Cuba is under attack. Since the 60s the Caribbean island has been under economic blockade of the US, has survived many efforts to topple the government and attacks on the island, its inhabitants and its leaders.
Despite the history and conditions of the island, its people and leadership stand firm in their belief of collective action, equality and popular mobilisation to combat climate change. Currently, Cuba is one of the few Caribbean countries succeeding in achieving renewable energy, hurricane prevention, forest planting and combatting rising sea levels. Now, under the Trump administration and the consequent oil embargo, Cuba is fighting for life. In this event, we want to explore why Cuba is successfully implementing a 100-year plan through the “Tarea Vida” (life task) program, despite being under constant attack. First we will have a presentation by Julie Steendam on her book “100 years to stop the Sea” which she co-authored with Isabelle Vanbrabant, after which we will present an expert panel on Cuba, ecology and political economy. The Cuba Solidarity Network will also be present to tell more about solidarity initiatives in the Netherlands.
Expert panel:
- Julie Steendam (1992) studied Moral Sciences and Conflict and Development. She
coordinated Belgian and European campaigns for the right to health and worked for the
Belgian umbrella organization of environmental movements. In 2022, she co-authored the
book 100 Years to Stop the Sea with Isabelle Vanbrabant, which explores Cuba’s approach
to climate change. Steendam currently works in the Belgian Federal Parliament and serves
as a city council member for the PVDA party in Ghent. - Mathieu Blondeel is an Assistant Professor in the Institute for Environmental Studies (IVM)
of VU Amsterdam. His work is situated at the intersection of global energy and climate
politics. His research primarily focuses on the geopolitics. - Siewert Olthof is a member of the international bureau of the NCPN, the New Communist party of
the Netherlands. Cuba solidarity is a big part of the international work of the party and plays
a big rol in the organization of solidarity in the Netherlands. - Levin Dalpiaz is a MSc student in International Development Studies at Wageningen
University, working on the affective dimensions of urban agroecology in Havana for his
thesis. A geographer by training with recent fieldwork in Cuba and a network with Cuban
institutions, he studies Cuba as a critical case against industrialized agriculture.