Cuba: president leads Palestine solidarity march

Thousands of Cubans took to the streets of Havana on Monday in solidarity with the Palestinian people, and condemned the ongoing Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip and Lebanon. The protest march was led by Cuba’s President Miguel Diaz-Canel, along with a number of ministers, party leaders and organisations. Palestinian medical students hosted by the Cuban government also participated in the march, reported Quds Press.

The Cuban presidency’s official X account published photos of the march showing President Diaz-Canel wearing the Palestinian keffiyeh. The large banner at the front of the march read “Long Live Free Palestine”.

“For the more than 16,000 children killed in Gaza, for the more than 11,000 women killed; also for the Lebanese people who have resisted in support of their neighbour and are today under Zionist missiles… Cuba is organising its march today,” tweeted the presidency. “In front of the Embassy of the United States, the country that supplies Israel with weapons to kill innocent people, Cubans demand an immediate end to the war.”

The secretary of the National Committee of the Young Communist League, Meyvis Estevez Echevarria, said: “Cuban youth will continue to follow the principle of not forgetting the heroism of those who were attacked or the barbarity of the aggressors. We affirm that Palestine is not alone.”

Palestinian student Mohammed Sawan pointed out that a whole year has passed during which Gaza has not enjoyed a single day of peace or calm. “Moreover, our people in the West Bank are suffering daily attacks, while the world remains paralysed and unable to stop this tragedy.”

During his speech at the march, on the Anti-Imperialist Platform directly opposite the US Embassy, Sawan expressed his gratitude to Cuba for its “firm position” in favour of Palestine.

“We are here to support the just demands of the Palestinian people, for their sovereignty and freedom, and to stand against the genocide campaign carried out by Israel against the Palestinian people,” added Michel Marino, a Cuban student of international relations.

The march was scheduled to be held on 7 October, but it was postponed due to Hurricane Milton which caused flooding in the Cuban capital, Havana, where it was scheduled.

In June, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parilla announced that his country would join South Africa in its lawsuit against Israel before the International Court of Justice. The Foreign Ministry stressed that, “Cuba will use its right to present, as a third country, its interpretation of the rules of the Convention that Israel has flagrantly violated through its actions in the illegally occupied Palestinian territories in Gaza.”

READ: Latin American presidents use UN platform to call for end to Gaza genocide