Cuba: Popular Sovereignty, Democracy, and Historical Responsibility

Reducing socialism to bureaucratic administration and political control has undermined the emancipatory project that once mobilized broad sectors of Cuban society

Socialistas en Lucha (SeL) rejects the intensification of the U.S. government’s coercive policies against Cuba. Recent provisions that penalize third countries for trading oil or oil derivatives with Cuba constitute unilateral economic pressure of an extraterritorial nature that directly affects the population’s living conditions. These policies do not promote democratization; rather, they are mechanisms of collective punishment that transfer geopolitical disputes to the social sphere.

The application of these measures coincides with a time of extreme vulnerability. The interruption of energy supplies from Venezuela—close to 30,000 barrels per day, or 30-40% of Cuba’s needs, has left the country without one of its main sources of support. In January, Cuba received only 84,900 barrels in a single delivery from Mexico, which is well below the 2025 daily average of 37,000 barrels. The result is a deep energy crisis with prolonged blackouts, deteriorating production, and severe impacts on basic services.

In this context, it is crucial to acknowledge an undeniable social reality: growing sectors of the population are perceiving external pressure, and even intervention, as a potential solution due to material and political exhaustion. This perception does not stem from allegiance to a foreign power but from the absence of credible internal alternatives, the closure of political debate, and the lack of effective mechanisms to influence the country’s direction. Understanding this shift is essential to delegitimizing it.

From a democratic leftist perspective, we affirm that no emancipatory transformation can come from external coercion. Those in power do not act in the name of people’s rights, but rather in their own strategic interests. Latin American history shows that economic pressure and political tutelage lead to dependence, social fragmentation, and new forms of subordination rather than democracy or social justice.

However, it would be politically shortsighted to attribute the Cuban crisis solely to external factors. The current ruling bloc is largely responsible. For decades, a highly centralized model of power was consolidated with little accountability. This model was hostile to political pluralism and increasingly disconnected from real social dynamics. Reducing socialism to bureaucratic administration and political control emptied the emancipatory project that once mobilized broad sectors of society of its content.

Sovereignty cannot be sustained as merely a rejection of foreign interference. It is inseparable from political democracy, civil rights, and effective popular participation. Without real channels for deliberation, organization, and contestation of strategic decisions, sovereignty becomes a rhetorical formula administered from above.

The United States’ policies of sanctions, financial restrictions, and trade isolation are real and deeply harmful. However, their impact is amplified by an internal blockade consisting of economic rigidity, a lack of transparency, the punishment of dissent, and a political culture that confuses stability with paralysis. This framework explains why broad sectors of society do not perceive endogenous solutions and instead place contradictory and desperate expectations on external factors.

Cuba currently faces a multidimensional crisis. The country has an aging population exceeding 20%, pensions that do not cover basic living costs, a deteriorating healthcare system, a declining education system, intermittent public services, collapsed infrastructure, and an informal dollarization process that exacerbates inequalities. Added to this is the persistence of political repression; more than 1,185 people have been deprived of their liberty for exercising fundamental rights, further eroding social trust.

At Socialistas en Lucha (SeL), we believe the best way to prevent foreign intervention is through profound democratization, not immobility.

Only by genuinely opening up political rights, recognizing social pluralism, legalizing independent organizations, and restoring popular sovereignty can we rebuild a shared horizon and restore legitimacy to the socialist project.

Cuba does not face a choice between external coercion and authoritarian continuity. The real alternative is between dependence and democracy, between bureaucratic administration and popular protagonism.

Our position is clear: We reject all forms of external domination and oppose the internal order that has shut down social participation. We advocate for democratic socialism grounded in rights, public deliberation, and popular control of power.

Neither imperial coercion nor bureaucratic closure.

We stand for popular sovereignty, political democracy, and socialism from below.