The World Divide: Consumerism versus Rational Living. 

 Cuba's Life Task: Combatting Climate Change

This past Tuesday we attended a viewing of the film Cuba’s Life Task: Combatting Climate Change, a film documenting the visit of Dr. Helen Yaffe to Cuba and exploring “Tarea Vida” (Life Task).  The film explains well how Cubans work at protecting their population and their environment based on environmental science and with a focus on natural available solutions and community participation. Cuba, an island country in the Caribbean, is particularly vulnerable to climate change.

The film is easy to see and shows the challenges Cubans face in implementing their plan, in particular because of the limited economic resources of the Cuban government. It also shows challenges individuals face, those currently living in endangered coastal areas will eventually have to leave.  They hope to be able to remain in their homes despite increasing sea level rise and flooding. It is obvious to us, watching the film, that they will have no option but to move inland, but we can understand their pain and solidarize with them in their wish to remain close to the sea.  

What emerged from the film...

At some point during the film I became emotional just thinking about the challenges Cubans face and have been facing for more than 60 years now because of the United States blockade. We are just humans and weary to focus on the terrible limitations the blockade imposes on daily life, we do not live in Cuba so we put this on a shelf, I guess.  

But the film confronts us with the limitations Cubans suffer and it is obviously criminal. Cubans face this everyday and they suffer it with their children and families. In the face of the blockade their  determination to remain sovereign and defend their project becomes heroic, immense -it has no equal in Latin America. It can make people in our continent proud of Cubans, just thinking how unique they are. 

The blockade is cruel, criminal. It uses an almost "legalistic" action in violation of the soul of all Law. It shows perfectly well the cruelty and criminality of the US empire with Cuba, and it tells us also about the empire's capacity for causing pain to other peoples and other countries -think Venezuela if you want. The Empire in Cuba is setting an example to all of us. The crime of Cuba is defending its right to be, to choose how to live. Cuba has been repeatedly tested throughout the years, and despite the proven support of most nations of the world -who are naturally against the criminal blockade, not much has changed. 

Empires -like billionaires, do not doubt about destroying those who stand in their way. The world, unfortunately, seems unable to stand to either, it fails to protect the brave peoples who confront them and choose to defend their right to be, their dignity to be. In this struggle, Cuban determination to live free from outside rule emerges together, at the same time, with the cruel and evil nature of the US Empire.

It cannot be surprising, given the Cuban experience, that Cubans solidarize with Palestinians. There is much about Cuba that reminds us of Palestine and vice-versa. My own experience in seeing Palestinians killed in Gaza tells me this, it was the first thought I have: this is like Cuba. Understanding Cuba and the challenges Cubans face made it impossible for me to ignore the plea of Palestinians assaulted in front of cameras, civilians all, women, men, children killed and tortured. The UN’s special rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Francesca Albanese, became my hero: she told truth to power (in spite of many threats I imagine).  Most people of the world understand what is taking place and want to stop the Gaza Strip crimes for good, not just for appearances sake. In the same manner many people of the world want to stop the US blockade against Cuba. I also believe that it is not by chance that Cubans and Gazans face such dehumanizing treatment at the hands of the Empire. These are racial crimes against Palestinians and Cubans as they are obviously peoples of color. 

More to the point, if today the Caribbean is a central region of the world severely affected by extremely destructive storms made worse by climate change resulting from the unlimited consumption of the richer million, this is also not by chance. Historically the Caribbean was the center of the Atlantic Slave Trade enriching through sordid human traffic many European countries who are today among that richer million. 

Together we need to fight all dehumanizing practices -ethnic cleansing, crimes against humanity, blockades extorting vulnerable countries in the world. We need to support those affected by climate change because they are not necessarily responsible for their situation as they are not the ones emitting greenhouse gases. In the case of Cuba we need to ensure the United States ends the Blockade. We need to isolate the US so it learns how it feels. The US has to remove its knee from the neck of Cuba.     

Nora Fernandez, NSCUBA (Nova Scotia)

What Is Climate Change?

