By Hedelberto López Blanch* / Special Collaboration for Resumen Latinoamericano.
The 18th BRICS Summit will take place on September 12 and 13 in New Delhi, India, with member countries, associate members, and special guests, under the theme “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation, and Sustainability.”
The Indian Ministry of Foreign Affairs indicated that the event will be held at the Bharat Mandapam Convention Center in New Delhi, and attendees will exchange views on strengthening internal BRICS cooperation around common priorities and share perspectives on global and regional issues of mutual interest.
This would be a good opportunity for the BRICS, as a progressive organization striving for a multipolar world, to take the political initiative in sending fuel to Cuba, breaking the inhumane and arrogant measure imposed by the United States, which seeks to overthrow the Cuban Revolution with a rigid oil blockade.
As Cuban leaders and solidarity and progressive organizations around the world have denounced, what the convicted US President Donald Trump and his Secretary of State Marco Rubio are committing is genocide against the Cuban people.
In the Final Declaration of the meeting of BRICS foreign ministers held in New Delhi on May 12 and 13 of this year, the participants reiterated the need to end the economic, trade, and financial measures against Cuba.
It is worth recalling that on January 29, Trump signed an executive order declaring a “national emergency” in response to the absurd “unusual threat” to the security of the United States and the region posed by the Caribbean island.
On these grounds, the US announced the imposition of tariffs on countries that sell oil to the Caribbean nation, along with threats of reprisals against those who defy the White House executive order.
By reinforcing the blockade that Washington has maintained against Cuba for more than 60 years, and by preventing Cuba from acquiring oil on any market, services such as electricity, food, healthcare, education, and transportation have been severely affected.
At the meeting of foreign ministers, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla denounced that “with this criminal act, a violation of international law and the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations, the United States intends to impose on the entire world the obligation to comply with the blockade against Cuba, regardless of the sovereignty of each government and the will of its people.”
He then explained that only a broad and resolute international coalition will allow for a successful confrontation of the United States’ global depredation, which will be doomed to failure if states do not allow themselves to be intimidated. In this context, he noted, reforming global governance and the multilateral system is not merely an aspiration, but an urgent and indispensable political necessity.
The strength of the BRICS group is undeniable. Initially formed in 2006 by Brazil, Russia, India, and China, and later joined in 2011 by South Africa, it was joined as a permanent member in 2024 by Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia, Iran, and subsequently Indonesia. Since January 2025, Cuba, Bolivia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Malaysia, Kazakhstan, Uganda, and Thailand have been partners.
Havana has maintained a significant friendship and cooperation with all its members and associates over the years.
Currently, the group wields global influence, representing 46% of the world’s Gross Domestic Product and 55% of the world’s population.
Given these circumstances, I ask:
Will the governments of the world, and specifically the BRICS nations, allow a genocide to be committed against Cuba, as is being carried out by the aggressive and inhumane policy implemented by the US empire against the island?
Will international organizations such as the United Nations, BRICS, the African Union, the Eurasian Economic Union, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and ASEAN, with which Havana maintains good relations, continue to accept the United States’ continued pressure on countries to withhold the necessary oil?
How long will nations friendly to Cuba (many of which have also suffered extortion euphemistically called “sanctions”) obey Washington’s genocidal and unjust actions?
Can’t they all agree to send fuel to Cuba, a country suffering one of the most ruthless wars waged by a declining but extremely aggressive empire?
During his speech commemorating July 26th, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez stated:
“We denounce those who designed, implemented, and sustained this policy of suffocation as being responsible for the suffering of the Cuban people. We also denounce those who remain silent and tolerate the excesses of the emboldened, fascist, far-right in the United States, which lies, steals, kills, and pretends to be the arbiter of all destinies.”
Recently, in response to the substantial aid of food, solar panels, and other supplies that the People’s Republic of China has sent to the island, Díaz-Canel emphasized: “When an empire strangles us with a blockade that has lasted for over six decades, a sister nation decided to extend its hand unconditionally…it is pure solidarity, not charity, it is justice.”
He added, “Cuba gave the world doctors, teachers, vaccines. We sent brigades to the most remote places on the planet. We shared what little we had. We are an example of humanity. Now, when we need it most, someone is reciprocating that gesture. And it’s not a favor, it’s an acknowledgment that the blockade is not a problem for Cuba, but a problem for humanity.”
That’s why I think it’s time to put a stop to this phantom unipolar world that the United States wants to continue imposing and move to political action to finally create a truly multipolar one.
(*) Hedelberto López Blanch is a renowned Cuban journalist. He writes for the newspaper Juventud Rebelde and the weekly Opciones. He is the author of “Cuban Emigration to the United States,” “Secret Stories of Cuban Doctors in Africa,” and “Miami, Dirty Money,” among others.
[ SOURCE: RESUMEN LATINOAMERICANO Y DEL TERCER MUNDO CUBA / EN RESUMEN ]
IMAGE CREDIT: Cover image: Adán Iglesias Toledo
