By Brenda Ryan
June 8, 2026
Brooklyn, New York, June 3, 2026.
Brooklyn, New York — The flags of Cuba and Venezuela flew in front of the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn on June 3 as activists combined a monthly rally to demand the release of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and First Revolutionary Combatant Cilia Flores with a No War on Cuba International Day of Action.
A coalition of anti-imperialist organizations has mobilized at the prison the third day of every month since the U.S. government kidnapped Maduro and Flores on Jan. 3 after bombing Venezuela and killing more than 100 Cubans and Venezuelans. The International No War on Cuba Campaign called for actions across the world on the fifth-month anniversary of the attack and abduction.
The Trump administration has prevented Venezuela and all other countries from providing oil to Cuba under a blockade imposed in January. It has led to massive electrical power outages that have severely compromised the country’s healthcare system and every aspect of Cuban life.
At the same time the U.S. government has escalated its threats on Cuba, calling for military intervention and regime change and indicting former Cuban President Raúl Castro Ruiz on May 20 on the bogus charge of murder stemming from the 1996 shooting down of two planes operated by the counterrevolutionary terrorist group Brothers to the Rescue.
“This war crime that has falsely imprisoned two revolutionaries since the beginning of this year cannot be separated from the attempt to starve the Cuban people and crush the Cuban revolution with bombs and war,” Toni Arenstein, a Workers World Party organizer, told the crowd. “The people of the world and the people of this country will not accept kidnapping, and we will not accept counterrevolution made in the White House or the Pentagon or Wall Street.”
Ché from Bronx Anti-War emphasized the task of anti-imperialists living in the United States: “Our responsibility is different from the responsibility of people defending revolutions in Cuba and Venezuela. Their role is to build and defend their societies. Our role is to oppose the U.S. empire that seeks to strangle, destabilize and overthrow them.”
Dayii, of the All-African People’s Socialist Party NYC, noted the need for a united front: “We understand that solidarity with the Cuban Revolution is about more than contenting ourselves with writing statements attacking imperialist aggression. We must align ourselves with the masses of people across the Global South on the front lines in the struggle against imperialism, and organize to defeat it.”
A speaker representing Within Our Lifetime and CUNY for Palestine described Israel’s brutal treatment of Palestinian prisoners. Several other groups spoke, including Black Alliance for Peace, Brooklyn Against War, United National Antiwar Coalition and the Palavar Collective.
Many cars and trucks honked in support of the protest as they drove by the corner of Third Avenue and 29th Street. Protesters held a large banner proclaiming “No War on Cuba” and chanted “Maduro, amigo, El pueblo está contigo!” and “We want justice, you say how. Free Cilia, free her now!”