Climate change refers to long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns that are no longer just natural (due to changes in the sun’s activity or large volcanic eruptions). Since the 1800s human activities that burn fossil fuels (coal, oil, gas) have become the main cause of climate change. Burning fossil fuels generates greenhouse gas emissions and these gasses (carbon dioxide and methane) act like a blanket wrapped around the Earth, trapping the sun’s heat and raising temperatures. (1)

These emissions are connected to the way we live: burning gasoline to drive a car or burning coal to heat a building. Clearing land and cutting down forests also release carbon dioxide. Agriculture and oil and gas operations are major sources of methane emissions. Energy, industry, transport, buildings, agriculture and land use are among the main sectors causing greenhouse gases. We humans are responsible for global warming. Climate scientists have shown that humans are responsible for virtually all global heating over the last 200 years. The average temperature of the Earth’s surface is now between 1.3 and 1.4 degrees Celsius warmer than prior to the late 1800s (before the industrial revolution) and warmer than any time in the last 100 000 years. The last decade (2015-2024) was the warmest on record. Many people believe climate change is mainly about warmer temperatures. Well, it is much more as temperature rises it affects the entire Earth system. Climate change means: intense droughts, water scarcity, severe fires, rising sea levels, flooding, melting polar ice, catastrophic storms and declining biodiversity. It can affect our health, ability to grow food, housing, safety and work. People living in small island nations, like Cuba (and other developing nations) are more vulnerable and have less means to deal with it. In the future the number of people displaced by weather-related events will rise. Famine is a risk.  

The emissions that cause climate change come from every part of the world and affect everyone. However, some countries produce more emissions than others. Cuba implements its “Tarea Vida” but needs the world to radically reduce emissions. In 2023 China, the US, India, the EU, the Russian Federation and Brazil accounted together for more than half global greenhouse gas emissions. But the 45 least developed countries accounted for only 3 percent of them. Cuba is among these last countries but as an island nation it is  very vulnerable to the effects of climate change. Everyone must take climate action, but people and countries creating more of the problem have a greater responsibility to act first. It will mean to switch energy systems (from fossil fuels to renewables) but it will also mean  changing the way we live: consuming less.

NSCUBA

(1) https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/what-is-climate-change

 

URGENT: Canadian Network on Cuba is collecting funds to help Cubans deal with the devastation caused by Hurricane Melissa.

Faced with the US blockade, Cuba is in urgent need of material assistance and solidarity.

How you can donate:

E-transfer to donate@candiannetworkoncuba.ca

In the message section, please indicate what donation is for (Hurricane Relief), your first and last name, and your email address.

Cheques payable to

Canadian Network on Cuba

PO Box 99051 - 1245 Dupont St.

Toronto, ON

M6H 4H7

Every dollar provides critical aid to help Cuba recover.

https://canadiannetworkoncuba.ca/2025/10/27/hurrican-melissa-relief/

"The blockade is a policy of collective punishment," he describes as an act of genocide

The strategic purpose of the blockade is to provoke social unrest that will lead to the overthrow of the constitutional order that we Cubans have freely decided on in several referendums  

Author: Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla | internet@granma.cu

October 29, 2025 15:10:13

Photo: @CubaMINREX

Speech by Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Cuba, at the presentation of Draft Resolution A/80/L.X, entitled "Necessity of ending the economic, commercial, and financial blockade imposed by the United States of America against Cuba." New York, October 29th, 2025

Madam President:

I express my deepest condolences and solidarity to the governments and peoples of Jamaica, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic, who have suffered loss of life due to Hurricane Melissa. Also to Panama, which has suffered some losses due to heavy rains, and our best wishes to the Bahamas and Bermuda.

I speak on behalf of a people who are currently facing a monstrous hurricane with scarce resources, relying almost solely on their will, unity, and solidarity. As the leader of the Cuban Revolution, Raúl Castro Ruz, said last night, and I quote: "...we will also emerge victorious from this new challenge."

We have heard the infamous, threatening, arrogant, deceitful, and cynical speech by the new Permanent Representative of the United States, who is not in the room. We expected this, knowing where this character comes from and his murky links to the Secretary of State, the military contractor mafias, and the political clique in Miami.

Yesterday, from this podium, he said he was going to refer to facts, but he did just the opposite. I will only recall what he seems to ignore despite his responsibilities, or worse, what he perhaps distorts with a mendacious spirit: His country's laws and regulations on economic aggression against Cuba are unambiguous in terms of actions and ambitions. They openly declare in law the goal of restricting Cuba's trade, investment, and credit relations with all countries. They also establish, in the body of the law, the obligation of U.S. diplomats to comply with that mandate in their contacts with officials of the governments you represent.

I would recommend that my colleagues in the United States read Title I and Title III of the Helms-Burton Act and the content of the Torricelli Act.

The actions speak for themselves, and I will refer to them clearly. This Assembly will be able to determine for itself, as it has done for 33 years, whether or not we are facing an economic blockade.

In recent weeks, the State Department has deployed unprecedented and brutal pressure, intimidation, and toxicity on a global scale to force sovereign states to change their vote on the resolution we will adopt today. They have used all their weapons and tricks, especially coercion.

But truth, law, reason, and justice are always more powerful and compelling.

