On October 28, the world will vote to end the US blockade on Cuba for the 34th time. For 33 years, the UN General Assembly has declared that blockade a violation of international law by overwhelming margins, most recently 165 to 7 in 2025. The United States has ignored every one of those votes. Now the blockade has intensified into something far worse.
In January 2026, the United States imposed a total energy blockade on Cuba, threatening any country that supplied the island with oil. Nine months later, doctors are performing surgery by cellphone light, neonatal incubators are failing during blackouts, and over 100,000 patients are waiting for surgery, 12,000 of them children. More than 70 people are dying of cancer every day. Infant mortality has risen 148% since 2018. Three hundred of Cuba’s 395 essential medicines are in shortage.
The UN Special Rapporteur on unilateral coercive measures, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, and the WHO Director-General have all warned that the US escalation of economic warfare is killing Cubans. This is not simply sanctions or pressure. It is collective punishment and genocide, the deliberate creation of conditions designed to destroy a people’s ability to survive.
The world has opposed this blockade 33 times. The United States has ignored the world 33 times. The question for 2026 is not whether we oppose the blockade. The question is what we are willing to do about it.
This year, the vote cannot stand alone. This year, the vote must be met with action everywhere.
From October 24 to 31, as part of the global #NoWarOnCuba campaign, we call on all NNOC member organizations, friends of Cuba, and social justice organizations and movements worldwide to organize, mobilize, raise our voices, and show that the majority of the world is with Cuba.
Rallies • Banner drops • Car caravans • Workshops • Community forums • Strategy meetings • Teach-ins • Material aid drives • Fundraisers for solidarity projects • Benefit concerts • Cultural events • Film screenings • Art builds • Press conferences • Vigils • Flyering • Social media storms • Call-in days • Letter writing campaigns • Community feeds • Speak-outs
Consider what you have capacity for and who you can collaborate with. Be creative and flexible.