From Palestine to Cuba. Children at the Center of the Imperialist Offensive

By Jessica García

Original written in Spanish

Thousands of Palestinian children have been killed by Israeli occupation forces in Gaza. The lives of hundreds of Cuban children are in danger as a result of the intensification of the U.S. blockade against Cuba. U.S. lawmakers and United Nations experts have warned of the risk of turning Cuba into a “silent Gaza” if the blockade is not lifted.

While in Palestine the Israeli state bears primary responsibility, in Cuba the primary responsible is the United States, the main partner and accomplice in the genocide against the Palestinian people. In both cases, it is children who are most affected by this imperialist and inhumane policy.

National Museum of the Literacy Campaign, Havana (Source: WFPSC)

Cuba

Cuba’s infant mortality rate—which was once lower than that of the United States—has risen from 4.9 to 9.9 per 1,000 live births between 2020 and 2025. Two-thirds of essential medicines are unavailable or in short supply. Arboviruses such as dengue, Oropouche, and chikungunya have increased significantly. Prolonged power outages disrupt health services, directly affecting those who need any kind of treatment.

The blockade not only seeks to make it impossible to live in the present in Cuba, but also directly threatens the future of the Cuban people by undermining the right to health and education for Cuban children.

At the same time, according to the report by the Special Rapporteur on the negative impact of unilateral coercive measures, school dropout rates have risen due to a lack of systemic funding, real wages have fallen, and transportation and energy supply failures have intensified. Added to this is the cancellation of contracts for the education sector, which affects the production and distribution of basic school supplies, ranging from pencils to scientific experiment kits.

The blockade not only seeks to make it impossible to live in the present in Cuba, but also directly threatens the future of the Cuban people by undermining the right to health and education for Cuban children.

Drawings by Cuban children on display at painter Saulo Serrano’s studio, Havana (Source: WFPSC)

Palestine

In Gaza, more than 20,000 children have been directly killed by Israeli bombings, and more than 40,000 have been injured between October 2023 and October 2025. In addition, as of October 1, 2025, 151 child deaths from malnutrition had been recorded. Added to this is the destruction of more than 90 percent of the schools and universities in Gaza and a large part of the hospital infrastructure.

While the United States attempts to subjugate the Cuban people through a comprehensive blockade targeting elements fundamental to their present and future existence, Israel no longer seeks merely to subjugate the Palestinian people but directly aims to exterminate them and erase any trace of their existence in the territory.

The maternity ward at the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Yunis, Gaza (Source: OCHA / Olga Cherevko)

Internationalist Solidarity in the Face of Imperialist Cruelty

In opposition to this imperial cruelty, the Palestinian and Cuban peoples continue to fight for their right to exist on their own territory. While the Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, announces the persecution of any organization or individual that shows solidarity with Cuba and/or Palestine, solidarity with these peoples remains strong. While a convoy carrying humanitarian aid attempts to reach Palestine from Bosnia and Herzegovina to confront the genocide perpetrated by the Israeli regime, another convoy arrives in Cuba with humanitarian aid to address the impacts of the U.S. blockade.

While the United States and Israel seek to subjugate peoples through fear, the peoples continue to organize and show solidarity with those who resist. In the face of imperialist cruelty, internationalist solidarity will always prevail.