Various left organizations and social movements in the US are sending young leaders on a delegation to Cuba to learn about more about the island’s history and present, directly from Cuban youth and movement leaders
This coming International Workers’ Day, grassroots organizations across the United States are collectively sending 150 youth leaders to take part in Cuba’s May 1 celebrations. This brigade is following in the footsteps of last year’s May Day brigade coordinated by the International People’s Assembly (IPA).
Participating organizations include Black Men Build, the Party for Socialism and Liberation, BYP100, the Palestinian Youth Movement, the Peoples Forum, and Black Lives Matter Grassroots. The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Center, a Christian grassroots organization in Havana, is hosting the visit.
Peoples Forum executive director Manolo De Los Santos said of the visit, “As young leaders in the United States we want to affirm our right to learn, exchange, and build with the Cuban people who live under cruel sanctions and are kept on the list of State Sponsors of Terror for no credible reason.” He added, “this historic delegation will renew the historic bonds of solidarity between people of Cuba and the United States despite Biden’s aggressive foreign policy.”
While reactionary legislators in the US want to enshrine Cuba’s membership on the politicized “State Sponsors of Terrorism” list into law, people in the US have a different view of Cuba. Cuba has slowly become more and more favorable in the eyes of the US population, with favorability climbing from 10% in 1997 to 42% in 2023. Youth especially are more likely to oppose US sanctions against Cuba. Many of the young leaders traveling to Cuba express the desire to fight the blockade against Cuba once they return home.
