When Arisleydis Hidalgo Leyva talks about international solidarity, she makes it clear that Cuba is the model. Leyva is the secretary-general for the provincial division of Cuba’s National Union of Public Administration Workers (SNTAP). She joined CUPE delegates at the National Convention 2023 to share the message that worker solidarity across borders is needed more than ever.
The challenges for workers in Cuba have only grown in the face of the ongoing U.S. blockade and embargo. The U.S. has further tightened restrictions by listing Cuba as a state that sponsors terrorism. It is impossible for the country to import critical raw materials since very few countries have trade agreements with Cuba.
“Since 1961, it has been perhaps the cruellest blockade that has been imposed on any country in history. A blockade that has had not only an economic impact on Cuba, which is its main intention, but that has also become a social blockade, because the economic limitations impose a very difficult social and political dynamic,” says Leyva. “It has prevented us from advancing the way we would have liked. And it has had a very strong impact on the labour movement and on workers.”
Cuban workers are experiencing important drawbacks in an economy without credit, without financing, without raw materials, and with limited means of protection, restricted food sources and a poor quality of life.
But workers are finding creative ways to survive and thrive despite the obstacles, while also continuing to mobilize, organize, and build international solidarity. “Cuba is not going to surrender, it has never surrendered, and the labour movement even less so. The workers have their constitutional recognition, and we will keep resisting stoically,” Leyva says.
SNTAP, a big tent union made up of a range of public sector workers, “is the first union founded by Fidel Castro and labour leader Lázaro Peña with the triumph of the revolution,” Leyva explains. The union keeps the example of Cuba’s long history in mind – a history of supporting resistance movements around the world as well as sending Cuban doctors or teachers to countries in need.
“International solidarity, especially for us in Cuba, has been vital to be able to resist – whether it is receiving solidarity from anyone who agrees with our cause and supports us, or solidarity that we have offered to the world,” emphasizes Leyva.
“Solidarity is an important element that has distinguished the Cuban revolutionary process promoted by Fidel, not with the objective of expecting people to think and carry out a social project like ours, but rather to demonstrate to the world that, from our social perspective, we can have a better world.”
SNTAP’s leadership training recognizes that rank-and-file members are the key to progress, locally and internationally. CUPE is proud to play a crucial role in this work, providing resources such as SNTAP’s training room in Havana, basic equipment like printers, and even a car to do union work.
According to Leyva, this collaboration is one of mutual respect and she hopes this partnership continues long into the future.
“CUPE has always shown support for us, and thanks to this gesture of solidarity, we have managed to advance further as a union,” she says, reminding us that real solidarity always goes both ways, strengthens us all, and needs to be enduring.