It cannot be hidden that, by virtue of the criminal policy of the United States government against Cuba, my country is viciously deprived, in every corner of the world, of the use of banking systems to make collections and payments.

It is deprived of access to sources of current financing; investment capital; remittances; technology for industry, food production, infrastructure, scientific development, and services, including the most sensitive ones, such as health care.

The strategic purpose of the blockade is to provoke a social explosion that will lead to the overthrow of the constitutional order that we Cubans have freely decided upon in several referendums.

The Secretary of State is the evil, corrupt, and fraudulent reincarnation of Mallory, and the Permanent Representative has become his spokesperson. As is well known, the impact of this type of aggression is not only economic. It is applied by design, with cold premeditation regarding its social and humanitarian impact on millions of people.

In Cuba, for example, in recent years, and I say this with regret, there has been a deterioration in some health indicators which, although still outstanding for a developing country and comparable to those of industrialized countries, are now lower than the rates that our country was able to progressively achieve.

One example is infant mortality, which, after consecutive years with rates below 5 per 1,000 births, stands at 8.5 in the first half of this year.

One would have to lie, as the Permanent Representative of the United States has done, to separate that result from the impact that the economic blockade has on the sustainability of the health system, just as one cannot separate from it the rates of life expectancy, maternal mortality, or the availability of highly subsidized medicines for the population.

Between March 1st, 2024, and February 28th of this year alone, the blockade caused Cuba some $7.5561 billion in material damages. This impact is similar to the nominal gross domestic product of at least 30 countries represented here, according to World Bank data.

But the damage caused by the blockade is not only expressed in numbers and material losses, but also in the daily lives of our compatriots. No person, family, or sector escapes its daily and devastating effects.

Dailiannis, a 29-year-old Cuban woman with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, which can be life-threatening, requires the implantation of an automatic defibrillator that Cuba does not have access to. Dailiannis and many other Cuban patients with similar conditions are waiting for this type of implant.

Six-year-old Abdiel needs hip surgery that requires a bone graft. This tissue is produced at the Frank País Hospital Tissue Bank, but the essential freeze-drying process has been halted due to the lack of a sensor. It has not been possible to purchase it, even though the money to pay for it is available, because the companies that supply it, in view of the blockade against Cuba, refuse to sell it in accordance with normal commercial practices.

This is not collateral damage. These are not isolated cases. They are everyday experiences. These are innocent human beings who are suffering.

The creativity of our institutions and the professionals who work in them is extraordinary and highly commendable, but it is impossible to calculate the anguish this causes Cuban families, or the strain it places on the public health system, not being able to count on these medicines or medical supplies when they are needed.

An essential part of the intensification of the blockade since 2019 has been the increased persecution of fuel supply operations, including shipping companies, insurance companies, banks, and governments, which has led to a reduction in suppliers and an exponential increase in prices for Cuba.

Power outages are now one of the most visible and painful impacts of the economic blockade in Cuba, with a daily effect on families that is sometimes desperate. It has an impact on other sectors, such as water supply, production processes, services, and the economy as a whole, all of which weigh heavily on the population.

A few months ago, a corporation and a friendly government declared it impossible to supply a spare part and mere technical assistance to repair a Cuban thermoelectric plant in the face of the threat of U.S. sanctions.

Another vital sector of the economy that has been particularly hard hit is tourism. Today, citizens of more than 40 countries are being intimidated with threats of reprisals by the U.S. government and denial of access to the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) if they decide to visit Cuba in the exercise of their basic rights.

The U.S. government not only deprives its own citizens of the right to travel to Cuba, but also seeks and succeeds in coercively depriving citizens of other countries that are not under its jurisdiction, especially European citizens.

One of the measures that has the greatest impact is the unjustifiable presence of Cuba on the unilateral and arbitrary list published by the U.S. government of countries that allegedly sponsor terrorism.

Cuba is a victim of terrorism. We have demonstrated this before in this Assembly. For years, and even today, terrorist acts against the country are organized and financed from U.S. territory. Recognized perpetrators of horrific acts of aggression against the Cuban people, resulting in thousands of deaths, mutilations, and extensive material damage, live here peacefully and with absolute impunity. In 2023, we provided the U.S. government with the names and details of 62 terrorists and 20 terrorist organizations operating against Cuba from this country, and they have done nothing to date.

The economic war includes a comprehensive destabilization program, which I am denouncing for the first time. It includes a comprehensive destabilization program organized, financed, and executed directly by the U.S. government, using Cuban-born operators based in this and other countries.

