January 1 marked the 66th anniversary of the triumph of the Cuban Revolution. Socialist Cuba is under relentless economic attack by the US blockade which was intensified under the Trump and Biden administrations. The South African Communist Party (SACP) and Communist Party of Turkey (TKP) have released New Year statements in solidarity with the Cuban Revolution and people.
Wednesday, 1 January 2025: On this historic day, as we mark the 66th anniversary of the triumph of the Cuban Revolution on 1 January 1959, we extend revolutionary greetings from South Africa. For over six decades, the revolutionary people and government of Cuba have courageously resisted the United States’ imperialist aggression, destabilisation and regime change agendas.
The South African Communist Party (SACP) expresses its unequivocal support for, and solidarity with the people and government of Cuba in defence of their independence, their sovereign right to choose a path of transformation and development they have determined themselves, and their resistance against all forms of imperialist aggression, subjugation, domination and exploitation.
The SACP reiterates its firm and unequivocal demands for the following:
The immediate and unconditional end to the United States regime’s criminal, illegal and inhuman blockade of Cuba.
The termination of the United States regime’s foreign occupation of Cuba’s Guantanamo Bay.
The removal of Cuba by the United States regime from its so-called list of “countries sponsoring terrorism.”
The inclusion of Cuba on the list serves as a pretext for the over 60 years of imperialist aggression against, destabilisation of, and attempts at regime change in Cuba by the imperialist regime of the United States. The list is drawn up by the United States government unilaterally, without any international mandate or recognition.
The SACP takes this opportunity to remind all in our country and across the world. On 30 October 2024, the United Nations General Assembly, once again, voted for an end to the United States’ economic, commercial and financial blockade of Cuba. This marked the 32nd consecutive year that the global community has overwhelmingly denounced these imperialist measures.
The United Nations resolution for an end to the United States’ economic, commercial and financial blockade of Cuba was adopted with 187 votes in favour, exposing the isolation of the apartheid Israeli settler regime and the imperialist United States as the only opposing votes, with Moldova abstaining. This glaring disregard for global consensus underscores the United States’ imperialist contempt for international democracy and multilateralism.
The United Nations resolution reaffirmed the principles of sovereign equality, non-intervention and non-interference in the internal affairs of one state by another. It further reiterated the obligations of all nation states under the United Nations Charter and international law to refrain from adopting or enforcing coercive measures that undermine the freedom of trade and navigation.
Cuba’s international solidarity includes, but is not limited to, long-standing active support for other nations’ fundamental right to self-determination, and international solidarity provision of healthcare and education, among others. The Cuban people have realised significant social advances in these and other areas of human development on the domestic front themselves, with outcomes including long life expectancy and high education levels. They have achieved all these despite severe aggression from the imperialist regime of the United States.
For many around the world, including ourselves, the anti-imperialist Cuban government and people stand as a beacon for socialist construction.
The Cuban people’s commitment to socialist transformation and development, to build a society in which no person exploits another, and to internationalism and the struggle for human dignity, continues to inspire the oppressed and working-class people across the globe.
We call upon all peace-loving people, all revolutionary and all progressive forces worldwide to unite against the continued imperialist hostility directed at Cuba. Together, let us strengthen the demand for an end to the blockade, the return of Guantanamo Bay to its rightful sovereign, and an end to all other forms of attacks.
To the Cuban people and government, the SACP says:
“Your steadfast resilience in the face of imperialist aggression and economic blockades remains a beacon of hope for all across the world who seek justice, equality, self-determination, complete emancipation and freedom from imperialist domination and exploitation.”
As we celebrate this milestone, the 66th anniversary of the Cuban Revolution, we reaffirm our deep gratitude for Cuba’s consistent solidarity with Africa, from the battlefields of liberation to Cuba’s ongoing contributions in healthcare, education and other development areas.
The ideals of the Cuban Revolution’s self-determination, equality and international solidarity resonate profoundly with the principles of our own struggles to defend, deepen and complete the South African National Democratic Revolution and advance a complete socialist transition, transformation and development.
Together, let us continue to strengthen the bonds of friendship and co-operation in pursuit of a world free from exploitation and oppression.
Victory to the Cuban people! Victory to international solidarity!
Viva Cuba! Viva Socialism!
Fidel said: “Revolution is the sense of the historical moment.”
Cuban revolutionaries have always felt with great consciousness and determination the tasks imposed on them by the different historical moments they have gone through.
That consciousness and determination gave strength to Cuban revolutionaries when they rolled up their sleeves to create an independent country and an equal, free and honorable people from the legacy of five hundred years of colonialism, and when they raised the flag of revolution in the name of all humanity in that dark period when the socialist bloc collapsed.
It is the same sense of the historical moment that allowed them to take the revolution to its 66th year with firm will, diligence, unity and solidarity despite the economic problems created by the attack of the blockade, which has reached incredible dimensions in recent years.
Salute to the revolutionary leadership of Cuba, to the Cuban revolutionaries who “do not lose sleep” over the difficulties of the day and face with courage and optimism the responsibilities imposed by history!
Salute to the combatant Cuban people who do not lose their joy and determination in the face of the difficulties that the blockade makes them feel day after day, and who in hundreds of thousands pounded at the doors of the US embassy!
In the ongoing revolutionary struggle of the Cuban people and its leading force, the Communist Party of Cuba, the position of the Communist Party of Turkey is clear: the struggle and solidarity will not stop until Cuba is removed from the fabricated list of “states sponsoring terrorism” and the blockade is ended!
Long live the Cuban Revolution!
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