Black Lives Matter, which was founded by Marxists, responded to the crisis in Cuba by blaming the United States for the suffering that the Cuban people have endured at the hands of the island’s communist dictatorship.
That statement comes after pro-democracy demonstrators waved American flags and protested for freedom over the weekend, which led the communist government to cut off internet access and crack down on those yearning to be free.
“Black Lives Matter condemns the U.S. federal government’s inhumane treatment of Cubans, and urges it to immediately lift the economic embargo,” the group claimed. “This cruel and inhumane policy, instituted with the explicit intention of destabilizing the country and undermining Cubans’ right to choose their own government, is at the heart of Cuba’s current crisis. Since 1962, the United States has forced pain and suffering on the people of Cuba by cutting off food, medicine and supplies, costing the tiny island nation an estimated $130 billion.”
“Without that money, it is harder for Cuba to acquire medical equipment needed to develop its own COVID-19 vaccines and equipment for food production. This comes in spite of the country’s strong medical care and history of lending doctors and nurses to disasters around the world,” they continued. “The people of Cuba are being punished by the U.S. government because the country has maintained its commitment to sovereignty and self-determination. United States leaders have tried to crush this Revolution for decades. Instead of international amity, respect, and goodwill, the U.S. government has only instigated suffering for the country’s 11 million people – of which 4 million are black and brown.”
“Cuba has historically demonstrated solidarity with oppressed peoples of African descent, from protecting black revolutionaries like Assata Shakur,” the group said of one of the FBI’s most wanted terrorists, “through granting her asylum, to supporting black liberation struggles in Angola, Mozambique, Guinea Bissau and South Africa. Now, we look to President Biden to end the embargo, something Barack Obama called for in 2016. This embargo is a blatant human rights violation and it must come to an end.”
Black Lives Matter faced intense backlash moments after posting the statement, including from the following notable figures:
- Dan McLaughlin: “‘Cubans’ right to choose their own government’ has nothing to do with the government that is subject to the embargo. Mozambique? A Marxist government that persecuted churches, plunged the country into a civil war & made a third of the population refugees? That Mozambique?”
- Mark Hemingway: “So how much of the American establishment last year went to bat for an organization that is quite predictably defending an oppressive communist regime? Also, contra this obscene statement, the Cuban communist regime remains actively racist.”
- Carlos Curbelo: “Deplorable this organization has chosen to stand with the oppressive dictators who have murdered and enslaved innocent Cubans of all colors since 1959. The people responsible for ALL the death and misery in Cuba are the mostly white men who @Blklivesmatter has now embraced.”
- Giancarlo Sopo: “Disgusting! Despite the Cuban dictatorship’s murdering and beating of protestors (many of them Black), BLM’s statement on Cuba….condemns the US, praises the Castro regime, and makes no mention of the atrocities being committed by the dictatorship.”
Other notable responses included:
This is inane and whoever wrote it should have to read at least one real book about the Cold War (and not one by Howard Zinn). https://t.co/9OPXU46Y6c
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) July 15, 2021
Marxist BLM standing with Cuban Marxists. Naturally. https://t.co/PN7T2uJqpg
— Rita Panahi (@RitaPanahi) July 15, 2021
Very revealing that these organizations are releasing statement openly parroting the anti-US talking points of the communist regime that the Cuban people are risking their lives protesting against. https://t.co/nthnZZPfXF
— AG (@AGHamilton29) July 15, 2021
This is a really, *really* bad take. Supporting a dictatorship is the opposite of supporting "Cubans' right to choose their own government." https://t.co/bj9VCmMbzn
— Sheena Greitens (@SheenaGreitens) July 15, 2021
Where did the millions go that BLM collected in donations last year ? https://t.co/LyU96WvQiw
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) July 15, 2021
Assata Shakur is a an FBI Most Wanted Terrorist and cop killer.
The fact that BLM continues to support her should tell you all you need to know about this horrible organization. https://t.co/Wu0ceVVdc2
— Mike Hahn (@mikehahn_) July 15, 2021
I’m shocked that the organization founded by trained Marxists has now released a statement in strong support of the genocidal Castro regime https://t.co/4FBPYNvpPy
— Jorge Bonilla (@BonillaJL) July 15, 2021
BLM supports the communist regime in Cuba, surprising no one paying attention. https://t.co/IAddndkR8h
— BDW (@BryanDeanWright) July 15, 2021
BLM has a problem with prisons. Cuba is an island-nation prison. https://t.co/aaTpGiwWhm
— Abe Greenwald (@AbeGreenwald) July 15, 2021
Horrible https://t.co/LF7tf2MrHi
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) July 15, 2021