The 53rd Venceremos Brigade brought together 37 African, Indigenous, and Palestinian organizers to study the Cuban revolution and build solidarity across national liberation movements. This report covers the political preparation, the sub-brigade structure, and the lessons that grounded the contingent before and during their time on the island. . . .
Venceremos Brigade
How Being in Cuba Shifted My Understanding of U.S. Imperialism
Being in Cuba shifted everything I thought I knew. I saw the cruelty of the U.S. blockade firsthand: trash piling up, days without power, people who can’t flush toilet paper because of our government. But I also saw something I didn’t expect: Cuban people who don’t hate Americans. They know who their enemy is, and it’s not us. Now I carry the responsibility to tell the truth about Cuba. . . .
Venceremos Brigade: Cuba Is Not A State Sponsor of Terrorism!
As the conditions of fascism continue to intensify within the United States, we implore all people of conscience to rise up together and resist the inhumane policies of the US government. Let us strengthen movements for justice in the US through exchange and collaboration with Cuba. Let us join organizations fighting for justice. Let us build together. . . .
Reflections From the 51st Venceremos Brigade
The first Venceremos Brigade came to Cuba in 1969, just ten years after the triumph of the Cuban revolution, making the VB the oldest Cuba solidarity group in the world. The Venceremos Brigade started when a group of young people living in the US offered to send doctors, lawyers, and teachers in support of the Cuban revolution and to protest US policy against Cuba. In response, Cuban revolutionary Fidel Castro explained that Cuba didn’t need doctors, lawyers, or teachers from the US – they had their own. What Cuba needed was help harvesting sugar cane. And so the Venceremos Brigade . . .
The Venceremos Brigade & the Necessity of Solidarity with Cuba
The Venceremos Brigade (VB) is the youngest and oldest Cuba solidarity delegation in the US. By that I mean the VB, whose name means the “We Shall Overcome” Brigade, is the longest running US-Cuba solidarity delegation in existence with a base of brigadistas who are predominantly African, Indigenous, Chicanx, poor, working class, queer, and trans young people. The Venceremos Brigade was formed in 1969 by a group of US-based students and activists who wanted to show their solidarity with the Cuban revolution while also challenging imperialist US policy towards Cuba, including the genocidal economic blockade and the US government’s ban . . .
The Venceremos Brigade Continues US Solidarity with Cuba
Originally published on Siempre con Cuba, translated by Hood Communist staff. Members of the national coordinating committee of the Venceremos Brigade, made up of US citizens in solidarity with Cuba, affirmed the continuity of the project begun in 1969 and confirmed brigadistas are preparing for their 51st contingent to the island this year. Activists Nesbit Crutchfield, Onyesonwu Chatoyer, Sulan Mlynarek, and Rachel Ibrahim made a visit to the capital and held meetings with representatives from the Cuban Institute for Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP) and other institutions in order to reiterate their determination to continue the long history of the . . .
African Solidarity with the Cuban Revolution
Fourteen days ago I was in Cuba, one of 160ish people there for the Venceremos Brigade – a solidarity delegation celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. The VB was started half a century ago, a first of its kind internationalist mission created by youth living and struggling in the United States who wanted to show their solidarity with the Cuban Revolution. The Brigade has shown up in many sizes and forms over the years but at its core it remains about people to people anti-imperialist solidarity in direct action form. The VB is an act of collective support for Cuba’s . . .