By Deisy Francis Mexidor

Chief correspondent in the United States

“During the period, there was a strengthening of solidarity and a constant struggle for the exclusion of Cuba from the list of countries that supposedly sponsor terrorism and against the genocidal economic blockade of the United States against Cuba,” said Ambassador Lianys Torres.

Torres, head of the Cuban Mission in the United States, told Prensa Latina that collective efforts allowed the growth of this support network -which includes more than 65 organizations based here- and the incorporation of young people.

She also highlighted “the coordinated work between groups from different sectors of society (African-American, religious, cultural, sports, academic, unions, among others), expanding their reach, with strategies that allowed the voices of our people to be extended for the sovereignty and dignity of Cubans, against imperialism and genocide.”

He commented that among the most significant initiatives was the Take Cuba Off The SSOT List campaign (Remove Cuba from the List of State Sponsors of Terrorism).

Strategies were deployed that ranged from sending letters and signatures, phone calls, requests for meetings with congressmen, to public demonstrations of support for Cuba, she argued.

Social networks also became -she said- a new battlefield for friends in solidarity for the truth, against the disinformation campaigns generated by the major Western media.

Torres pointed out that in 2024 the number of delegations to Cuba increased, both from organizations and members of the different solidarity brigades that visited the country.

“Solidarity activists from the United States were the largest delegation to participate in the May Day celebrations in Cuba, as well as in other events held throughout the year in the country,” the diplomat stressed.

It is also important to highlight “the work and ties of important unions in the country with the solidarity movement. With this year’s efforts, there are more than 116 resolutions approved by organizations, city and state councils, and unions, demanding that Cuba be removed from the terrorist list,” Torres emphasized.

Given the difficult situation that Cuba is going through, solidarity groups led support campaigns at the national level to raise funds and send important donations, among which the “Saving Lives” campaign stands out, which allowed the sending of pacemakers to our country, she argued.

In addition, campaigns were carried out to send medicines, medical equipment, food, electric generators and other supplies for those affected by the weather events that hit the nation, said the representative of the Caribbean nation.

During the Annual Conference of the National Network on Cuba (NNOC, in English) in November 2024, its leadership “foreseen a year 2025 with abundant work to build more solidarity with Cuba from the United States, in order to expand its networks even more, and to integrate into international campaigns for our Homeland,” she concluded.

THE CHALLENGES AHEAD

Precisely the activist Cheryl LaBash, co-president of the NNOC, when making her evaluation of the work in the calendar that is ending, pointed out that 2025 holds a great number of challenges for both Cuba and the people of the United States.

“We have optimism, energy and determination to meet those challenges,” said LaBash, who said the fight was driven by “people who traveled to Cuba and saw there the hope of creating a better future than the one they envision for themselves in the United States.”

The list of those interested in the 2025 May Day International Brigade has already grown to more than 200, each armed with suitcases or duffel bags filled with material aid to counter the effects of the blockade, he said.

“The slow, starvation-based genocide imposed on Cuba by the United States against the will of the world is not acceptable,” LaBash said.

Diana Block, a member of NNOC in the Bay Area in San Francisco, California, praised the unit’s role in 2024. “It’s being built here among different groups in the face of this new period in which there will be a new (Donald) Trump administration with (Florida Sen.) Marco Rubio as secretary of state.”

The activist praised the role of the youth, who, above all, have taken the lead in the NNOC.

For her part, Gloria La Riva, representing the Venezuela-Cuba Solidarity Committee and the Hatuey Project, urged “to expand the work of solidarity with Cuba¨.