Their mission, their task, is to depress the income level of the population through speculative manipulation of the currency exchange rate, with a direct effect on price growth, the spread of intimidating and alarmist messages on social media, and thus the alteration of the natural behavior of the market. The effect is severe damage to the income of every Cuban and additional obstacles to macroeconomic stabilization programs.

This involves the laundering of money from the U.S. federal budget using funds allocated by the U.S. Congress and used by the State Department, non-governmental organizations, and contractors who channel it.

Our government has irrefutable evidence of these operations, with data, names, contacts, communications, and the direct involvement of the U.S. government and its diplomats. This is a criminal activity under international law, Cuban law, and even U.S. law.

The United States has tried to sell the idea that the blockade is a justification used by the Cuban government to hide its inefficiencies or the failures of its development model.

This political campaign is supported by a communications and digital operation that, through toxic disinformation, euphemisms, selective silences, and coordinated saturation of messages, seeks to instill the perception that the blockade does not exist or does not affect the population.

The U.S. government not only attempts to deny or minimize the effect of the blockade, but also penalizes those who document its effects, resorting to smear campaigns, cyber troops paid for with "regime change" funds, and algorithmic censorship by its own technology platforms with regard to Cuban national content.

Anyone who denies that, without the blockade, Cuba's economic problems would have a better and quicker solution is lying and will continue to lie.

In fact, the very promoters of the blockade and maximum pressure policy boast of its destructive effect and its ability to undermine the standard of living of an entire people. Review the statements of the U.S. Secretary of State and the politicians who have made their careers and fortunes by attacking Cuba.

If the U.S. government has even the slightest concern for "helping the Cuban people," it should suspend or make humanitarian exceptions to the blockade in light of the damage that Hurricane Melissa will cause and is already causing.

Cuba is a peaceful country. No one in their right mind and with a modicum of honesty can claim that Cuba represents or intends to represent a threat to the national security of the United States, a great power, and to the well-being of the American people.

Which country has military forces deployed in an aggressive, extraordinary, and unjustified manner in the Caribbean Sea while we deliberate here? Which one threatens the peace, security, and stability of the region, and in particular the peace and right to self-determination of the brotherly Venezuelan people? Which one has adopted the criminal practice of committing murders on the high seas or within the territorial waters of other countries at the hands of its armed forces, as is happening today in the Caribbean or the Pacific? Which one has our region full of military bases? Who openly articulates aggressive plans for subversion and regime change against progressive governments? Which government is the direct accomplice, supplying weapons and financing for the genocide in Gaza?

If the U.S. government wishes to contribute to peace in "Our America," it should withdraw the military threat and agree to a civilized dialogue, without preconditions or impositions, with Venezuela, Colombia, Nicaragua, Cuba, and all those with whom it has differences, and collectively with the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States.      

The blockade is a policy of collective punishment. It qualifies as an act of genocide. It flagrantly, massively, and systematically violates the human rights of Cubans. It does not distinguish between social sectors or economic actors.

I am deeply grateful to those who, in this debate and in the high-level segment of the 80th session of the General Assembly, raised their voices to call for an end to the blockade and the removal of our country from the infamous list of state sponsors of terrorism.

I also thank the regional and consultative groups that, throughout the year, have made strong statements on this issue; the numerous organizations and movements in solidarity with Cuba around the world; and the Americans who advocate for a relationship based on respect and sovereign equality between our two countries.

I acknowledge the expressions of Cubans in the United States and around the world who, with their statements and their solidarity and patriotic actions, oppose and fight against the blockade.

Cuba will not give up.

We will persist in denouncing this infamy and abuse. We will exercise with determination our right to decide our destiny. We will continue our efforts to overcome our current difficulties and ensure the economic sustainability of the country, even with the continuation or even further strengthening of the blockade.

With José Martí, our people reaffirm today that "...before giving up on the effort to make the homeland prosperous and free, the southern sea will first join the northern sea and a snake will be born from an eagle's egg."

And from Antonio Maceo: "Whoever tries to take Cuba will gather the dust of its soil soaked in blood, if he does not perish in the struggle."

And with Fidel Castro Ruz, we exclaim once again: Homeland or Death, We Shall Overcome.

Madam President:

On behalf of the noble and supportive Cuban people, who for decades have been writing an admirable story of patriotism, justice, resistance, creativity, and sacrifice, I respectfully request that Member States vote in favor of draft resolution A/80/L.6, entitled "Necessity of ending the economic, commercial, and financial embargo imposed by the United States of America against Cuba."

It will be, distinguished Ambassadors, distinguished delegates, an act of justice in favor of a peaceful people who today face, like the blockade, another monstrous hurricane.

Thank you very much.

(Transcription from Cubaminrex)