuba’s world-leading health service as imports of essential medical supplies have all but ceased, causing infant mortality to double; a waiting list of 98,000 awaiting treatment, including 12,000 children; pregnant women unable to get ultrasound scans, and an inability to treat cancer patients because of the lack of chemotherapy and radiotherapy supplies.

The distress this is causing the Cuban people was expressed by President Miguel Diaz-Canel at the 24th International Meeting of Communist and Workers’ Parties in Havana on August 7-8 who described this blockade as a collective punishment of the Cuban people amounting to genocide — illegal under international law.

The travel restrictions and the difficulty of getting direct flights to Cuba has also severely damaged its critical tourist industry.

And yet, despite the difficulties, the Cubans hosted a huge celebration of Fidel Castro’s centenary, attended by over 1,500 delegates from around the world. The First International Colloquium “Fidel: Legacy and Future” was a crowning moment for Cuba’s fight against the isolation the US blockade is trying to impose.

The message was clear — Cuba is not alone, Cuba’s revolution is a living inspiration for millions of workers, peasants, artists and intellectuals struggling to defeat US imperialism and build a socialist future.

Simultaneously the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP), founded in December 1960 by Fidel Castro to promote international solidarity held a huge conference in Havana University which included the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (Alba) founded by Fidel and Hugo Chavez in 2004 as well as numerous work brigades including young communists from Britain.

Despite the difficulties the Cubans were exemplary hosts, accommodated us in top-class hotels, ensured we were well nfed, transported and looked after and proved that they can and want to provide a fantastic experience for people visiting the Island.

There was palpable love and pride for Fidel and the revolution among the Cuban people who remain committed to their sovereign and independent path of building a socialist society under the most difficult conditions imaginable.

As well as bringing medicines funded by the Communist Party’s appeal for aid for Cuba our purpose in visiting Havana was to take part in the International Meeting with 48 Communist and Workers Parties from around the world.

The fact that this took place in Havana in 2026 was a profound statement of solidarity with Cuba’s socialist revolution. The meeting was dedicated to defending and honouring the legacy of the Cuban revolution on the centenary of Fidel’s birth, deepening solidarity with socialist Cuba, strengthening joint actions and uniting communist forces for peace and against imperialist aggression.

If there were any doubt about why worldwide solidarity with Cuba is not only essential but entirely justified this quote from Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, minister in the presidency for women, youth and persons with disabilities in South Africa sums it up: “Cuba did not send us declarations of support, they sent us doctors.”

As we pointed out in our statement to the international meeting, Cuba has had decades of anti-imperialist initiatives, which have served working peoples of so many countries in health, education, culture, public administration and in southern Africa, helped bring military victory over imperialism and apartheid.

For a nation of 9.5 million people, Cuba has given more to the world than any other country, with the possible exception of the Soviet Union which defeated fascism in the 20th century.

The clear message from Cubans to us is that none of this, neither the revolutionary process nor the eradication of illiteracy, their world-leading health system and culture of solidarity would have been possible without the Communist Party of Cuba which has succeeded against the greatest odds imaginable in creating a proud nation defying the most powerful, imperialist force on Earth located just 90 miles to the north of Havana.

Our visit has reaffirmed Fidel’s legacy as our inspiration. Those of us in Britain who want socialism in our lifetime must study and learn from Cuba’s example and Fidel’s legacy.