Veterans For Peace has issued a strong condemnation of Marco Rubio’s McCarthyite report, Cuba, the Capital of 21st Century Communism, which was released by the State Department on July 20. The 100-page document charges Cuba with interfering in the internal affairs of the United States, while accusing U.S. peace and solidarity activists of being foreign agents of Cuba.
“Talk about turning things on their head,” responded Veterans For Peace. “It is the U.S. that has waged an economic war against Cuba for 64 years with a blockade that prevents it from normal trade relations with the U.S. and other countries, stunts its economic development, and denies it access to medicines and other essentials.
“It is the U.S. CIA that organized a failed Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba in 1961, setting the stage for the 1962 Cuban missile crisis that almost led to a nuclear war. It is the U.S. that is currently enforcing a deadly oil embargo on Cuba, and it is the U.S. president and secretary of state who are openly threatening a U.S. military invasion of Cuba. What has Cuba ever done to the U.S.? Cuba is being punished for declaring its independence from U.S. imperialism and for attempting to develop a socialist economic model that is not based on exploitation and profiteering.
“We reject the Trump administration’s sudden return to “anti-communism” as a means of undermining the credibility of its political opponents — whether from the Democratic Party or actual left-wing organizations. If this is an attempt to intimidate those who are organizing for a just and peaceful world, it will not work. We will not be intimidated. If Trump’s and Rubio’s sudden obsession with “communists” and “political terrorists” is telegraphing their intention for a clampdown on dissent in the U.S., we take this very seriously.
“As veterans and active duty military, we swore an oath to “defend the U.S. Constitution from all enemies, foreign and domestic.” We take this oath very seriously — more so than ever as the domestic enemies of our democracy ominously rear their ugly heads. We will resist.
“Veterans For Peace will not be intimidated. We stand in solidarity with Cuba and with all those who struggle for human rights and democracy in the U.S. We will support active-duty military members who refuse to participate in an illegal invasion of Cuba. We also encourage service members to refuse illegal orders to support racist ICE raids or to suppress our First Amendment rights to freedom of speech and assembly in the U.S.”
Veterans For Peace calls for an end to the 64-year-old US blockade of Cuba, and end to threats against dissent in the U.S., for the abolition of ICE and the release of all who are being held in ICE prisons.
