i accuse! Open Letter to the World from the Island of Cuba

To all humanity, to mothers of the world, to Doctors Without Borders, to journalists with self-respect, to governments that still want justice: I condemn the crime they don’t want to see.

My name is like millions of others – no famous last name, no important position. I am an ordinary Cuban woman – a daughter, a sister, a patriot. I write this with a broken heart and trembling hands. What my people go through today is not a crisis. It is slow, calculated murder, coldly executed from Washington. And the world looks the other way.

Condemnation FOR MY GRANDPARENTS:

I accuse! In Cuba elderly people die early. The blockade keeps out medicines for heart disease, high blood pressure, and diabetes. There’s no lack of resources. There is deliberate prohibition. Companies that would sell to Cuba are fined, persecuted, threatened. Their governments stay silent. All the while, a Cuban grandfather clutches his chest and waits. Death comes with no warning – not so with the blockade.

Condemnation FOR MY CHILDREN:

I accuse! Incubators in Cuba have to be turned off because there is no fuel. Newborns have been fighting for their lives while the U.S. government decided which countries would sell us oil and which would not – [and now decides that no country sells oil to Cuba.] Cuban mothers see their children’s lives put in danger because an order signed in an office in Washington is worth more than the cry of a baby 90 miles from US shores.

Where is the international community? Where are the organizations that defend children so strongly? Or, do they think Cuban children do not deserve to live?

Condemnation OF INTENTIONAL HUNGER

Hunger in Cuba is no accident. It’s a policy of the United States government, fine-tuned over 60 years, updated by each administration, worsened by Donald Trump, and viciously executed by Marco Rubio. They call this “economic pressure.” I call it terrorism through hunger.

Condemnation FOR MY DOCTORS:

I accuse! Our doctors, the very ones who saved lives during the pandemic while the whole world was collapsing, today have no syringes, no anesthesia, no X-ray equipment. Not because we don’t know how to produce them. Not because we don’t have the talent. But because of the blockade, we have no access to supplies, spare parts, and technology. Our scientists created five vaccines against COVID-19. Five! With no help from anyone. Against all odds. Against the blockade and lies. Even so, the empire punishes us for the achievement.

TO THE WORLD I SAY:

Cuba does not ask you for hand-outs, does not ask you for soldiers, does not ask you to love us. Cuba asks you for justice, nothing more, nothing less. I ask you to stop normalizing the suffering of my people.

I ask you to call the blockade by its name – A CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY. I ask you to not be fooled by the story of “dialogue” and “democracy” while they squeeze our necks. We don’t want charity. We want you to LET US LIVE.

To complicit governments that remain silent: History will make you pay. To the lying media, Truth always finds cracks to get in. To the executioners who sign sanctions, We Cubans do not forget and do not forgive. To those who in their hearts still have regard for humanity: Look at Cuba. See what they are doing to us. Ask yourselves: “Which side of history do you want to be on?”

From this small island, with a giant people, and from an ordinary Cuban woman who does not surrender: IF THESE WORDS MOVE YOU FROM THE HEART, PASS THEM ON. It makes no difference if you have 10 friends or 10,000 followers, no difference if your barricade is public or private, no difference if you never share anything.

This is different. This is not a photo of a sunset, not entertainment news, not just another opinion. This is a cry-out and cries are never quiet. They are HEARD. They are PASSED ON. They BECOME A CROWD. I don’t ask you today for a “like.” I ask you to use your thumbs for something bigger than scrolling down your screen.

SHARE, so that mothers everywhere know that there are babies here fighting for their lives in incubators that have been turned off – because of the blockade. So that grandparents everywhere know that there are older people here dying while waiting for the medicines Washington won’t allow.

So that complicit governments feel the shame. So that the lying media can’t escape. So that the executioners know. WE WILL NOT BE SILENCED.

One single person sharing this does not change the world. Thousands, millions, YES! Don’t keep these words to yourself. Don’t be silent, and complicit. SEND OUT THIS CONDEMNATION – OUT BEYOND THE BLOCKADE! SHARE NOW!

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