By Lyn Neeley
October 28, 2026

Portland, Oregon — Important alliances were strengthened among major groups on the left at Portland, Oregon’s successful No War on Cuba event on October 24. The event was part of the National Network on Cuba global Week of Actions from Oct. 24-31, leading up to the United Nations General Assembly vote on ending the 64-year-old U.S. blockade of Cuba on Oct. 27 and 28.

Portland Action for Cuba and the No War on Cuba coalition organized a rally, banner drop and teach-in. The constant stream of honks and thumbs up from passing cars showed strong support for the banners and placards opposing the U.S. war on Cuba.

For 33 years, countries at the U.N. General Assembly have overwhelmingly voted to demand an end to the U.S. blockade and declared it to be a violation of international law. However, the U.S. has ignored the vote every year and this year intensified its genocidal violence by imposing a total energy blockade.

John Joo, Mona Wimmer and Je Amaechi all spoke at the rally. They are from Portland Action for Cuba (PAC), the group that organized the event. They each spoke about their recent trip to Cuba, describing the mass suffering and death caused by the U.S. blockade. Venezuela was a primary and major source of oil for Cuba for over two decades until the U.S. imposed the oil blockade.

Speakers at the rally deplored the illegal U.S. invasion of Venezuela, the kidnapping of President Nicolás Maduro and First Combatant Cilia Flores and theft of Venezuelan oil. The mass demonstrations across Venezuela on Oct. 7, when workers, students, farmers, Indigenous communities and community organizers poured into the streets to uphold the Bolivarian revolution were praised at the rally.

Diosdado Cabello, Secretary of the Socialist Party of Venezuela, spoke for the Venezuelan crowds, noting “Chávez championed the development of the communes in Venezuela, a model of ‘Popular Power’ developed directly from the people rather than top-down state bureaucracies.”

Cuba and Venezuela both have deep revolutionary roots. Cabello said, “Surviving certain historical circumstances is a form of resistance.”