Published 27/02/2025 12:19
More than 50,000 Cubans gathered on Wednesday (26) in the city of Guantanamo, in the southeast of the country, to denounce the sending of mass immigrants to the US naval base in the Cuban territory. The demonstration reaffirmed the demand for the return of the US -occupied area over a century ago and repudiated the hostile policies of Donald Trump’s government against Cuba.
The protest was attended by President Miguel Díaz-Canel, the Secretary of Organization of the Central Committee of the Communist Party, Roberto Morales Ojeda, and the Division General Samuel Rodiles Plana, hero of the Republic of Cuba.
“Once again, we required, energetic and fairly, the return of the territory that the US maintains illegal and immorally in Guantanamo,” said Diaz-Canel. “If we have to fight for a hundred years, we’ll fight,” he said as he recalled a historical statement by Fidel Castro.
At the event, the Cuban authorities warned that the White House decision can generate instability in the region, endangering the sovereignty and safety of the country.
Yoel Pérez García, the first secretary of the Communist Party in Alto East, emphasized that Cuba will be responsible for the US for any incident resulting from the forced transfer of migrants to Guantanamo. “This arbitrary measure can create a scenario of risk and insecurity, paying against peace in the territory that Americans insist on occupying illegally,” he said.
“Cuba Sovereign will hold Donald Trump to any error or incident that threatens the stability of the territory,” Pérez said.
Denunciation of Trump’s migratory policy
The measure announced by Washington provides for the transfer of up to 30,000 migrants to the military base, under the justification that they pose a risk to US safety. Cuba denounces that the decision transforms Guantanamo into a forced exile field, further aggravating the US military occupation on the island.
At the time, representatives of Cuban civil society highlighted the history of US aggression against the country, including terrorist attacks funded by Washington and the hardening of economic blockade. Miladis Losas Preval, whose family was the victim of one of these attacks, asked, “How do those who attack us with terror dare to call us terrorists?”
Journalism student Ana Laura Campello Pérez, who has been in the Border Brigade, recalled that Cubans have been rejecting the US presence in Guantanamo for 122 years. “We demand the return of this land that belongs to us and whose illegal occupation is repudiated by all generations,” he said.
Context: Trump’s siege against Cuba
Since his reelection, Donald Trump has intensified coercive measures against Cuba, resuming sanctions from the Bush era and his first term. The economic blockade imposed by Washington follows as one of the main obstacles to Cuban development, making it difficult to import medical inputs, the sale of products in the foreign market and even access to hospital oxygen during Covid-19 pandemic.
The US military presence in Guantanamo dates back to 1903, when the area was ceded under heavy pressure from Washington. Since then, the Cuban government has required the return of the territory, denouncing its use as military prison and torture center by the Americans.
Tuesday’s demonstration adds to last December protests, when more than 700,000 Cubans marched in Havana and other cities against Trump’s aggressive policy.
Cuba reaffirms struggle for sovereignty
President Miguel Díaz-Canel has stated that Cuban resistance will remain firm against any attempt to violate national sovereignty. “If we have to fight for a hundred years, we will fight,” he said, quoting words from Fidel Castro.
The demonstration also had cultural presentations that reaffirmed the historical commitment of the Cuban people to the anti-imperialist struggle. Among the artistic manifestations, verse sung by sudden remembered: “We are anti-imperialists / since the times of Martí / because we Cubans have / genes of independence.”
The Cuban government will continue to denounce Trump measures in international organizations and reinforcing the request for the end of the occupation of Guantanamo. For experts, White House policy can intensify tensions in Latin America and deepen US isolation in the region.
Source: vermelho.org.br
