The Republic of Cuba’s unique foreign policy paradigm has long been designed to both protect and promote two interrelated aspects of its historic socialist revolution. While Cuba continuously defends its socialist system against external damage, primarily against the relentless attacks of US imperialism, it simultaneously helps actively promote the principled goals of the world socialist revolution. By firmly supporting and pursuing “revolutionary proletarian internationalism” as its mark of world relations, Havana’s operational foreign policy constantly assists many oppressed nations and exploited working masses around the world. And by aligning socialist Cuba with revolutionary anti-imperialist and national liberation struggles, this progressive camp of world solidarity is united globally to resist and fight the same common enemy on the world stage – capitalist-imperialist aggression.

In fact, by advancing its line of internationalist foreign policy, Cuba was able to actively defend a newborn country against military crush, directly helped to create an independent state, radically pressured a racist regional power. to democratize, has successfully helped save humanitarian medical lives. missions in more than 160 countries for six decades, and has consistently struggled to put in place an urgent global agenda for the survival and development of mankind within major global organizations since the 1970s.

In particular, Cuba’s internationalist mission in defense of the sovereignty of Angola (1975-1991) successfully led to the defeat of separate rebel groups supported by South Africa, Zaire and the United States, all by decisively pushing back the invading South African troops. As a result, Cuba’s “crushing victory” over South African forces in the legendary Battle of Cuito Cuanavale in early 1988 inevitably became a “turning point for the liberation of the African continent” itself. The aftermath of this watershed quickly saw the lifting of South Africa’s universally condemned apartheid policy and the democratic rise of Nelson Mandela as the country’s first black president in 1994. At the same time,

Namibia became Africa’s newest state thanks to Havana’s unwavering support for the Namibian revolution – its main leader, Sam Nujoma, quickly became the country’s first president in 1990. Subsequently, Mandela and Nujoma all both publicly praised Cuba’s direct internationalist role in successful national liberation. results in their own countries and for Africa.

At the same time, Cuba has also carried out internationally admired internationalist missions in the medical field. Since the early 1960s, teams of healthcare professionals in Havana have saved lives in major regions of the world. The work of its Henry Reeve International Medical Brigade is highly commendable, who undertook many humanitarian tasks across the world in response to the Ebola virus outbreak in West Africa, post-earthquake and post-flood disasters in the western and eastern hemispheres, and the present- day COVID-19 pandemic. Likewise, the Brigade was recently widely nominated for the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize for its exemplary work. In addition, Cuba has just successfully produced the Soberana 2, Abdala and Mambisa COVID-19 vaccines for global use.

In addition, Cuba has played a very influential and leading role in various international platforms. Havana hosted the Tricontinental Conference in 1966 to firmly promote the key principles of internationalist solidarity,

anti-imperialism and people-centered cooperation across the world. He twice chaired the Non-Aligned Movement and convincingly pushed the concept of the new international economic order and intensified the units within the South. As such, Cuba’s courageous advocacy for these ideas and positions has earned it eminent respect in the United Nations for more than half a century now.

Cuba has boldly advanced its socialist revolution in the face of critical global changes that challenge its global existence. Surprisingly, Havana’s internationalist foreign policy has significantly safeguarded the Cuban people’s close ties of solidarity with the exploited working class and the oppressed peoples of the world – our “global humanity”. Cuba greatly inspires the world community to have a positive future in the international order destabilized by today’s pandemic.

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Rasti Delizo is an international affairs analyst and socialist movement activist.

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